Server w/
LP21000
FCoE Enabled
Switch
FCoE Enabled
Switch
SAN A
SAN B
Figure 11: CNA level redundancy using two Single-Ported CNAs
In this configuration, even in the extreme case of a CNA failure, the links for storage and networking can be immediately failed over with no interruption to applications.
Within ESX, multipathing can be configured from the configuration tab by selecting storage, followed by selecting properties for the appropriate data store. From the data store properties windows, selecting Manage Paths will reveal the multiple paths to the data store and the policy for multipathing access (fixed, last active, or round robin - see Figure 12). Once the multipathing configuration has been completed for a set of CNAs on an ESX server, redundancy configuration for the storage functionality of the CNAs will be complete. However, the network side of the CNA still requires configuration (NIC teaming).
Figure 12: CNA initiated multipathing accessing a data store
12
