OS Native Multipathing Software
Huawei storage firmware is classified into:
- Old storage version
T V1, T V2, 18000 V1, V300R001, V300R002, V300R003C00, V300R003C10, V300R005, and Dorado V300R001C00
- New storage version
V500R007C00 and later, V300R003C20SPC200 and later, V300R006C00SPC100 and later, and Dorado V300R001C01SPC100 and later
Storage System Configuration
If the OS native multipathing software is used, you must select Use third-party multipath software for the initiator, as shown in Figure 6-5.
The Switchover Mode and Path Type depend on the actual services. Different models of Huawei storage systems support different ALUA policies. For details, refer to the specific Huawei storage model's product documentation.
For details about the Windows versions, see the Huawei Storage Interoperability Navigator.
If a LUN has been mapped to the host, you must restart the host for the configuration to take effect after you modify the initiator parameters. If you configure the initiator for the first time, restart is not needed.
Unless otherwise specified, the recommended configurations for Huawei storage that supports ALUA are detailed as follows:
ALUA Configuration on Old-Version Storage
Server OS |
ALUA Enabled or Disabled on the Storage System |
Remarks |
||
OceanStor T V1 |
OceanStor T V2 |
Other Version |
||
Windows Server 2003 |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
- |
Windows Server 2003 R2 |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
- |
Windows Server 2008 |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
Optimal path selection fails on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 even after ALUA is enabled. You must set optimal paths manually. |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
|
Windows Server 2012 |
Enabled |
Enabled |
Disabled |
- |
You are advised to enable ALUA on OceanStor T V1 because mirror link interruption may interrupt services if ALUA is disabled.
ALUA Configuration on New-Version Storage
Server OS |
Storage System Configuration |
|||||
Number of Controllers |
OS Setting |
Third-Party Multipathing Software |
Switch Mode |
Special Mode Type |
Path Type |
|
Windows Server 2003 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows |
Enabled |
ALUA not used |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2003 R2 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows |
Enabled |
ALUA not used |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2008 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows |
Enabled |
ALUA not used |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2008 R2 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows |
Enabled |
Common ALUA |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2012 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows Server 2012 |
Enabled |
Common ALUA |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2012 R2 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows Server 2012 |
Enabled |
Common ALUA |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2016 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows Server 2012 |
Enabled |
Common ALUA |
- |
Optimal |
Windows Server 2019 |
Dual-controller, multi-controller |
Windows Server 2012 |
Enabled |
Common ALUA |
- |
Optimal |
Host Configuration
As a built-in service in Windows, MPIO is disabled by default. You need to manually enable it. Moreover, ALUA must be configured on storage systems as required.
This section uses Windows Server 2012 R2 as an example to describe how to install and configure MPIO. The MPIO installation and configuration procedures are the same as these for Windows Server 2012 R2 and therefore will not be detailed. For more details, see the Microsoft official documentation.
- Add Multipath I/O.
Start Server Manager, choose Manage > Add Roles and Features, and select Multipath I/O, as shown in Figure 6-6.
- Query the device's VID and PID.
VID indicates the vendor ID, for example, HUAWEI.
PID indicates the product ID, for example, S5500T, S5600T, or XSG1.
If MPIO is installed on Windows Server 2008 or later versions, you can use multipathing command mpclaim to query disk information, as shown in Figure 6-7.
In the preceding figure, the VID is HUAWEI and the PID is XSG1.
The PID and VID in this section are examples only.
- Configure MPIO to take over the storage system.
You can add the target storage system on the MPIO console or run a command in Command Prompt to take over the storage. In this example, a command is run in Command Prompt.
On the Windows server, open Command Prompt and run the mpclaim -r -i -d "HUAWEI XSG1 " command, as shown in Figure 6-8. Note that the VID must contain eight characters and the PID must contain 16 characters. If the characters are insufficient, add spaces. You can copy the VID and PID from the output of the mpclaim -e command.
After the mpclaim -r -i -d "HUAWEI XSG1 " command is executed, the host restarts automatically. If the host does not restart automatically, restart it manually.
- View MPIO policies.
Rescan for disks after restarting the host. Ensure that the number of discovered disks is consistent with that of LUNs mapped to the host. Right-click a disk and choose Properties from the shortcut menu. You can view the policies on the MPIO tab page, as shown in Figure 6-9.
Normally, the default MPIO policy is preferred. The default policy varies with operating system configurations. Table 6-6 lists the default policies for commonly used operating systems.
Table 6-6 Default MPIO policyOperating System
Storage System
Default MPIO Policy
Remarks
Windows Server 2008
ALUA enabled
Round Robin with Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Failover only
-
Windows Server 2008 R2
ALUA enabled
Round Robin with Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Round Robin
-
Windows Server 2012
ALUA enabled
Round Robin with Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Round Robin
-
Windows Server 2012 R2
ALUA enabled
Round Robin with Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Round Robin
-
Windows Server 2016
ALUA enabled
Round Robin with Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Round Robin
-
Windows Server 2019
ALUA enabled
Round Robin With Subset
-
ALUA disabled
Round Robin
-
- Enable path verification.
On the MPIO tab, click Details. In the dialog box that is displayed, select Path Verify Enabled and click OK. Then restart the host for the configuration to take effect.
Figure 6-10 Enabling path verification- If a path switchover takes a long period of time, you can modify the timeout time for a driver by following instructions in How Do I Modify the Timeout Time for the FC HBA Port Driver?, How Do I Modify the iSCSI Initiator's Driver Timeout Time?, and How Do I Change the Number of TCP Data Retransmission Times? to shorten I/O interruption.
- If the underlying physical signals between the storage system and Cisco switch are poor, the Cisco switch resets the link. There is a low probability that the Cisco switch does not detect the port status change and does not send RSCN messages. In this case, Windows MPIO cannot detect the port status change, and host services are interrupted due to I/O retry timeout on an abnormal link. Huawei UltraPath can be used to avoid this risk.
Verification
Run the mpclaim -s -d command to verify that the configuration has taken effect.
Run the mpclaim -s -d MPIO Disk No. command to verify path information about an MPIO disk.
Both AO (whose TPG_State is Active/Optimized) and AN (whose TPG_State is Active/Unoptimized) paths are displayed, indicating that ALUA configuration has taken effect.