This e-Learning module guides you through several setup tasks for the IBM(R) SAN Volume Controller system. You need to perform these tasks after you have installed your hardware and created the clustered system. You will learn about setting up zoning, storage systems, and hosts. You will also learn about the types of data migration that are supported.
A system administrator typically completes these initial set up tasks. However, you can also engage with the IBM Storage and Technology Group Lab Services System Storage team to perform these tasks.
One of the first tasks that you will want to complete is zoning configuration, which is performed at the switch level. The SAN Volume Controller system is one component of a SAN, which uses switches, switch fabrics, and switch zones to connect host systems to storage devices. To set up redundancy, configure two separate switch fabrics. Switches from different vendors can be used together in the same configuration, but each vendor might have a different suggested configuration process, so check the documentation carefully.
You configure the switches to define two distinct types of zones in the SAN fabric: a host zone and a storage system zone. The host zone consists of the SAN Volume Controller system and hosts. Define a separate host zone for each host. If you have any attached external storage systems, define a single storage system zone that consists of those storage systems and the SAN Volume Controller system. In this way, hosts view the volumes as their assigned storage devices.
In addition, although it is not required, it is generally a good idea to group nodes into a separate zone, as a way to ensure communication among nodes.
To maximize system performance and avoid problems, you need to correctly configure any new storage systems to work with the SAN Volume Controller product. The general steps for setting up a storage system include formatting and creating storage arrays, creating a single logical unit number, or LUN, for each storage array, assigning redundant array of independent disks, or RAID, types, and presenting the LUNs to the SAN Volume Controller product as you would to a host system. Many storage system types are supported, and each system might use a different terminology and set of configuration procedures, so you will want to refer to the system documentation.
The SAN Volume Controller product supports a variety of IBM and non-IBM host systems to help make your storage easier to manage, increase data usage, and help consolidate storage capacity and workloads into a single storage pool. To configure a Fibre Channel host, first install the appropriate host bus adapter, or HBA, and the HBA driver on your host system. Next, zone the host to the SAN Volume Controller product and install the appropriate multipathing driver for the host system. To configure an iSCSI host, select an iSCSI initiator and then install and configure the iSCSI and multipathing device drivers. This process for configuring supported host systems will differ depending on the host type, operating system, and device drivers. For more detailed information, see the host attachment e-Learning modules or the host attachment topics in IBM Knowledge Center.
The SAN Volume Controller product supports several types of migration, including volume mirroring, storage migration to or from the system using image mode, and volume migration between I/O groups or between storage pools. You can migrate data while the host I/O is running. You can perform data migration using the management GUI and the storage migration wizard. For more information, see IBM Knowledge Center.
After completing these tasks, your next step is to access the management GUI and begin configuring the system. To learn how to perform these tasks, visit IBM Knowledge Center and the Getting Started e-Learning module.
In this e-Learning module, you learned about the initial setup tasks for the SAN Volume Controller product.
To learn more, see the other e-Learning modules and help topics in IBM Knowledge Center.