HP 3Gb SAS Switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class - Manual (Page 5)

Part I Basic information and concepts
HP Virtual SAS Manager (VSM) is the software application used to configure HP SAS BL Switches, including
tasks such as creating and managing hardware-based zone groups. These zone groups allocate resources
for device load balancing purposes and for selectively allowing access to data. For planning purposes,
zone groups and assignments can be pre-configured, even if servers or disk drives are not yet installed.
Embedded in the SAS BL Switch firmware, VSM can be deployed in two operating modes:
•
Graphical User interface (GUI)—See “VSM GUI” (page 10)
•
Command Line Interface (CLI)—See “VSM CLI” (page 57)
About this document
•
This document assumes that all associated devices are physically installed and all required software
components are installed on the servers. For hardware compatibility information, supported operating
system versions, and supported Internet browser versions, see the SAS switch QuickSpecs. Review the
QuickSpecs and verify that supported versions are installed on the devices.
•
Examples in this document use dual SAS BL Switches installed in an HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure.
•
For information about installing and cabling the switch, see the following user documents, available
on the 3Gb SAS BL Switch page of the HP Manuals website
http://www.hp.com/support/manuals :
◦ HP StorageWorks 3Gb SAS BL Installation Instructions
◦ HP StorageWorks 3Gb SAS BL User Guide
◦ HP Direct-Connect External SAS Storage for HP BladeSystem Solutions Deployment Guide
•
Information is located as follows in this guide:
Example procedures: “Example: Configuring shared SAS storage enclosures” (page 18) ◦
◦ Example procedures: “Example: Configuring zoned SAS storage enclosures” (page 27)
◦ Field details: “Tasks in the VSM Zoning tab” (page 34)
◦ Field details: “Tasks in the VSM Maintain tab” (page 44)
About solutions using the SAS BL Switch
Consider the following:
•
In dual-domain configurations with two switches in the same interconnect bay row of the HP BladeSystem
c-Class enclosure, both switches can process I/O, but the VSM utility can be active on only one of the
switches. Switch status (Active or Passive) is shown in the VSM navigation tree. If you log in to the
switch with the passive VSM and want to make any zoning configuration changes, you must exit VSM
for that switch and log back in to the switch with the active VSM.
•
Zoning is created and managed through the VSM, but the storage is configured, formatted, and
partitioned using software utilities such as the HP Array Configuration Utility (ACU), HP Storage
Management Utility (SMU), and Microsoft Disk Manager.