Sun Fire V890: Configuration Information

Disk Backplane Cabling Notes:

1. When Loop B is configured, the external Port 1 of X6727A (375-3030) card cannot be used for additional external storage. This would extend the internal loop B outside of the box, which is not supported. Making use of the second external port off X6727A is supported.
2. Patch 117814 is used to update disk backplane firmware. One should be aware of the following warning from the patch install instructions:
   
   WARNING: It will take approximately 30 seconds for the prompt to return, however the download process is still proceeding on the backplane itself and will be ongoing for up to 15 minutes depending on your configuration. Do not reboot the machine or bring it back up to multiuser mode during this time. If you are running two backplanes in a dual base configuration (split backplane), the output of from Solaris command "luxadm probe -p" will show two independent internal array enclosure names. Repeat download for each named internal array enclosure since it will not propagate to the other base backplane in a dual base configuration.
   

Multi-Pathing Notes:

1. In order for multipathing to be transparent to applications, an intermediate software level is required to provide a layer of abstraction between the applications and the physical connectivity to the storage subsystem.
2. This layer can mask the failure of an individual loop from the application and redirect the I/O over the alternate path. All applications referencing the abstraction layer pick up the failover capability without having to deploy specific code for path selection and recovery.
3. Regardless whether multipathing to the internal array or an external array is desired, a software manager such as StorEdge Traffic Manager (MPxIO) or Veritas DMP is required. Failure to utilize a volume manager may result in the inadvertent corruption of the volume structure and/or content as a consequence of unsynchronized access via two independent paths to the same physical device.
4. MPxIO now supports a boot disk and is a viable multi-pathing solution for the internal FCAL on a V890.
5. X6767A, X6768A, SG-XPCI1FC-QF2 and SG-XPCI2FC-QF2 cannot be used to implement multipathing to the internal storage array as these host bus adapters do not provide the required internal connector.