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, Cisco recommends using 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 a WWN Pool

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, Cisco recommends using the following WWN prefix for all blocks in a pool: 20:00:00:25:B5:XX:XX:XX

Procedure
     Command or ActionPurpose
    Step 1UCSC# connect policy-mgr  

    Enters policy manager mode.

     
    Step 2UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name  

    Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name.

     
    Step 3UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create wwn-pool wwn-pool-name {node-and-port-wwn-assignment | node-wwn-assignment | port-wwn-assignment}  

    Creates a WWN pool with the specified name and purpose, and enters organization WWN pool mode. This can be one of the following:

    • node-and-port-wwn-assignment—Creates a WWxN pool that includes both world wide node names (WWNNs) and world wide port names (WWPNs).

    • node-wwn-assignment—Creates a WWNN pool that includes only WWNNs.

    • port-wwn-assignment—Creates a WWPN pool that includes only WWPNs.

     
    Step 4UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool # set descr description   (Optional)

    Provides a description for the WWN pool.

    Note   

    If your description includes spaces, special characters, or punctuation, you must begin and end your description with quotation marks. The quotation marks will not appear in the description field of any show command output.

     
    Step 5UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool # set descr description   (Optional)

    Provides a description for the WWN pool.

    Note   

    If your description includes spaces, special characters, or punctuation, you must begin and end your description with quotation marks. The quotation marks will not appear in the description field of any show command output.

     
    Step 6UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool # set max-ports-per-node {15-ports-per-node | 3-ports-per-node | 31-ports-per-node | 63-ports-per-node | 7-ports-per-node}  

    For WWxN pools, specify the maximum number of ports that can be assigned to each node name in this pool. The default value is 3-ports-per-node.

    Note   

    The pool size for WWxN pools must be a multiple of ports-per-node + 1. For example, if you specify 7-ports-per-node, the pool size must be a multiple of 8. If you specify 63-ports-per-node, the pool size must be a multiple of 64.

     
    Step 7UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool # create block first-wwn last-wwn  

    Creates a block (range) of WWNs, and enters organization WWN pool block mode. You must specify the first and last WWN in the block using the form nn:nn:nn:nn:nn:nn:nn:nn, with the WWNs separated by a space.

    Note   

    A WWN pool can contain more than one WWN block. To create multiple WWN blocks, you must enter multiple create block commands from organization WWN pool mode.

     
    Step 8UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/block # exit  

    Exits organization WWN pool block mode.

     
    Step 9UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/iqn-pool/block # commit-buffer  

    Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

    Note   

    If you plan to create another pool, wait at least 5 seconds.

     

    The following example shows how to create a WWNN pool named GPool1, provide a description for the pool, specify a block of WWNs and an initiator to be used for the pool, and commit the transaction: 

    UCSC # connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org /
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create wwn-pool GPool1 node-wwn-assignment
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool* # set descr "This is my WWNN pool"
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool* # create block 20:00:00:25:B5:00:00:00 20:00:00:25:B5:00:00:01
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/block* # exit
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/initiator* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/initiator #

    The following example shows how to create a WWxN pool named GPool1, provide a description for the pool, specify seven ports per node, specify a block of eight WWNs to be used for the pool, and commit the transaction: 

    UCSC # connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr)# scope org /
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # create wwn-pool GPool1 node-and-port-wwn-assignment
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool* # set descr "This is my WWxN pool"
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool* # set max-ports-per-node 7-ports-per-node
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool* # create block 20:00:00:25:B5:00:00:00 20:00:00:25:B5:00:00:08
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/block* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org/wwn-pool/block #
    What to Do Next

    • Include the WWPN pool in a vHBA template.

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

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

    Deleting a WWN Pool

    If you delete a pool, does not reallocate any addresses from that pool that were assigned to vNICs or vHBAs. 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
       Command or ActionPurpose
      Step 1UCSC# connect policy-mgr  

      Enters policy manager mode.

       
      Step 2UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org org-name  

      Enters organization mode for the specified organization. To enter the root organization mode, type / as the org-name.

       
      Step 3UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete wwn-pool wwn-pool-name  

      Deletes the specified WWN pool.

       
      Step 4UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # commit-buffer  

      Commits the transaction to the system configuration.

      Note   

      If you plan to delete another pool, wait at least 5 seconds.

       

      The following example shows how to delete the WWNN pool named GPool1 and commit the transaction: 

      UCSC # connect policy-mgr
UCSC(policy-mgr) # scope org /
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org # delete wwn-pool GPool1
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org* # commit-buffer
UCSC(policy-mgr) /org #