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Contents
- Configuring Storage-Related Policies
- Configuring vHBA Templates
- vHBA Template
- Creating a vHBA Template
- Deleting a vHBA Template
- Binding a vHBA to a vHBA Template
- Unbinding a vHBA from a vHBA Template
- Configuring Fibre Channel Adapter Policies
- Ethernet and Fibre Channel Adapter Policies
- Creating a Fibre Channel Adapter Policy
- Deleting a Fibre Channel Adapter Policy
Configuring Storage-Related Policies
This chapter includes the following sections:
vHBA Template
This template is a policy that defines how a vHBA on a server connects to the SAN. It is also referred to as a vHBA SAN connectivity template.
You need to include this policy in a service profile for it to take effect.
Creating a vHBA Template
Before You BeginProcedureThis policy requires that one or more of the following resources already exist in the system:
What to Do Next
Include the vHBA template in a service profile.
Binding a vHBA to a vHBA Template
ProcedureYou can bind a vHBA associated with a service profile to a vHBA template. When you bind the vHBA to a vHBA template, Cisco UCS Manager configures the vHBA with the values defined in the vHBA template. If the existing vHBA configuration does not match the vHBA template, Cisco UCS Manager reconfigures the vHBA. You can only change the configuration of a bound vHBA through the associated vHBA template. You cannot bind a vHBA to a vHBA template if the service profile that includes the vHBA is already bound to a service profile template.
Important:If the vHBA is reconfigured when you bind it to a template, Cisco UCS Manager reboots the server associated with the service profile.
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Servers tab. Step 2 On the Servers tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the node for the organization that includes the service profile with the vHBA you want to bind. If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the root node.
Step 4 Expand . Step 5 Click the vHBA you want to bind to a template. Step 6 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 7 In the Actions area, click Bind to a Template. Step 8 In the Bind to a vHBA Template dialog box, do the following: Step 9 In the warning dialog box, click Yes to acknowledge that Cisco UCS Manager may need to reboot the server if the binding causes the vHBA to be reconfigured.
Unbinding a vHBA from a vHBA Template
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Servers tab. Step 2 On the Servers tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the node for the organization that includes the service profile with the vHBA you want to unbind. If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the root node.
Step 4 Expand . Step 5 Click the vHBA you want to unbind from a template. Step 6 In the Work pane, click the General tab. Step 7 In the Actions area, click Unbind from a Template. Step 8 If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
Ethernet and Fibre Channel Adapter Policies
These policies govern the host-side behavior of the adapter, including how the adapter handles traffic. For example, you can use these policies to change default settings for the following:
Queues
Interrupt handling
Performance enhancement
RSS hash
Failover in an cluster configuration with two fabric interconnects
Note
For Fibre Channel adapter policies, the values displayed by Cisco UCS Manager may not match those displayed by applications such as QLogic SANsurfer. For example, the following values may result in an apparent mismatch between SANsurfer and Cisco UCS Manager:
Max LUNs Per Target—SANsurfer has a maximum of 256 LUNs and does not display more than that number. Cisco UCS Manager supports a higher maximum number of LUNs.
Link Down Timeout—In SANsurfer, you configure the timeout threshold for link down in seconds. In Cisco UCS Manager, you configure this value in milliseconds. Therefore, a value of 5500 ms in Cisco UCS Manager displays as 5s in SANsurfer.
Max Data Field Size—SANsurfer has allowed values of 512, 1024, and 2048. Cisco UCS Manager allows you to set values of any size. Therefore, a value of 900 in Cisco UCS Manager displays as 512 in SANsurfer.
Operating System Specific Adapter Policies
By default, Cisco UCS provides a set of Ethernet adapter policies and Fibre Channel adapter policies. These policies include the recommended settings for each supported server operating system. Operating systems are sensitive to the settings in these policies. Storage vendors typically require non-default adapter settings. You can find the details of these required settings on the support list provided by those vendors.
Important:We recommend that you use the values in these policies for the applicable operating system. Do not modify any of the values in the default policies unless directed to do so by Cisco Technical Support.
