how do I get the server to "see" the CX300 SAN

I have 2 questions first:

Is the new server attached to a FC switch or is it connected directly to the CX300?

If it is connected to a FC switch,  did you create new zones and add a storage port and HBA port to them?

If it is direct connected to the CX300,  does "connectivity status" show the new server?

it is connected via fiber to a Fiber Switch.

when i IP into the Switch I saw that it had two zones set up, am I somehow supposed to add this new server in there somehow?

thanks

Please see the BOLD  question/statement

Install the server and HBA's. do you mean the OS? (in this case windows 2003 server) and the HBA drivers? YES

Connect up to a FC switch.      Connected

Zone the WWPN's of the HBA's to the appropriate SP WWPN's.   Can I get the WWN for the HBA from device manager? There is normally a utility from the HBA manufacturer that will allow you to see these.

Check the connectivity status of the array to see that the HBA's are logged in.   Do I see this from the web interface of the SAN? You need to log into the Navipshere Manager GUI to see this

Set up the HBA failover and array commpath settings.  I havent seen tis anywhere, even on the servers that are connected, whats commpath? These are settings that the Clariion Array uses. See Primus solution EMC99467 and EMC107962.

Attach server and luns to a storage group.          If i remember properly, this is from inside the Web interface of the SAN right? This is done via the Navisphere Manager GUI.

Jim

Ill have to go and download the Navisphere manager, as the only way i have been getting into the SAN was via IP and Internet explorer, and im sure the manager is probaly the better way to go.  Ill check this site for that software.

As for the WWN usility for the HBA, ill have to go to the HP site and see if I can find that utility, as the company that we bought this from, only gave me the server install software, and only installed the driver, and nothing more.

please see underline.

Zone the WWPN's of the HBA's to the appropriate SP WWPN's.   Can I get the WWN for the HBA from device manager? There is normally a utility from the HBA manufacturer that will allow you to see these.   When I looked at the switch via IP, i saw that is already had a couple of zones in there that must have been created when the original server was installed.   Can I re-use that zone, or somehow just add this server to it (the old server is still on and in place)?

DeVioD   you dont need to download anything.  You are accessing the array the correct way thru IE.  It is called Navisphere Manager whern you access it that way.   To check to see if a server is logged into the array,  you can right click on your array and select "connectivity Status" from the menu.  If you see the new server listed there then you know that you have the "zoning" correct.  If it is logged in but not registered, then you can either restart the navisphere agent service taht is running on the server or just reboot it.

As for the HBA utility,  if the HBA is a qlogic,  then download SanSurfer from the Qlogic site.   That will show you the WWN's.  If it is an emulex, i think the utility is called HBAnywhere...

Wht type of FC switch is it?

As for the Zoning,   I would create a new set of zones for this new server.  I assume that you have 2 Fc switches with either 1 HBA or 1 Port off a Dual port HBA plugged into each one?

The basic steps to set up a server to see an array are as follows -

Install the server and HBA's.

Connect up to a FC switch.

Zone the WWPN's of the HBA's to the appropriate SP WWPN's.

Check the connectivity status of the array to see that the HBA's are logged in.

Set up the HBA failover and array commpath settings.

Attach server and luns to a storage group.

Jim

1)       i dont follow what you mean "either 1 HBA or 1 Port off a Dual port HBA  plugged into each one

          HBA's can come in a few diferent hardware configs.  they will be either a single card with one or two ports on it.  If your server has 2 physical cards each with one port on it then you want to cable one card to one switch.  If you have 1 physical card with 2 ports on it then you cable 1 port to each switch.  Looks like you got that step down already.

2)   When I was IP's into the switch, i didnt se anything in there about  Zone'ing.  would it be called something else?

