Host I/O port configuration through the DS Storage Manager

You must configure host I/O ports through the DS Storage Manager or the DS CLI. This section describes the DS Storage Manager panels that you can use to define host systems and host I/O ports.

After you have defined at least one storage complex, storage unit, and I/O port, you can define a host and create host connections. If you have not defined all of these required storage elements, use the DS Storage Manager or the DS CLI and return to this topic when they are configured. See DS6000 I/O port topology definition for steps on configuring storage unit I/O ports.

Host system definition using the DS Storage Manager involves some or all of the following tasks for each host I/O port:

Notes:
  1. Read through these steps before you configure a host system. You can use these steps to configure a host system and its I/O ports without knowing the exact WWPN of the I/O ports that you are defining and without selecting a volume group. However, you must define those values for the host before you can attach a host, so knowing those two values in advance can save you from having to reuse these steps to modify your host I/O ports definition.
  2. The following examples are simplified to highlight the core elements of host and I/O port definition. They do not represent a recommended configuration.

Complete these steps to define a host system:

  1. From the DS Storage Manager navigation, select the Real-time manager or Simulated manager, depending upon where you have the storage image configured.
  2. From the navigation, select Manage hardware > Host systems.
  3. Select Create from the Select Action drop-down menu and then select Go.
    Note: You can choose to create a separate host definition for each I/O port on a host or you can define multiple I/O ports for a single host definition.
  4. In the General host information panel, you select the host type and provide a nickname of up to 16 characters. You can optionally provide a description of up to 256 characters.
    1. Select the host you are defining from the Type drop-down menu. The following list contains the currently supported hosts:
      Standard Open Systems
      IBM pSeries, RS/6000 and RS/6000 SP servers - AIX (pSeries)
      IBM pSeries, RS/6000 and RS/6000 SP servers – Linux (Linux on POWER)
      IBM zSeries servers - Linux (zLinux)
      IBM SAN File System – AIX MDS (SanFsAIX)
      IBM SAN File System – Linux MDS (SanFsLinux)
      IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC)
      AMD servers – Linux RHEL (AMDLinuxRHEL)
      AMD servers – Linux Suse (AMDLinuxSuse)
      Apple servers (AppleOSX)
      Fujitsu servers – Solaris (Fujitsu)
      HP servers - HP-UX (Hp)
      HP AlphaServer - OpenVMS (HpVms)
      HP AlphaServer - Tru64 UNIX (HpTru64)
      Intel-based servers – Linux RHEL (LinuxRHEL)
      Intel-based servers – Linux Suse (LinuxSuse)
      Intel-based servers – Linux Red Flag (LinuxRF)
      Intel-based servers – Linux Desktop (LinuxDT)
      Intel-based servers – Microsoft Windows 2000 (Win2000)
      Intel-based servers – Microsoft Windows 2003 (Win2003)
      Intel-based servers – Novell Netware (Novell)
      SGI Origin servers – IRIX (SGI)
      Sun servers - Solaris (Sun)
      VMWare ESX (VMWare)
      iSeries
      IBM iSeries Servers - OS/400 (iSeries)
      IBM iSeries/pSeries servers - Linux (iLinux)
      Anonymous
      Anonymous FICON host
    2. Use the Nickname field to create a short description of the host. The value that you enter in this field is the value that is going to appear in other panels when selecting defined hosts. This is a required field.
    3. You can optionally enter a detailed Description of the host that you are defining.
    4. When you have defined the fields on this panel, select Next.
  5. Define the required and optional fields in the Define host ports panel as described in these substeps:
    1. Enter the Quantity of ports that you are defining for the selected host. This field is required.
      Note: You can choose to a create a separate host definition for each I/O port on a host or you can enter a quantity greater than 1 in this field and define multiple I/O ports on a single host.
    2. Select an Attachment Port Type, either FC Switch fabric (P-P) or FC Arbitrated loop for the ports you are defining for your host.
    3. Select the Add button to create an entry in the Defined host ports section for the selected port type and the number of ports that you entered into the Quantity field.
      Note: If you need to remove a host I/O port from a DS6000, select the port you want to remove from the Defined host ports section of the panel and then select the Remove button.
    4. Optionally, you can select Group ports to share a common set of volumes.
    5. Once you have defined the host ports, select the Next button to define a WWPN for each port you are configuring.
  6. In the Define host WWPN panel, you must specify a WWPN for each host port you are configuring. When you have defined all host port WWPNs, select OK.
    Note: If you do not know the host port WWPN, look for instructions under your host in DS6000 host attachment. Locate the section for your host and then find the section on locating the WWPN. If you are not able to determine your host port WWPN or plan to define it at a later time, you must enter a substitute value (16 digits) in the Port field to continue with this host definition. You must modify the host at a later time and enter a valid WWPN for the host to connect to the DS6000 through this port.

  7. In the Specify storage units panel, select all the available storage units that use the ports that you defined in the previous step. Select the Add button to move the selected storage units to the Selected storage units box. Select the Next button when you are finished adding storage units.
  8. Use these steps to define the parameters in the Specify storage units parameters panel:
    1. To begin configuration, select a host attachment identifier from the table.
    2. From the Select volume group for host attachment drop-down menu, choose either Select volume group later or select a group from the drop-down menu. The group that you select is very important to your overall host configuration. Your host can only connect to the DS6000 volumes that are associated with the volume group that is selected here. If you choose to select a volume group later, you must return to this panel and define the volume group to which this port belongs, otherwise your host cannot connect to any DS6000 volumes.
      Note: The options in the Select volume group for host attachment drop-down menu are volume groups that have been previously created. You can optionally select the Create new group button. If you select this button, the Define volume group properties panel is displayed.
    3. From the This host attachment can login to options, you can select either of the following host login options: any valid storage unit I/O port or the following specific storage unit I/O ports. Selecting any valid storage unit I/O port allows the host to detect and use any available port. If you limit the port logging into specific DS6000 ports, you risk the host not being able to log in if the ports that you selected are not available or not valid.
    4. If you selected the following specific storage unit I/O ports in the previous step, the available DS6000 ports are displayed in the Available storage unit I/O ports section of the panel. You can limit the list of available ports to a list of recommended ports by selecting View recommended. Select the DS6000 ports that you want to apply to the host attachment identifier that you selected in step 8.
    5. Once you have selected I/O ports, or if you selected to log in to any valid storage image I/O port in step 8.c, select the Apply assignment button.
    6. You can optionally select the Configure I/O ports button to configure the I/O ports on the selected storage unit. You might do this if you want to choose specific storage image I/O ports but none is showing as available. Once you configure I/O ports, you can return to this step and apply any compatible ports.
    7. Once you have applied all the assignments that you want, select OK, to move to the Verification panel.
      Note: Ensure that the host I/O port logs in to any valid DS6000 port unless you have a specific reason to limit the DS6000 ports that the host I/O port can log in to.
  9. The Verification panel provides a summary of the host ports that you are about to configure. You can choose the Finish button to save the ports configuration, the Cancel button to cancel the entire host systems definition, or the Back button to return to the previous screen to reconfigure the host I/O ports.
    Note: You can follow this same process to modify a host if you select the host and then select Modify in step 3.
Parent topic: Host configuration through the DS Storage Manager
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