Introduction
You can attach Linux on z Systems to a SAN environment
by using the Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP).
Using N_Port ID virtualization
Devices attach to the SAN fabric by logging in to it. The
device ports are called target ports or also N_ports.
Configuring FCP devices
To configure FCP devices you must configure
the IODF, define zones in the switch or fabric, control access to
the LUN with LUN masking, and configure the zfcp device driver. Under z/VM®, you might also need to
attach the FCP device.
Improving system availability by using multipathing
Multipath I/O provides failover and might improve performance.
You can configure multiple physical I/O paths between server nodes
and storage arrays into a single multipath device.
Booting the system by using SCSI IPL
SCSI IPL (initial program load) is the ability to load
a mainframe operating system from an FCP-attached SCSI device.
Logging using the SCSI logging feature The SCSI logging feature is of interest
primarily for software developers who are debugging software problems.
It can also be useful for administrators who track down hardware or
configuration problems.
Statistics available through sysfs
The zfcp device driver provides statistics through sysfs. This information is given for each FCP device.
I/O tracing using blktrace
The Linux kernel can collect events about all state changes
of I/O requests. Later, the blktrace utilities can derive data from
these events.
Collecting FCP performance data with ziomon
The performance monitor ziomon collects data relevant to
FCP performance, such as the FCP I/O configuration, I/O workload,
and the utilization of FCP resources.
Creating FCP performance reports
Using the output from ziomon, you can create three performance
reports by using the report commands.
Investigating the SAN fabric
As of version 2.1 the HBA API package includes two commands, zfcp_ping and zfcp_show that
help you to investigate your SAN fabric.
Hints and tips
Some common problems and ways to steer clear
of trouble.