However, if you are creating an Ethernet adapter policy for a Windows OS (instead of using the default Windows adapter policy), you must use the following formulas to calculate values that work with Windows:
- Completion Queues = Transmit Queues + Receive Queues
- Interrupt Count = (Completion Queues + 2) rounded up to nearest power of 2
For example, if Transmit Queues = 1 and Receive Queues = 8 then:
- Completion Queues = 1 + 8 = 9
- Interrupt Count = (9 + 2) rounded up to the nearest power of 2 = 16
Creating a Fibre Channel Adapter Policy
Procedure
Step 1 In the Navigation pane, click the Servers tab. Step 2 On the Servers tab, expand . Step 3 Expand the node for the organization where you want to create the policy. If the system does not include multi-tenancy, expand the root node.
Step 4 Right-click Fibre Channel Policies and choose Create Fibre Channel Adapter Policy. Step 5 Enter a name and description for the policy in the following fields:
Name Description Name field
The name of the policy.
This name can be between 1 and 16 alphanumeric characters. You cannot use spaces or any special characters, and you cannot change this name after the object has been saved.
Description field
A description of the policy. We recommend including information about where and when the policy should be used.
Enter up to 256 characters. You can use any characters or spaces except ^ (carat), \ (backslash), > (greater than), < (less than), ' (single quote), " (double quote), ` (accent mark).
Step 6 (Optional)In the Resources area, adjust the following values:
Name Description Transmit Queues field
The number of transmit queue resources to allocate.
This value cannot be changed.
Ring Size field
The number of descriptors in each transmit queue.
Enter an integer between 64 and 128.
Receive Queues field
The number of receive queue resources to allocate.
This value cannot be changed.
Ring Size field
The number of descriptors in each receive queue.
Enter an integer between 64 and 128.
SCSI I/O Queues field
The number of SCSI IO queue resources the system should allocate.
Enter an integer between 1 and 8.
Note At this time, the Cisco M81KR VIC adapter only supports one SCSI I/O queue.
Ring Size field
The number of descriptors in each SCSI I/O queue.
Enter an integer between 64 and 512.
Step 7 (Optional)In the Options area, adjust the following values:
Name Description FCP Error Recovery field
Whether the system uses FCP Sequence Level Error Recovery protocol (FC-TAPE). This can be:
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows or Linux.
Flogi Retries field
The number of times that the system tries to log in to the fabric after the first failure.
Enter any integer. To specify that the system continue to try indefinitely, enter infinite or -1 in this field.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Flogi Timeout field
The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again.
Enter an integer between 1000 and 255000.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Plogi Retries field
The number of times that the system tries to log into a port after the first failure.
Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows or Linux.
Plogi Timeout field
The number of milliseconds that the system waits before it tries to log in again.
Enter an integer between 1000 and 255000.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Error Detect Timeout field
The number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that an error has occurred.
This value cannot be changed.
Port Down Timeout field
The number of milliseconds a remote Fibre Channel port should be offline before informing the SCSI upper layer that the port is unavailable.
Enter an integer between 0 and 240000.
Tip For a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running the ESX host, the recommended value is 10000.
Port Down IO Retry field
The number of times an IO request to a port is returned because the port is busy before the system decides the port is unavailable.
Enter an integer between 0 and 255.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Link Down Timeout field
The number of milliseconds the uplink port should be offline before it informs the system that the uplink port is down and fabric connectivity has been lost.
Enter an integer between 0 and 240000.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Resource Allocation Timeout field
The number of milliseconds to wait before the system assumes that a resource cannot be properly allocated.
This value cannot be changed.
IO Throttle Count field
The number of I/O operations that can be pending in the vHBA at one time.
Enter an integer between 1 and 1024.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Windows.
Max LUNs Per Target field
The maximum number of LUNs that the driver will export. This is usually an operating system platform limitation.
Enter an integer between 1 and 1024. The recommended value is 1024.
Note This option only applies to a server with a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC, running Linux or ESX host.
Interrupt Mode field
The preferred driver interrupt mode. This can be:
MSI-X—Message Signaled Interrupts(MSI) with the optional extension. This is the recommended option.
MSI—MSI only.
INTx—PCI INTx interrupts.
Note This option is not used by a VIC adapter, such as the Cisco M81KR VIC.
Step 8 Click OK. Step 9 If Cisco UCS Manager GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.
