Benefits

The Brocade Switch enables previously unattainable levels of scalability and performance in the SAN environment, such as the HP F16 Switch, HP Surestore Hub S10, HP Surestore Hub L10, and the
HP Surestore Bridge SCSI 4/2.

Investment protection of existing HP UX 10.20 and 11.0 server environments and host bus adapters is ensured with Brocade's fibre channel compatibility option QuickLoop (EPL).

Robust centralized SAN Management is enhanced by the Brocade switch's capabilities of instrumenting the SAN links. The Brocade switch monitors each of the 16 links' "health", providing port and device management and error detection and recovery. The Brocade switch is integrated with the HP's SAN Manager software for device management and configuration.

High availability is ensured at the component level via the Brocade switch redundant power supplies and hot swap fans. At a solution level the Brocade switch is fully certified with MC/ServiceGuard, MC/LockManager and MirrorDisk/UX.

Configuration Overview

The Brocade switch, A5624A/AZ is very straightforward to configure. The necessary configuration options for this product are:

• Base Switch Product A5624A or A5624AZ
  
• The number and type of GBICs needed; any mix
  
• The type of cable desired

The Brocade switch is pre configured with 16 universal ports and dual redundant power supplies.

Benefits

The Brocade Switch enables previously unattainable levels of scalability and performance in the SAN environment, such as the HP F16 Switch, HP Surestore Hub S10, HP Surestore Hub L10, and the
HP Surestore Bridge SCSI 4/2.

Investment protection of existing HP UX 10.20 and 11.0 server environments and host bus adapters is ensured with Brocade's fibre channel compatibility option QuickLoop (EPL).

Robust centralized SAN Management is enhanced by the Brocade switch's capabilities of instrumenting the SAN links. The Brocade switch monitors each of the 8 links' "health", providing port and device management and error detection and recovery. The Brocade switch is integrated with the HP's SAN Manager software for device management and configuration.

High availability is ensured at the component level via the Brocade switch redundant power supplies and hot swap fans. At a solution level the Brocade switch is fully certified with MC/ServiceGuard, MC/LockManager and MirrorDisk/UX.

Configuration Overview

The Brocade 2400 switches are very straightforward to configure. The necessary configuration options for this product are:

• Base Switch Product A5625A or A5625AZ
  
• The number and type of GBICs needed; any mix
  
• The type of cable desired
  

Please refer to this document for up to date support information as you configure storage solutions.

The Fibre Channel hub has 10 fiber optic ports and supports multiple connects to systems and storage devices. Two hubs may be connected together to provide "cascading". Hub cascading (more than one hub per loop) allows greater connectivity and distance. Adding and removing devices by plugging or unplugging from a hub port will not impact the operation of other existing nodes (devices).

In general, cables must be purchased (as options or as standalone products) with peripheral devices. Therefore, cables are not shipped with a system (host) bus adapter card. When ordering a Fibre Channel hub, you should order the number of fibre channel cables needed to attach to host adapter cards. For example, if the hub is connected to two hosts with one adapter card each, you would order two fibre channel cables with the hub. When ordering a Fibre Channel disk array, order the number and length of cables necessary to attach to either the host adapter cards (direct connect) or the hub, whichever the array is going to be attached to.

"Fair" arbitration prevents starvation of low priority devices, allowing reliable operation of much larger configurations than SCSI permits.

Since the hub is an electronic device and is subject to failure, for high availability, redundant loops using separate hubs are needed.

When configuring a cross campus high availability solution, use the hub to hub long wave interconnect solution. We recommend cabling host 1 to hub 1, which would connect to, and be racked with the local arrays (keep this distance relatively short, less than 100 meters). Hub 1 would then connect via long wave port to hub 2 at the second site. Hub 2 would be racked and connected locally to the secondary arrays and host system. Keep this secondary configuration distance relatively short as well.

Rail kits acquired prior to August 1998 were designed for the previous model 19 inch racks. In order for the hubs with the older rail kits to fit into the new racks, a spacer kit is required. After August 1998, the rail kits shipped with the hubs will contain the necessary parts to fit both the new racks and the old racks.

Due to thermal considerations, the following rack installations rules must be followed:

Selecting the appropriate Fibre Channel configuration for a particular customer and a particular workload is different, but no more complex, than designing with SCSI. Just as SCSI configurations of up to two host systems and four disk arrays are straightforward, Fibre Channel configurations of up to four host systems and nine disk arrays require no special attention.

