Windows Server 2003 Storport Action / Experiences ?

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Andy Ball - 22 Jan 2005 10:36 GMT

Looking to do a Windows Server 2003 build for Exchange \ SQL Server and been
researching about the new Storport driver model as per link below.

All sounds good, seems the best way to go but wondering if anyone here has
real world experiences to share ? Number one concern is stability obviously
, but also would be interested to hear of any benchmark / performance stuff.
Aiming to do our own of course

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/storage/technologies/storport/defau
lt.mspx

What I know already :

- Vendor Driver / Firmware / Match up / HCL HCL HCL HCL HCL HCL HCL :-)
- Check Vendor support.
- Test Test Test Test with realistic workloads.
- Operational Testing / failover etc.
- Hotfixes - http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;883646

Environment is HP DL580/585 QLogic 2340 HBA's , EMC Clariion Cx700

cheers,
Andy.

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Ryan Sokolowski [Avanade] - 24 Jan 2005 19:54 GMT

Yes, I've done implementations with almost this exact config...QLogic 2340s
and EMC CLARiiON...also combined it with Boot-from-SAN (but was on Dell
servers). Everything worked very nicely; be sure to get the EMC-specific
Storport drivers directly from the QLogic web site for best results.

Also, make sure everything is up-to-snuff with your HBA firmware, server
BIOSes, etc. You wouldn't believe how minor differences can make a
difference sometimes...

I didn't notice any performance issues with the combination - I've always
liked the QLogic HBAs as well as the Emulex ones (bonus: you can save some
money as the QLogic ones can be less expensive). Many times your
performance issues can be resolved by ensuring that you know what you are
doing with regards to SAN switch zoning, multipathing, cabling, etc.

EMC preaches "Single HBA Zoning" and I subscribe to that philosophy. EMC
has some great documents on their site around HBA / hardware compatibility
testing, so check there...Brocade (if that's your switch vendor [and I hope
for you that they are]) also has good information on their Brocade Connect
site...good resources abound...

Best of luck to you!

Signature

Ryan Sokolowski
MCSE, CCNA, CCDA, BCFP
Avanade
http://www.Avanade.com

"A troubleshooter's best tool is the Event Viewer and understanding the
events and messages contained therein."

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

> Looking to do a Windows Server 2003 build for Exchange \ SQL Server and
> been researching about the new Storport driver model as per link below.
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> cheers,
> Andy.

Reply to this Message

Andy Ball - 25 Jan 2005 03:02 GMT

Ryan,

thanks for that , good to hear someone using a similar config to ours is not
having probs. We are using McData switches.

Hear you re Firmware / Drivers etc, we have been very careful in the past
with this.

One thing I didn't mention is that we use EMC Powerpath for MPIO with 2
QL2340's in each host. We don't intend to use the Win2k3 MPIO.

thanks again,
Andy.

> Yes, I've done implementations with almost this exact config...QLogic
> 2340s and EMC CLARiiON...also combined it with Boot-from-SAN (but was on
[quoted text clipped - 43 lines]
>> cheers,
>> Andy.

Reply to this Message

Geoff N. Hiten - 25 Jan 2005 03:16 GMT

I don't think EMC fully supports MPIO yet, but they are building a future
version of PowerPath around it. I have a couple of CX-600s using McData
switches and 4 Emulex HBAs per host node. Single-HBA zoning is the only way
to get 16 pathways to work. We recently upgraded to the latest PowerPath to
get StorPort support. Emulex had a bug where it didn't release the SCSI
reservation on the bus if the host bluescreened. Clustering without
failover isn't very fun. So far (60-90 days) there have been no problems.
My counterpart here has a CX-700 with QLogic HBAs and hasn't had any
problems with connectivity. Don't ask about DAE reliability and Clariion
stability. I think they have the bugs out of the CX-700 line by now. At
least he seems to be getting some sleep lately.

Signature

Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com

I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org

> Ryan,
>
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
> >> obviously , but also would be interested to hear of any benchmark /
> >> performance stuff. Aiming to do our own of course

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/storage/technologies/storport/defau
lt.mspx

> >> What I know already :
> >>
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> >> cheers,
> >> Andy.

Reply to this Message

Jeff Goldner [MS] - 25 Jan 2005 16:00 GMT

If you are using QLogic HBAs, single HBA zoning is a must. Since QLogic
loads firmware from the driver, that's one less thing to worry about (the
BIOS firmware image is not used at runtime).

In this configuration, you are not likely to see any perf differences. This
is more likely to be shown on macho servers with many adapters and many
spindles. Not all HBA vendors have tuned their drivers for Storport either
and this is an ongoing process so stay up-to-date with latest qualified
driver supported by your storage vendor.

Jeff [MS]

>I don't think EMC fully supports MPIO yet, but they are building a future
> version of PowerPath around it. I have a couple of CX-600s using McData
[quoted text clipped - 83 lines]
>> >> cheers,
>> >> Andy.

Reply to this Message

Andy Ball - 25 Jan 2005 20:13 GMT

thanks Jeff (and Ryan and Geoff)

The Servers are quite macho / 4 x Operton on a HP DL 585 , 8GB RAM and prob
up to 15 spindles for some data. Or is that quite weedy these days ? :-)

thanks again
Andy.

> If you are using QLogic HBAs, single HBA zoning is a must. Since QLogic
> loads firmware from the driver, that's one less thing to worry about (the
[quoted text clipped - 99 lines]
>>> >> cheers,
>>> >> Andy.

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