          Since you are using the IP's to get to the switches and not a program called Fabric Manager, i am going to assume they are Brocade switches branded by EMC.   When you login, does it show a graphic of the switch in the cneter and have a tree menu on the left?  if so that is brocade. 

i have two fiber switches that i assume came with the SAN (im not sure of brad, but probably EMC as thye look to be bought together).  Each Fc switch one has 6 (i believe, im at home right now, so not 100% sure) ports each .

i dont follow what you mean "either 1 HBA or 1 Port off a Dual port HBA plugged into each one"

the server has two HBA's and I have plugged one in the top switch and the second in the lower switch.

the BA's ont he server are HP, so ill go get that utility

When I was IP's into the switch, i didnt se anything in there about Zone'ing.  would it be called something else?

I cant say how much I appreciate the help here, i have been stressing on this for weeks (i had to destroy domain security as the previous IT people walked out with the U and P for the web interface), and im running out of time, as it is a school, and I need to get this new server on like yesterday! lol

1) yep, two seperate cards, and i plugged one into each switch

2) I see a graphic of the switch, and i dont recall (I will verify tmorrow) a tree menu on the left.  But below the graphic it has some menus and I have been clicking on Admin and then logging into the switch (I believe they are brocade by EMC)

Once you have made the physical connectivity between the two HBA's and the switch,you need to zone the HBA to the clariion target ports.The Clariion FC ports has to be connected as well to ports on the physical switch.Please refer the switch vendor manual on steps to perform the zoning.Once zoning is done,the connectivity status would list the connections between the HBA and the clariion target ports.Please install navisphere agent and start the agent.This would automatically register the connections.You couldd then add the host to a storage group and assign luns to it in the storage group.The host will be able to view the luns.You could also install a multipathing software(e.g Powerpath) to manage the paths.

If you have the FC cables connected from the HBA's to the switch, and you can IP into the switch GUI, you should be able to see the WWPN's of the HBA's in th switch GUI, as you can identify which port on the switch they are plugged into.

Once you have this info check to see if there is an active zone, and that zone is in an active config.

Then you can verirfy the array sees the server....

Ok  i am taking this from memory since i havent worked on a brocade for about 10 months but i think that in the lower left there are some buttons you can click on.   One will be labeled "name Server".  That button will show you the WWN's that are plugged into each port.  Another button will be the "zone Admin" or something close.  That will bring up the zoning part of the GUI.

There will be 3 tabs if i remember right in the zone admin window.

What you will need to do is:

1     Create an alias for the new servers HBA.  Something like Server_Name_HBA1 or something.  This is done on the first tab.

2     Create a new zone and add that alias along with the storage port.   This is done on the second tab.

3     Add the new zone to the active zoneset config   This is done on the third tab.

4     On the menu at the top of the screen, there will be an option for "saving" the zoneset and enabling the zoneset.

It sounds like you have a very small SAN environment but best practice is to create a single zone that contains a storage port WWN and a HBA wwn.  This means that you will be making at least 2 new zones on each switch.  You will do this twice in step 2 listed above.

Once you get the zoning done and activated, you can then follow the instructions above to verify connectivity and register the HBA's with the array.

I am doing this all from memory so some of the menu names and places they are at might be wrong.  so look around for them.

When you get this part done, come back and we will work thru getting your new server some storage.

Thanks

Il give this a look tomorrow and let you know the outcome (i think the forums are down tomorrow but will post as soon as i can).

i wonder why it is made so complex?

it would be nice if you could attach the storage like you can in Windows 7, although I understand the security prospective, but would have thought that if you are using a good OS security as well as share security this would be pretty redundant!  but then again im a newbie here.

ill let you know, and thanks so much for your help so far.

j.

One thing to remember about zoning the switches is that after you create a new zone, you must add that new zone to the existing zoneset and then "apply" - that adds the zone so that if the switch reboots it does not lose the change you made. The apply means that you make this zone active along with the rest.

As for complexity, this is using fiber channel - that makes it more complex. Even with Windows 7 if you tried to attach to a SAN device you would still need to set up the HBAs, create the zoning on the switches, make the physical connections from the host to the switch and a bunch of other things. With a stand-along Windows 2003 server, it's acutally easiler that say using VMWare and VM's running Windows 2008.

glen