The FC-SCSI Multiplexer (A3308A, A3511A/AZ) connects SCSI devices to HP 9000 servers via short wave Fibre Channel interconnects. Its high throughput design provides exceptional scalability of both performance and capacity for on line storage subsystems. In addition, the distancing capabilities inherent in Fibre Channel provide campus wide availability for On-line and Off-line SCSI devices.
The multiplexer is available as a stand-alone product (A3308A) and as a racked product for field racking (A3511A) and factory racking (A3511AZ). The multiplexer can be configured with one or two Fibre Channel cards for system connect and up to four FWD SCSI cards for connecting to disk or tape devices.

Additional FWD SCSI adapter cards for the multiplexer (A3509A) and short wave Fibre Channel (1 GB) adapter cards for the multiplexer (A3512A) can be purchased as add on or as options when ordering the FC SCSI multiplexer product. These additional cards can be ordered and installed in the customer environment by either HP or by customers.

Fibre Channel cables can be ordered with the multiplexer or as separate items. Fibre Channel cables are not generally supplied with the system host bus adapter. SCSI cables are generally supplied with the attached peripheral but may also be ordered separately (see SCSI cable listing in Configuration Guide).

The FC-SCSI multiplexer is self configuring in direct connect topologies and has an easy to use LCD front panel and an RS-232 serial console port for status reporting and troubleshooting.

Each multiplexer Fibre Channel port can access all the devices on all the installed SCSI buses. The multiplexer takes requests from the FC ports and forwards them to the appropriate SCSI device. In multi host configurations, it is up to the hosts to allocate shared devices to prevent conflicts. Only hosts are allowed on the FC side, and only storage subsystem devices are allowed on the SCSI side of the FC-SCSI Multiplexer.

The FC-SCSI multiplexer supports both On-line and Off-line mass storage solutions. On-line support for the Multiplexer include the HP AutoRAID Array Model 12H (A3700A/AZ), the HP HA Storage Systems (A3311A, A3312A/AZ) and legacy EMC Symmetrix (3100, 3130, 3200, 3230, 3500). Refer to standard SCSI guideline to configure disk devices behind the multiplexer's SCSI port. Keep in mind, however, that there are trade offs between capacity and performance.

Off-line support for the multiplexer includes the HP A48xxA DLT Libraries, STK Timberline 9490 ACS, and STK Redwood SD-3 ACS. As with shared SCSI, you may have only one active path to a tape drive to prevent multiple processes from writing to the same tape and causing loss of data integrity. Therefore, for tape support, only one host is allowed on the FC side and only tape devices and tape libraries are allowed on the SCSI side of the multiplexer. It is recommended that disk devices not be connected to the same multiplexer as tape devices. Under high load conditions in a mixed disk/tape environment, the disk devices could easily consume enough bandwidth to cause data starvation on the tape devices.

NOTE: 100 MB per second half duplex (200 MB per second full duplex) is the maximum bandwidth supported by the channel. However, actual performance will vary with each configuration and application, and will rarely actually achieve the maximum. Always consult a technical resource to ensure that proper expectations are set.

The FC-SCSI multiplexer can be configured with one or two Fibre Channel ports, each operating at 1063 Mbits/sec through short wave optics. These links permit a maximum distance of 500m. For additional scalability and distance, the multiplexer's FC side can be connected to the long wave (A4839A/AZ) and/or short wave (A3724A/AZ) hub.

On the SCSI side of the multiplexer, one to four SCSI ports can be configured, each supporting up to 15 Fast/Wide/Differential SCSI devices over a maximum distance of 25 meters. Devices are connected to the SCSI bus on the multiplexer just as they would be connected to a system host bus adapter.

Storage Device

11.0 not yet supported.

Configurations may be limited by performance considerations, including device bandwidth, bus bandwidth and aggregate multiplexer limits. System I/O bus limitations may also be a factor. Referring to specific device requirements, typical system configurations may restrict high performance devices to one or two per SCSI port in order to ensure sufficient bandwidth.

Check with your Hewlett Packard service representative to ensure that you have the required firmware and patches.

Hewlett Packard is committed to product quality. To assure high quality, extensive testing is required before a Fibre Channel configuration will be released. The following table contains the currently supported Fibre Channel functionality.

Storage Device

11.0 not yet supported.

