Foreign Disks on Microsoft servers

[chuckcounty]

We have microsoft servers on an IBM shark using fibre channel and have seen foreign disks show up on the servers.
We are not sure where they are coming from or if they are a problem.

Any body have any ideas?

thanks in advance

 

[comtec17]

These could be disks that were once used by windows that are now deleted or are part of one of your current windows servers.

Are you using LUN Security?
Do you have more than one servers LUNS down the Sharks Director Port?

 

[chuckcounty]

No we are not using LUN security - Our Storage manager thinks we should be zoning alot more than we currently are.

Not sure about your second question.

thanks, chuck

 

[comtec17]

Your storage manager might have the same lun going down 2 shark ports or he has created a lun on the same shark port as your current server. You cannot control which lun is seen by which server unless you have LUN Security.

 

[gupel]

If you use IBM SDD driver you can find the volume number and check the assignment in the ESS Specialist.
But the best way to solve the problem - zoning on the switches.

 

[chuckcounty]

If I have 20 microsoft servers accessing the ESS thru 1 port, how many different zones do I need? It seems like we would need to create a zone for each Microsoft server and the ESS port if we wanted to eliminate the foreign disk issue. Sorry for my ignorance - I am an ethernet guy and have had the fibre channel switches dumped on me.

chuck

 

[comtec17]

Switch Level zoning will not help LUN level masking.

What type of Host Bus Adapters are in your servers?

If they are Emulex, you can map which luns you want to see.

 

[chuckcounty]

We are using qlogic cards. And SDD on the servers. Everything I read indicates zoning is not the answer.

Thanks for all of your responses.

 

[comtec17]

Are you using the Qlogic SAN Surfer Software or the QMJS? If not, you can download it from

http://www.qlogic.com/support/drivers_software.asp

and choose which model of HBA you are using. There will be a section for OEM models and Software. Download the SANSurfer software and you will be able to control which LUNS you want the OS to see for each server. This is called persistent binding. I hope this works out for you.

 

[gupel]

I would not use Qlogic SANSurfer together with SDD. If you have two HBAs going through two fabrics to two different ports of the Shark, SANSurfer will block one of the paths and you will loose load balansing future of SDD. If you have 20 servers and you are going to configure persistent binding on each server for 20+ LUN, you have a good chanse to mix-up. You can do the same in one plase - switch. We use one zone per server which include Shark WWN and server WWN. What king of switches do you use?

 

[gupel]

Sorry, one more thing: LUN assignment on the Shark.
How did you assign LUNs to the servers through ESS Storage Specialist?

 

[chuckcounty]

We are using IBM 2109-f16 switches (brocade). We are doing some zoning already.

Thansk again for your input.

 

[comtec17]

Zoning will not solve another systems disk for showing up onto a server. Withouth LUN Masking, your only way of preventing this is to use Persistant Binding.

I have installed and designed over 30 SANS with Disk, and there is no way around it using Zoning.

 

[chuckcounty]

thanks Comtec17 - if you are ever in Pittsburgh PA I will buy you a beer!