Storage Policies

This chapter includes the following sections:

vHBA Template

This template is a policy that defines how a vHBA on a server connects to the SAN. It is also referred to as a vHBA SAN connectivity template.

You must include this policy in a service profile for it to take effect.

Creating a vHBA Template

Procedure
    Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
    Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

    If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

    Step 3   Right-click vHBA Templates and choose Create vHBA Template.
    Step 4   In the Create vHBA Template dialog box, enter the Name and optional description.
    Step 5   Choose the Fabric ID, Select VSAN, and Template Type.
    Step 6   Choose the WWPN Pool, QoS Policy, and Stats Threshold Policy from the drop-down lists.

    You can also create a WWPN pool, QoS policy, and threshold policy from this dialog box.

    Step 7   Click OK.

    Deleting a vHBA Template

    Procedure
      Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
      Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

      If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

      Step 3   Expand vHBA Templates.
      Step 4   Right-click the vHBA Template that you want to delete and choose Delete.
      Step 5   If Cisco UCS Central GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

      Default vHBA Behavior Policy

      Default vHBA behavior policy allow you to configure how vHBAs are created for a service profile. You can choose to create vHBAs manually, or you can allow them to be created automatically.

      You can configure the default vHBA behavior policy to define how vHBAs are created. This can be one of the following:

      • None—Cisco UCS Central does not create default vHBAs for a service profile. All vHBAs must be explicitly created.
      • HW Inherit—If a service profile requires vHBAs and none have been explicitly defined, Cisco UCS Central creates the required vHBAs based on the adapter installed in the server associated with the service profile.

      Note

      If you do not specify a default behavior policy for vHBAs, none is used by default.

      Configuring Default vHBA Behavior

      If you do not specify a default behavior policy for vHBAs, none is used by default.

      Procedure
        Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
        Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

        You can only configure the default vHBA behavior policy in the root organization. You cannot configure the default vHBA behavior policy in a sub-organization.

        Step 3   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.
        Step 4   Right-click Default vHBA Behavior and choose Properties.
        Step 5   In the Properties (Default vHBA Behavior) dialog box, choose the Action and the optional vHBA Template.
        Step 6   Click OK.

        Ethernet and Fibre Channel Adapter Policies

        These policies govern the host-side behavior of the adapter, including how the adapter handles traffic. For example, you can use these policies to change default settings for the following:

        • Queues
        • Interrupt handling
        • Performance enhancement
        • RSS hash
        • Failover in an cluster configuration with two fabric interconnects

        Note

        For Fibre Channel adapter policies, the values displayed by Cisco UCS Central may not match those displayed by applications such as QLogic SANsurfer. For example, the following values may result in an apparent mismatch between SANsurfer and Cisco UCS Central:

        • Max LUNs Per Target—SANsurfer has a maximum of 256 LUNs and does not display more than that number. Cisco UCS Central supports a higher maximum number of LUNs.
        • Link Down Timeout—In SANsurfer, you configure the timeout threshold for link down in seconds. In Cisco UCS Central, you configure this value in milliseconds. Therefore, a value of 5500 ms in Cisco UCS Central displays as 5s in SANsurfer.
        • Max Data Field Size—SANsurfer has allowed values of 512, 1024, and 2048. Cisco UCS Central allows you to set values of any size. Therefore, a value of 900 in Cisco UCS Central displays as 512 in SANsurfer.

        Operating System Specific Adapter Policies

        By default, Cisco UCS provides a set of Ethernet adapter policies and Fibre Channel adapter policies. These policies include the recommended settings for each supported server operating system. Operating systems are sensitive to the settings in these policies. Storage vendors typically require non-default adapter settings. You can find the details of these required settings on the support list provided by those vendors.

        Important:

        We recommend that you use the values in these policies for the applicable operating system. Do not modify any of the values in the default policies unless directed to do so by Cisco Technical Support.

        However, if you are creating an Ethernet adapter policy for a Windows OS (instead of using the default Windows adapter policy), you must use the following formulas to calculate values that work with Windows:

        • Completion Queues = Transmit Queues + Receive Queues
        • Interrupt Count = (Completion Queues + 2) rounded up to nearest power of 2

        For example, if Transmit Queues = 1 and Receive Queues = 8 then:

        • Completion Queues = 1 + 8 = 9
        • Interrupt Count = (9 + 2) rounded up to the nearest power of 2 = 16

        Creating a Fibre Channel Adapter Policy

        Procedure
          Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
          Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

          If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

          Step 3   Right-click Fibre Channel Adapter Policies and choose Create Fibre Channel Adapter Policy.
          Step 4   In the Create Fibre Channel Adapter Policy dialog box, enter the Name and optional description.
          Step 5   In the Resources area, enter the Ring Size for the Transmit Queues, Receive Queues, and SCSI I/O Queues.
          Step 6   In the Options area, choose the FCP Error Recovery and Interrupt Mode, and enter the Flogi Retries, Flogi Timeout (ms), Plogi Retries, Plogi Timeout (ms), Port Down Timeout (ms), Port Down IO Retry, Link Down Timeout (ms), IO Throttle Count, and Max LUNs Per Target.
          Step 7   Click OK.

          Deleting a Fibre Channel Adapter Policy

          Procedure
            Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
            Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

            If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

            Step 3   Expand Fibre Channel Adapter Policies.
            Step 4   Right-click the policy that you want to delete and choose Delete.
            Step 5   If Cisco UCS Central GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.

            LAN and SAN Connectivity Policies

            Connectivity policies determine the connections and the network communication resources between the server and the LAN or SAN on the network. These policies use pools to assign MAC addresses, WWNs, and WWPNs to servers and to identify the vNICs and vHBAs that the servers use to communicate with the network.


            Note

            We do not recommend that you use static IDs in connectivity policies, because these policies are included in service profiles and service profile templates and can be used to configure multiple servers.

            Privileges Required for LAN and SAN Connectivity Policies

            Connectivity policies enable users without network or storage privileges to create and modify service profiles and service profile templates with network and storage connections. However, users must have the appropriate network and storage privileges to create connectivity policies.

            Privileges Required to Create Connectivity Policies

            Connectivity policies require the same privileges as other network and storage configurations. For example, you must have at least one of the following privileges to create connectivity policies:

            • admin—Can create LAN and SAN connectivity policies
            • ls-server—Can create LAN and SAN connectivity policies
            • ls-network—Can create LAN connectivity policies
            • ls-storage—Can create SAN connectivity policies

            Privileges Required to Add Connectivity Policies to Service Profiles

            After the connectivity policies have been created, a user with ls-compute privileges can include them in a service profile or service profile template. However, a user with only ls-compute privileges cannot create connectivity policies.

            Creating a SAN Connectivity Policy

            Procedure
              Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
              Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

              If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

              Step 3   Right-click SAN Connectivity Policies and choose Create SAN Connectivity Policy.
              Step 4   In the Create SAN Connectivity Policy dialog box, enter the Name and optional description.
              Step 5   In the WWNN Assignment area, choose the Global Pool or OUI.
              Step 6   In the vHBA table, click Create vHBA to add vHBAs to the SAN Connectivity Policy.
              Step 7   Click OK.

              Deleting a SAN Connectivity Policy

              Procedure
                Step 1   On the menu bar, click Storage.
                Step 2   In the Navigation Pane, expand Storage > Policies > root.

                If you want to create or access a policy in a sub-organization, expand Sub-Organizations > Organization_Name.

                Step 3   Expand SAN Connectivity Policies.
                Step 4   Right-click the policy that you want to delete and choose Delete.
                Step 5   If Cisco UCS Central GUI displays a confirmation dialog box, click Yes.