Storage Pools

This chapter includes the following sections:

WWN Pools

A WWN pool is a collection of WWNs for use by the Fibre Channel vHBAs in a Cisco UCS domain. WWN pools created in Cisco UCS Central can be shared between Cisco UCS domains. You create separate pools for the following:

  • WW node names assigned to the server

  • WW port names assigned to the vHBA

  • Both WW node names and WW port names

Important:

A WWN pool can include only WWNNs or WWPNs in the ranges from 20:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 to 20:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF or from 50:00:00:00:00:00:00:00 to 5F:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FF. All other WWN ranges are reserved. To ensure the uniqueness of the Cisco UCS WWNNs and WWPNs in the SAN fabric, we recommend that you use the following WWN prefix for all blocks in a pool: 20:00:00:25:B5:XX:XX:XX

If you use WWN pools in service profiles, you do not have to manually configure the WWNs that will be used by the server associated with the service profile. In a system that implements multi-tenancy, you can use a WWN pool to control the WWNs used by each organization.

You assign WWNs to pools in blocks.

WWNN Pools

A WWNN pool is a WWN pool that contains only WW node names. If you include a pool of WWNNs in a service profile, the associated server is assigned a WWNN from that pool.

WWPN Pools

A WWPN pool is a WWN pool that contains only WW port names. If you include a pool of WWPNs in a service profile, the port on each vHBA of the associated server is assigned a WWPN from that pool.

WWxN Pools

A WWxN pool is a WWN pool that contains both WW node names and WW port names. You can specify how many ports per node are created with WWxN pools. The pool size for WWxN pools must be a multiple of ports-per-node + 1. For example, if there are 7 ports per node, the pool size must be a multiple of 8. If there are 63 ports per node, the pool size must be a multiple of 64.

Creating and Editing a WWN Pool

After creating a WWN pool you can edit by selecting the Edit icon on the overall summary page of the selected WWN pool. To select a WWN pool, go to All Pools page and select the WWN pool that you want to edit. The page redirects you to the overall summary page of the selected WWN pool.

Procedure
    Step 1   In the Actions bar, type Create WWN Pool and press Enter.

    This launches the Create WWN Pool dialog box.

    Step 2   In Basic, complete the following:
    1. Click Organization and select the location in which you want to create the pool.
    2. Enter name and description of the WWN pool.
    3. In the World Wide Name (WWN) Used For area, select one of the following:

      • Port (WWPN)—The pool is used for both WWNNs and WWPNs.

      • Node (WWNN)—The pool is used for WWNNs.

      • Both (WWxN)—The pool is used for WWNNs.

    Step 3   In WWN Blocks, complete the following:
    1. Click the Create icon.
    2. In the WWN Block Start column, enter the first WWN initiator in the block.
    3. In the Size column, enter the total number of WWN initiators in the pool.
    4. Click the Apply icon.

      Additional fields related to WWN pools are displayed.

    5. Click the WWNs tab, you can view a graphical representation of the number if WWN addresses in the pool, the number of assigned WWN addresses, and the duplicate MAC addresses and WWN summary.
    6. In Access Control, select the ID range access control policy to apply to this block. If you do not have a policy, you can create one by typing Create ID Range Access Control Policy in the task bar.
    Step 4   Click Create.
    Note   

    You must wait a minimum of 5 seconds before you create another pool.

    What to Do Next

    • Include the WWPN pool in a vHBA template.

    • Include the WWNN pool in a service profile or service profile template.

    • Include the WWxN pool in a service profile or service profile template.

    Deleting a Pool

    If you delete a pool, Cisco UCS Central does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that have been assigned to vNICs or vHBAs in Cisco UCS Manager. All assigned addresses from a deleted pool remain with the vNIC or vHBA to which they are assigned until one of the following occurs:

    • The associated service profiles are deleted.

    • The vNIC or vHBA to which the address is assigned is deleted.

    • The vNIC or vHBA is assigned to a different pool.

    Procedure
      Step 1   Click the Browse Tables icon and choose Pools.
      Step 2   In the Pool Name column, locate the pool that you want to delete.

      You can search for the pool in one of the following ways:

      • Browse through the list of pools.

      • Click the Search icon and enter the pool name.

      • Select a pool type from the Filters column.

      Step 3   Click the pool.

      This launches the overall summary page of the selected pool.

      Step 4   Click the Delete icon.

      If Cisco UCS Central displays a confirmation dialog box, click Delete.