10.20 TFC, 11.0

NOTE: For performance reasons, HP recommends that MC/LockManager installations use direct Fibre Channel links to EMC Symmetrix arrays wherever feasible. Where the number of connections to the EMC Symmetrix is a limitation, HP supports the use of Fibre Channel hubs under the following specific conditions:

1. A hub connects to a maximum of two hosts and one Symmetrix FC adapter. No other devices exist on that same loop.
   
2. The hosts are connected to each hub such that, during normal (that is, non failure) conditions, one host is active and the other is not.
   
3. Redundant paths to the Symmetrix exist for each host, and failure of a hub does not result in loss of connectivity for a host. (That is, the host can reach the Symmetrix via another connection, possibly through another hub.)
   It is important to note that, under failure conditions, I/O throughput may be somewhat degraded if the disk access pattern were such that a single host was using one half or more of the available loop capacity prior to the failure.

Because of HP's commitment to provide broad functionality with Fibre Channel, many more configurations are currently in test, and will be released as they become available. Configurations committed for future release are:

• 10 kilometer separation between long wave hubs.
  
• EMC Symmetrix (3330, 3430, and 3700) support on the short wave and long wave hubs for HP UX 11.0.
  
• EMC Symmetrix (3330, 3430, 3700) Fibre Channel connection to D Class for HP UX 11.0.
  
• Legacy EMC Symmetrix (3100, 3130, 3200, 3230, 3500) support on the multiplexer in a non High Availability environment for HP UX 11.0 (MC/ServiceGuard and MC/LockManager will not support this configuration). There are no plans to support Symmetrix 3330, 3430, or 3700 on the multiplexer.
  
• Fibre Channel boot support for HP UX 11.0 on D Class and on V Class.

Configurations may be limited by performance considerations, including device bandwidth, bus bandwidth and aggregate FC Bridge limits. System I/O bus limitations may also be a factor.

Check with your Hewlett Packard service representative to ensure that you have the required firmware and patches.

The Fibre Channel standard allows several different types of driver/receiver modules and several different types of cable. "Short wave" 500 metre optics are supported over 50 um multi mode (preferred) and 62.5 um multi mode (older, distance limited) fibre optic cable. "Long wave" 3000 metre optics are supported over 9 um single mode fibre optic cable, only for the connection between two (A4839A/AZ) cascaded hubs.

The cable recommended for short wave laser links is multi mode optical fiber with a 50 um core diameter. All supported optics are "non OFC". The 50 um fiber allows a maximum distance of 500 meters per link. The 62.5 um fiber used for LED links has lower bandwidth and is specified for up to 175 meters per link. All Fibre Channel optical links use a duplex SC connector that is different from connectors used for FDDI implementation. If a customer has 62.5 um fibre cable installed and wishes to use it, they must make sure the connectors are SC (if not, they must change them). Distances over 100 meters will require custom HP or 3rd party cabling and installation. It is recommended that a 9 um cable also be installed if a customer plans on upgrading to higher data rates or expanding the distance over 500 meters in the future.

The single mode (9 um) cable can ONLY be used for long wave attachment (distances up to 3 kilometers) and multi mode (50 um or 62.5 um) cable can ONLY be used for short wave attachment.

The following configuration rules apply to Fibre Channel. Some of these rules may change in the future as new functionality is introduced. While reviewing this list keep in mind that all devices connected to a hub, or to a pair of cascaded hubs, are connected to the same loop.

• 500 metre maximum individual cable length for connections to servers and to storage devices.
  
• 500 metre maximum cable length between cascaded short wave hubs (A3724A/AZ).
  
• 3 kilometer maximum cable length between cascaded long wave hubs (A4839A/AZ). In August, an announcement will explain how to extend this length to 10 kilometers.
  
• The sum of the lengths of all Fibre Channel cables on a loop may not exceed 5 kilometers. In August, an announcement will explain how to extend this to 13 kilometers.
  
• Signals propagate at 5 nanoseconds per metre. Therefore, for best performance, minimize total loop length. Make the connection between device and hub as short as possible. Use hub cascading to achieve distance.

• Hubs have 10 Fibre Channel ports.
  
• Maximum of two hubs per loop (referred to as "cascaded" hubs).
  
• No more than one Fibre Channel connection between hubs when cascading.
  
• Maximum of four SPU connections per loop.
  
• Heterogeneous host connect is permitted (i.e. D Class, K Class, T600, and V Class can be intermixed on a single loop).
  
• Do not intermix storage device families on a single loop.

• The multiplexer supports up to four Fast Wide Differential (FWD) SCSI ports and up to two Fibre Channel ports.
  
• The multiplexer Fibre Channel ports support connection to HP servers or to a hub.
  
