Virtual Fibre Channel for HMC-managed systems

On systems that are managed by the Hardware Management Console (HMC), you can dynamically add and remove virtual Fibre Channel adapters to and from the Virtual I/O Server logical partition and each client logical partition. You can also view information about the virtual and physical Fibre Channel adapters and the worldwide port names (WWPNs) by using Virtual I/O Server commands.

To enable N_Port ID Virtualization (NPIV) on the managed system, you create the required virtual Fibre Channel adapters and connections as follows:

  • You use the HMC to create virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the Virtual I/O Server logical partition and associate them with virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the client logical partitions.
  • You use the HMC to create virtual Fibre Channel adapters on each client logical partition and associate them with virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the Virtual I/O Server logical partition. When you create a virtual Fibre Channel adapter on a client logical partition, the HMC generates a pair of unique WWPNs for the client virtual Fibre Channel adapter.
  • You can connect the virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the Virtual I/O Server to the physical ports of the physical Fibre Channel adapter by running the vfcmap command on the Virtual I/O Server.

The HMC generates WWPNs based on the range of names available for use with the prefix in the vital product data on the managed system. This 6–digit prefix comes with the purchase of the managed system and includes 32,000 pairs of WWPNs. When you remove a virtual Fibre Channel adapter from a client logical partition, the hypervisor deletes the WWPNs that are assigned to the virtual Fibre Channel adapter on the client logical partition. The HMC does not reuse the deleted WWPNs when generating WWPNs for virtual Fibre Channel adapters in the future. If you run out of WWPNs, you must obtain an activation code that includes another prefix with another 32,000 pairs of WWPNs.

To avoid configuring the physical Fibre Channel adapter to be a single point of failure for the connection between the client logical partition and its physical storage on the SAN, do not connect two virtual Fibre Channel adapters from the same client logical partition to the same physical Fibre Channel adapter. Instead, connect each virtual Fibre Channel adapter to a different physical Fibre Channel adapter.

You can dynamically add and remove virtual Fibre Channel adapters to and from the Virtual I/O Server logical partition and to and from client logical partitions.
Table 1. Dynamic partitioning tasks and results for virtual Fibre Channel adapters
Dynamically add or remove virtual Fibre Channel adapter To or from a client logical partition or a Virtual I/O Server logical partition Result
Add a virtual Fibre Channel adapter To a client logical partition The HMC generates the a pair of unique WWPNs for the client virtual Fibre Channel adapter.
Add a virtual Fibre Channel adapter To a Virtual I/O Server logical partition You need to connect the virtual Fibre Channel adapter to a physical port on a physical Fibre Channel adapter.
Remove a virtual Fibre Channel adapter From a client logical partition
  • The hypervisor deletes the WWPNs and does not reuse them.
  • You must either remove the associated virtual Fibre Channel adapter from the Virtual I/O Server, or associate it with another virtual Fibre Channel adapter on a client logical partition.
Remove a virtual Fibre Channel adapter From a Virtual I/O Server logical partition
  • The Virtual I/O Server removes the connection to the physical port on the physical Fibre Channel adapter.
  • You must either remove the associated virtual Fibre Channel adapter from the client logical partition, or associate it with another virtual Fibre Channel adapter on the Virtual I/O Server logical partition.
The following table lists the Virtual I/O Server commands that you can run to view information about the Fibre Channel adapters.
Table 2. Virtual I/O Server commands that display information about Fibre Channel adapters
Virtual I/O Server command Information displayed by command
lsmap
  • Displays the virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the Virtual I/O Server that are connected to the physical Fibre Channel adapter
  • Displays attributes of the virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the client logical partitions that are associated with the virtual Fibre Channel adapters on the Virtual I/O Server that are connected to the physical Fibre Channel adapter
lsnports Displays information about the physical ports on the physical Fibre Channel adapters that support NPIV, such as:
  • The name and location code of the physical port
  • The number of available physical ports
  • The total number of WWPNs that the physical port can support
  • Whether the switches, to which the physical Fibre Channel adapters are cabled, support NPIV

You can also run the lshwres command on the HMC to display the remaining number of WWPNs and to display the prefix that is currently used to generate the WWPNs.