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Stratis Tsakalos · Guest

Hello i have an msa 500 and i would like to upgrade it to msa1000.
Since now i was using secure path for failover and redundancy. I spoke with
hp and they told me that this is not necessary cause i can use MPIO for
windows . I started to read and search for resources but i am not sure i
have this clear in my mind yet.
MPIO is a feature of OS? will it work automatically ? do i have to install
something extra on windows? Or MPIO is just being used by other programs
like secure path ?
Is there any configuration that i must do to support failover over multiple
paths? The Fiber optic cards will be FCA2214 from qlogic.

Thanks

--
Stratis Tsakalos
MCP
s.tsakalos@ideal.gr

Ideal Systems
Greece

Eric Bursley [MVP] · Guest

MPIO is a feature of Windows 2003, but requires a 3rd party program to use
the functionality. EMC Powerpath has a version that support MPIO. MPIO
allows for failover support between multiple paths. EMC Powerpath also
supports 3rd party arrays, such as HP, Hitachi, and Sun storage.
However if you obtain a copy of Powerpath, I would just use Powerpath,
instead of trying to implement the MPIO feature set. The full version of
Powerpath is more feature rich than what MPIO can provide.

Eric Bursley
eric at bursley dot net
Microsoft MVP
RHCE, MCSE, BCFP, EEIE-CS, ESCE-CS
GPG Signature:
Key fingerprint = CEAE CF3A 3876 7ECE 9DA7 946F DA9F DDCA C392 6DCB

"Stratis Tsakalos" <s.tsakalos@ideal.gr> wrote in message
news:OrcTcRkzFHA.1028@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
[quote]Hello i have an msa 500 and i would like to upgrade it to msa1000.
Since now i was using secure path for failover and redundancy. I spoke
with hp and they told me that this is not necessary cause i can use MPIO
for windows . I started to read and search for resources but i am not sure
i have this clear in my mind yet.
MPIO is a feature of OS? will it work automatically ? do i have to install
something extra on windows? Or MPIO is just being used by other programs
like secure path ?
Is there any configuration that i must do to support failover over
multiple paths? The Fiber optic cards will be FCA2214 from qlogic.

Thanks

--
Stratis Tsakalos
MCP
s.tsakalos@ideal.gr

Ideal Systems
Greece
[/quote]

Jeff Goldner [MS] · Guest

MPIO was originally designed as a flexible mechanism to allow vendor
specific customization while minimizing the work a vendor would need to do
just to get the basics (like PnP) correct. A vendor would create a
device-specific module (DSM) and then redistribute the core Microsoft
drivers for Win2K & Server 2003 (Longhorn will include these drivers).
Therefore, MPIO solutions are sold or distributed by storage vendors. HP
decided to give their's away for free and it is available for all current
arrays, with different capabilities depending on the array product. For MSA
1000/1500 see

http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server/us/download/22184.html

MPIO solutions must be HBA vendor neutral but read HP's instructions for any
HBA configuration hints. Microsoft recommends Storport drivers on Windows
2003 - make sure you download the latest Storport hotfix (or use SP1).

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DriverDownload.jsp?pnameOID=315741&locale=en_US&taskId=135&prodSeriesId=315739&prodTypeId=12169&swEnvOID=1005

Storport hotfix (important)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;903081

BTW, Eric is ahead of himself wrt PowerPath. EMC is not shipping an MPIO
solution at this time except to support iSCSI products. iSCSI solutions can
only obtain the logo if they use an MPIO-based solution (or use the
Microsoft iSCSI DSM and MPIO which ships with iSCSI 2.0). Many other vendors
ship MPIO-based products even if they don't advertise that fact (Hitachi,
NetApp, 3Par, NEC, etc.)

"Stratis Tsakalos" <s.tsakalos@ideal.gr> wrote in message
news:OrcTcRkzFHA.1028@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
[quote]Hello i have an msa 500 and i would like to upgrade it to msa1000.
Since now i was using secure path for failover and redundancy. I spoke
with hp and they told me that this is not necessary cause i can use MPIO
for windows . I started to read and search for resources but i am not sure
i have this clear in my mind yet.
MPIO is a feature of OS? will it work automatically ? do i have to install
something extra on windows? Or MPIO is just being used by other programs
like secure path ?
Is there any configuration that i must do to support failover over
multiple paths? The Fiber optic cards will be FCA2214 from qlogic.

Thanks

--
Stratis Tsakalos
MCP
s.tsakalos@ideal.gr

Ideal Systems
Greece
[/quote]

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