HP XP Racks - Manual (Page 7)

1 Overview
With External Storage, you connect volumes in external storage systems to HP XP7 Storage and
manage them as if they were one system.
This guide provides information and instructions for planning, set up, maintenance, and
troubleshooting the use of external volumes with HP XP7 Storage and its software products.
Features—multiple systems, common management
When a system consists of multiple storage systems, a host must usually be connected to all of the
systems. When a system administrator configures the connections from the host to volumes, he or
she follows different instructions for each of the storage systems.
With External Storage, the administrator configures the connection from the host to the HP XP7
Storage, then can manipulate mapped volumes in an external storage system in the same way as
volumes in the HP XP7 Storage.
Operations between storage systems can also involve different procedures. But with External
Storage, you perform them with the same HP software as when you use HP XP7 Storage systems.
For example, you will use the desired HP replication program for copy operations between HP
XP7 Storage and the external systems, including the following:
•
Copying data from a volume in HP XP7 Storage to a volume in the external system.
•
Copying data from a volume in an external system to a volume in another external system.
How External Storage works
A volume in an external storage system becomes an internal volume in HP XP7 Storage when you
map to it.
•
A local system port must be connected to the external storage system port with a fibre cable.
This route between ports is the "external path".
•
The external volume is represented in the HP XP7 Storage as an internal volume, and the path
between them is the “mapping path”.
•
The figure below shows the connection between the local and external storage systems. In
this figure, the external system is connected to the local system’s “external ports” via a switch
using the Fibre-Channel interface. An “external port” is an attribute assigned to HP XP7 Storage
ports.
Features—multiple systems, common management 7