Logical units and target ports on HP 3PAR systems

Edit online

Partitions (volumes) on HP 3PAR storage arrays are exported as Virtual Volumes with a Virtual Logical Unit number (VLUN) that is either manually or automatically assigned to the partition.

LUNs

HP 3PAR storage arrays have highly developed thin provisioning capabilities. The HP 3PAR storage array has a maximum Virtual Volume size of 16 TB. A partition Virtual Volume is referenced by the ID of the VLUN.

HP 3PAR storage arrays can export up to 4096 LUNs to the system, which is the maximum limit. The largest Logical Unit size that is supported by the system under PTF 6.2.0.4 is 2 TB. The system display does not display or exceed this capacity.

LUN IDs

HP 3PAR storage arrays identifies exported Logical Units through SCSI Identification Descriptor type 3.

The 64-bit IEEE Registered Identifier (NAA=5) for the Logical Unit is in the form 5-OUI-VSID .

The 3PAR IEEE Company ID of 0020ACh, the rest is a vendor-specific ID (for example 50002AC000020C3A).

LUN creation and deletion

Virtual Volumes (VVs) and their corresponding Logical Units (VLUNs) are created, modified, or deleted through the provisioning option in the Management Console or through the CLI commands. VVs are formatted to all zeros upon creation.

To create a VLUN, complete these steps:
  1. Highlight the Provisioning menu.
  2. Select the Create Virtual Volume option.
  3. Select the appropriate Virtual Volume and right-click the VLUN to modify, resize, or destroy a VLUN.
Note: Delete the MDisk on the system before you delete the LUN on the HP 3PAR storage array.

LUN presentation

VLUNs are exported through the HP 3PAR storage array’s available FC ports by using the export options on Virtual Volumes. The Ports are designated at setup and configured separately as either Host or Target (Storage connection), with ports identified by a node : slot : port representation.

There are no constraints on which ports or hosts a logical unit may be addressable. To apply export to a logical unit, complete the following steps:
  1. Highlight the Virtual Volume that is associated with the Logical Unit.
  2. Select Export.

Special LUNs

There are no special considerations for Logical Unit numbering. LUN 0 can be exported where necessary.

Target ports on HP 3PAR systems

An HP 3PAR storage array can contain dual- or quad-ported FC cards. Each WWPN is identified with the pattern 2N:SP:00:20:AC:MM:MM:MM, where N is the node, S is the slot and P is the port number on the controller and N is the controller’s address. The MM:MM:MM represents the system's serial number.

Port 2 in slot 1 of controller 0 would have the World Wide Port Name (WWPN) of 20:12:00:02:AC:00:0C:3A The last 4 digits of serial number 1303130 in hex (3130=0x0C3A). This system has a World Wide Node Name (WWNN) for all ports of 2F:F7:00:02:AC:00:0C:3A.

LU access model

All controllers are Active/Active. In all conditions, it is recommended to multipath across FC controller cards to avoid an outage from controller failure. All HP 3PAR controllers are equal in priority, so there is no benefit to using an exclusive set for a specific LU.

LU grouping

The HP 3PAR system does not support LU grouping.

LU preferred access port

There are no preferred access ports on the HP 3PAR storage arrays as all ports are Active/Active across all controllers.

Detecting Ownership

Detecting ownership does not apply to HP 3PAR storage arrays.