• The multiplexer may only use one Fibre Channel port if the multiplexer is connected to a hub. The other Fibre Channel port must remain unused.
  
• The multiplexer may use both Fibre Channel ports if the ports are connected directly to one server or to two different servers. This only applies when disk devices are connected to the multiplexer SCSI ports. When tape devices are connected to the SCSI ports, only one Fibre Channel port may be used.
  
• The multiplexer Fast Wide Differential SCSI ports support connections to HP A48xxA DLT Libraries, HP SMART Storage Fast Wide Differential SCSI DLT tape mechanisms (C6374A, C6375A), StorageTek Timberline 9490 ACS, StorageTek Redwood SD 3 ACS, Legacy EMC Symmetrix (Models 31x0, 32x0, 3500), HP Model 12H AutoRAID disk array (A3700A/AD/AZ), and HP High Availability Storage System (A3311A, A3312A/AZ). For more information regarding a specific storage device configuration, refer to its section in this configuration rules list.
  
• The multiplexer Fast Wide Differential SCSI ports may not be connected to HP servers.
  
• Do not connect two multiplexer SCSI buses together, either on the same multiplexer or between two different multiplexers.
  
• Follow SCSI guidelines for connecting disk storage sub systems (A3700A/AD/AZ, A3311A, A3312A/AZ, and legacy EMC Symmetrix Models 3100, 3130, 3200, 3230, 3500) to the multiplexer SCSI ports. Keep in mind the trade off between capacity and performance.
  
• Do not connect SCSI disk devices and SCSI tape devices to the same multiplexer.
  

• The Model 30/FC has one Fibre Channel port per Storage Processor. There is a maximum of two Storage Processors per Model 30/FC.
  
• Maximum of nine physical connections to Model 30/FC devices per loop.
  
• Maximum of four servers can be connected to a single Model 30/FC (hub configuration rule).
  

• EMC 3700 has 16 Fibre Channel ports.
  
• EMC 3430 can have up to 12 Fibre Channel ports.
  
• EMC 3330 has 8 Fibre Channel ports.
  
• In a non hub, non High Availability environment, as many servers can be connected to a Symmetrix as there is available Fibre Channel ports.
  
• Maximum of eight Symmetrix ports connected to a single loop.

• Connected to Fibre Channel via the multiplexer.
  
• Only a single Fibre Channel connection to the multiplexer is permitted. The second Fibre Channel port must remain unused.
  
• The multiplexer must be directly connected via Fibre Channel to a single server. Hubs are not supported with Legacy EMC Symmetrix.
  
• The multiplexer configuration with Legacy Symmetrix is not supported by MC/ServiceGuard or MC/LockManager.

• Connected to Fibre Channel via the multiplexer.
  
• Only a single Fibre Channel connection to the multiplexer is permitted. The second multiplexer Fibre Channel port must remain unused.
  
• The multiplexer must be directly connected via Fibre Channel to a single server. Hubs are not supported with tape device configurations.
  
• Each multiplexer Fast Wide Differential (FWD) SCSI bus can connect to a maximum of one DLT 7000 or DLT 8000 tape drive mechanism or to a maximum of two DLT 4000 tape drive mechanisms. For example, A5586A DLT 8000 4/40 Library has four tape drive mechanism FWD SCSI ports. Each of the four FWD SCSI ports on the multiplexer attaches to one of the four FWD SCSI tape drive mechanism ports. Therefore, one DLT 8000 4/40 Library can be supported per multiplexer.
  
• The library robotic control port must be FWD SCSI to connect to the multiplexer FWD SCSI bus. The FWD SCSI robotic control port can be daisy chained to one tape drive mechanism FWD SCSI bus.
  
• The A4666A and A558xA libraries can be ordered with a multiplexer built in. The following Ultrium LVDS libraries can also be ordered with a multiplexer built in: A6311A, A6313A, A6315A, A6317A, A6319A, and A6321A.

• Connected to Fibre Channel via the multiplexer.

• Connected to Fibre Channel via the multiplexer

• 8 node clusters are supported under 10.20 TFC and 11.0.
  
• Because of OPS connectivity limitations, LockManager is limited to 4 nodes when used with Fibre Channel hubs.
  
• Pairs of independent loops are required (for path redundancy).
  
• Fibre Channel and SCSI bus types can be mixed within a single cluster.

The DTC 16TN is a high performance Telnet Terminal Server for HP 9000 systems and any system running the standard Telnet-TCP/IP protocols.

