IBM DS8000 manual HP OpenVMS, FC port configuration, Geographically Dispersed Sites

For a detailed description of VDS, refer to the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Virtual Disk

Service Technical Reference at:

http://www.microsoft.com/Resources/Documentation/windowsserv/2003/all/techref/en-us/W2K3TR_ vds_intro.asp

The DS8000 can act as a VDS hardware provider. The implementation is based on the DS Common Information Model (CIM) agent, a middleware application that provides a CIM-compliant interface. The Microsoft Virtual Disk Service uses the CIM technology to list information and manage LUNs. See the IBM TotalStorage DS Open Application Programming Interface Reference, GC35-0493, for information on how to install and configure VDS support.

The following sections present examples of VDS integration with advanced functions of the DS8000 storage systems that became possible with the implementation of the DS CIM agent.

Geographically Dispersed Sites

Geographically Dispersed Sites (GDS) for MSCS is designed to provide high availability and a disaster recovery solution for clustered Microsoft Server environments. It integrates Microsoft Cluster Service (MSCS) and the Metro Mirror (PPRC) feature of the DS8000. It is designed to allow Microsoft Cluster installations to span geographically dispersed sites and help protect clients from site disasters or storage system failures. This solution is offered through IBM storage services.

For more details about GDS refer to:

http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/solutions/business_continuity/pdf/IBM_TotalStorage_GDS_W hitepaper.pdf

Volume Shadow Copy Service

The Volume Shadow Copy Service provides a mechanism for creating consistent point-in-time copies of data, known as shadow copies. It integrates IBM TotalStorage FlashCopy to produce consistent shadow copies, while also coordinating with business applications, file-system services, backup applications and fast-recovery solutions.

For more information refer to:

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/WindowsServ/2003/all/techref/en-us/w2k3tr_ vss_how.asp

HP OpenVMS

DS8000 supports FC attachment of OpenVMS Alpha systems with operating system Version 7.3 or newer. For details regarding operating system versions and HBA types, see the DS8000 Interoperability Matrix, available at:

http://www.ibm.com/servers/storage/disk/ds8000/interop.html

The support includes clustering and multiple paths (exploiting the OpenVMS built-in multipathing). Boot support is available via Request for Price Quotations (RPQ). The DS API and the DS CLI are currently not available for OpenVMS.

FC port configuration

The OpenVMS FC driver has some limitations in handling FC error recovery. The operating system may react to some situations with MountVerify conditions which are not recoverable. Affected processes may hang and eventually stop.

368DS8000 Series: Concepts and Architecture