VMware VAAI hardware accelerated locking is not supported with IBM SAN Volume Controller or Storwize V7000 for Lenovo V6.4.0.0 or V6.4.0.1

Resolving The Problem

Abstract

VMware hosts using the Hardware Accelerated Locking feature of the VAAI API are not supported with Storwize V7000 for Lenovo or IBM SAN Volume Controller (SVC) V6.4.0.0 or V6.4.0.1. This is due to an issue that can cause both nodes in a Storwize V7000 for Lenovo or IBM SAN Volume Controller I/O Group to reboot simultaneously, leading to an I/O Group-wide loss of access.

Symptom

VMware hosts configured to use the Hardware Accelerated Locking feature of the VAAI API employ SCSI Compare and Write to control locking on Storwize V7000 for Lenovo and IBM SAN Volume Controller volumes.

An issue exists in the handling of Compare and Write commands in Storwize V7000 for Lenovo and IBM SAN Volume Controller V6.4.0.0 and V6.4.0.1 releases that can lead to both nodes in a Storwize V7000 for Lenovo or SVC I/O Group rebooting simultaneously. This reboot would cause a loss of access to all volumes presented by this I/O Group.

Customers are advised not to use the Hardware Accelerated Locking feature if they are running V6.4.0.0 or V6.4.0.1.

Please refer to VMware support documentation for instructions on how to disable the Hardware Accelerated Locking feature.

Solution

SVC V6.3.0.x and earlier levels are no affected by this issue.

This issue was resolved by APAR IC84869 in the SVC V6.4.0.2 PTF release.

Affected configurations

Cross-reference information