The DTC 16RX is a high performance communications server for the HP 9000 Enterprise Servers and for multi vendor environments, including HP 3000/900s, (RAFCP supported) or any system running the Telnet-TCP/IP protocol. It is managed by the DTC 16RX Manager on HP 9000 Enterprise Servers or workstations and provides routable data path and rackable management. Each DTC 16RX Manager can support many DTC 16RXs.

The DTC 72MX is a modular high performance communication server for HP 9000 Enterprise Servers and for multi vendor environments, including HP 3000/900 or any system running the Telnet TCP/IP protocol. The DTC 72MX offers X.25 and Telnet access card. This functionality is managed by the HP OpenView DTC Manager.

Each HP 9000 system can support multiple DTCs on the LAN. The number of active connections supported will be determined by the application load on the system.

Three types of software are available to configure and manage DTCs according to the level of functionality that is required and the network management needs.

1. HP DTC Manager/UX (J2120B)
   With the DTC host based management, a simple terminal connected locally or remotely to an HP 9000 system is used to manage DTCs. It provides a means to configure DTCs in HP 9000 standalone or multi system Telnet TCP/IP environments.
   
2. DTC 16RX Manager (J2496B)
   The DTC 16RX Manager is similar to the DTC Manager/UX, but manages only DTC 16RXs. It provides routable management and routable data path, HP 9000 and HP 3000 access, and back to back configuration.
   
3. PC running HP OpenView DTC Manager Software (D2355B)
   Note: DTC Manager 14.3 requires OpenView DOS/Windows® version 7.2. Therefore, you must either already have an OpenView product running on version 7.2 or purchase OpenView Runtime version 7.2 (32048E).
   The HP OpenView (PC based) DTC Manager software provides an easy to use graphical user interface to manage DTCs.
   

HP DTC Manager provides a means to configure DTCs for use to connect to HP 3000 Series 900 or HP 9000 systems and to other systems in multi vendor environments. It provides powerful network management features for complex network topologies.

In the case of the DTC 16RX, only the DTC configuration is downloaded from the DTC 16MX Manager. The code is resident in the DTC 16RX.
In both host based and PC based environments, the DTC software is downloaded from the management platform, allowing easy distribution and control of the DTC software.
For a detailed management features list, refer to the DTC Management Datasheet located in the Networking Communications Specification Guide (5091 3821E).

Local and remote (from X.25/PADs) end users can access systems through:

• Direct access on the LAN. This is true for the HP 9000 Series 700, 300, 400, and servers, HP 1000, and for other non HP Telnet/TCP/IP systems.
  
• Back to Back. Any system with asynchronous (RS 232) links can be connected to the asynchronous ports of the DTC. Terminal users hooked to the DTC can access systems connected to the same DTC (local switching) or to any other DTC (extended switching).

PAD support is provided through the use of an X.25 Network Access Card. As stated above, this functionality requires a configured PC with HP OpenView DTC Manager software.

An "X" in the table indicates that the DTC product or Management Platform can be chosen for the environment listed.

HP OpenView PC based

J2120B

The DTC 16TN and DTC 16RX use a compact standard 19 inch chassis identical to other HP products such as HP Ethertwist products, and are very easy to install in tabletop, wall mounted or rack mounted configurations.

They come with a compact RJ 45 breakout box for use with simple and low cost cabling. The RJ 45 pin out is ATT356 compliant to allow future migration from asynchronous devices to 10Base T LAN devices without change of cabling. For more details and configuration examples, refer to the DTC racking and cabling guide available with the DTC 16TN installation guide (5959 4986). The racking and cabling guide can be ordered separately as well (5961 0373).

The DTC 72MX has a 4 slot chassis that is compliant with the industry standard EIA 19 inch form factor (3 EIA height units). One slot is always used for the LAN interface. The three other slots are available for installing a combination of asynchronous, X.25 (up to three) and a Telnet Access (one only) board for communication with an HP 3000 system.

The following picture shows a DTC 72MX configured with one asynchronous processor board (24 ports), one X.25 board, and the HP 3000 Telnet access card.

• Nominal voltage of 100-127 and 200-240 VAC
  
• Total input power: 219 watts typical with 16 FL-ports
  
• Input line frequency: 50 to 60 Hz

• Nominal voltage of 100-127 and 200-240 VAC
  
• Total input power: 110 watts typical with 8 FL-ports
  
• Input line frequency: 50 to 60 Hz

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.