Emc Powerpath Product Description Guide

EMC ENTERPRISE STORAGE SOLUTION
EMC PowerPath Product Description Guide

EMC POWERPATH PRODUCT DESCRIPTION GUIDE
EMC PowerPath Product Description Guide
Table of Contents 2 Table of Figures

3 Chapter 1: EMC Enterprise Storage Description
3 Introducing PowerPath
3 Technical Overview
3 Performance and Revenue Advantages of Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 Enterprise Storage Systems
3 Information Protection
6 Information Sharing
7 Information Management
7 Enterprise Storage Networks
8 Chapter 2: PowerPath Overview and Benefits
8 What is EMC PowerPath?
9 The EMC Effect of PowerPath
11 Chapter 3: Architecture and Multipathing
12 PowerPath in a SCSI Environment
12 Fibre Channel Storage Area Networks
13 PowerPath’s Key Software Component
14 Load Balancing
16 PowerPath Advantages
17 Measures of Load Balance Capability
18 Failover
20 Chapter 4: Configuration and Management
20 Monitoring Host Bus Adapters and emcpower Devices
20 Managing PowerPath
20 Configure Paths to Symmetrix Devices
20 Restore, Verify, and Remove Device Paths
21 Change Load Balancing Policy and Mode
21 Change Device Path Mode
21 Enable/disable Host Bus Adapter
21 Set I/O Priority for an emcpower Device
21 Save and Load a Custom Configuration
21 Accessing PowerPath through Symmetrix Manager
21 Advanced Applications of PowerPath
21 PowerPath in a Fibre Channel Environment
24 PowerPath in Clustered Environments
26 Segmenting Paths in a PowerPath Environment
28 Chapter 5: EMC Enterprise Storage Network (ESN)
28 Implementation Advantages
28 Fibre Channel High-availability Physical Topologies
28 Distance Topology
29 Capacity Topology
29 Consolidation Topology
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30 Supported Platforms and Environments

30 Hardware and Software Requirements
30 PowerPath Software Support Criteria
31 Chapter 7: EMC Software Solutions and Service
31 Software Solutions
31 Information Protection
31 Information Sharing
31 Information Management
31 Services
32 EMC Professional Services
33 EMC Customer Service
33 EMC Customer Support
34 Appendix: Typical Fields in a Device Display
36 Glossary
Table of Figures 5 Figure 1. EMC MOSAIC Architecture

8 Figure 2. PowerPath Components
9 Figure 3. The EMC Effect
11 Figure 4. PowerPath Devices
13 Figure 5. Server Software Architecture
14 Figure 6. The Power Device
15 Figure 7. Comparison of Load Balancing
17 Figure 8. Performance and Skew
18 Figure 9. PowerPath Performance
19 Figure 10. PowerPath Load Balancing in Event of Component Failure
22 Figure 11. Fibre Channel Configuration
23 Figure 12. Storage with FC-AL Hubs
23 Figure 13. PowerPath Managing FC-AL Hubs
25 Figure 14. High-availability Clustered Environment
27 Figure 15. Channel Grouping with PowerPath
29 Figure 16. Fibre Channel Distance Topology
29 Figure 17. Fibre Channel Capacity Topology
29 Figure 18. Fibre Channel Consolidation Topology
35 Figure 19. Typical Fields in a UNIX Device Display
35 Figure 20. Typical Fields in a Windows NT Device Display
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Chapter 1
EMC Enterprise Storage Description
Introducing EMC PowerPath™ brings the mainframe benefits of dynamic load balancing and channel failover to
EMC PowerPath the open systems I/O space. As with its other software products, EMC designed PowerPath as part
of a Symmetrix environment that includes complementary software products. This technical
overview provides information on PowerPath and how it relates to Symmetrix Enterprise Storage
systems. Details on PowerPath begin in Chapter 2.
Technical Overview The following overview of the Symmetrix® 3000 and 5000 families of EMC Enterprise Storage™
systems includes product descriptions and details on key features and operations. This overview
describes EMC’s underlying storage system architectural philosophy, based on the complementary
MOSAIC:2000® hardware and ISA software architectures. The objective is to provide IS
management and staff with a thorough technical understanding of Symmetrix systems.
The current Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 families include three series each: the Symmetrix 3630,
3830 and 3930, and the Symmetrix 5630, 5830 and 5930. These scalable families provide leadership
performance and capabilities in each of their respective capacity classes.
Performance and Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 systems help EMC customers enhance the performance and revenue of
Revenue Advantages of their businesses. These advantages typically take any combination of three forms.
Symmetrix 3000 and 5000
Enterprise Storage Systems • 1 Business Impact
• 2 Operational Impact
• 3 Financial Impact
Key features and capabilities of Symmetrix Enterprise Storage systems directly contribute to
achieving these impacts.
Business Impact usually provides the greatest customer value and payoff, most often as a direct
result of the industry-leading performance of Symmetrix systems. Systems can handle more
transactions per hour, or less powerful servers can accomplish critical tasks, because Symmetrix
systems offer:
• Higher transaction throughput
• Improved availability to information
• Faster data analysis for decision support
In addition, higher performance:
• Helps customers improve time-to-market of their products and services
• Reduces development time for new business applications to create sources of new revenue
• Enables implementation of global services through improved data processing procedures
Operational Impact results from fast, easy connectivity and integration, continuous data
availability, and compatibility with existing technology. It allows EMC customers to deploy their
most valuable asset — people — to more productive efforts, instead of merely managing data.
Typically, operational impact relates to cost avoidance.
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• Continuous data availability and business continuance keep the business running because of
— Redundant critical components
— Non-disruptive upgrades and repair of critical components
— Data protection that optimizes performance, availability, and price
— Continuous data availability during migration from older technology disk systems to new
Symmetrix systems
• Compatibility and ease of implementation
— Support for all major multivendor servers: IBM®/PCM mainframes, heterogeneous UNIX®
servers, PC LAN and Windows NT® servers, and AS/400® systems
— Online host-independent mirroring between physically separated Symmetrix systems through

Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF™), enabling business continuity during planned and
unplanned outages
Financial Impact, often the most obvious result associated with an EMC product, originates with
the ability to extend the useful life of technology, and includes savings related to maintenance and
data center environment associated with Symmetrix products. EMC’s hardware and software offer
an architectural approach to storage system implementation that permits the seamless integration
of new technology and capability as advances are made. Typically, financial impact is associated
with cost savings.
• Asset protection
— MOSAIC:2000, a modular hardware framework, allows rapid development and deployment

of new storage technology while protecting existing investments.
— ISA (Intelligent Storage Architecture), a modular software framework, bridges the gaps between
platforms, networks, databases, and applications. ISA also adds value to the storage investment
with software such as SRDF, EMC InfoMover™, Symmetrix Data Migration Services
(SDMS™), Symmetrix Manager, DataReach™, EMC TimeFinder™, EMC PowerPath, EMC
Data Manager, and the FDR family of backup/restore solutions.
• Superior economic value
— Less floor space
— Lower power and cooling requirements
— Lower maintenance costs
EMC’s Architectures for EMC Enterprise Storage systems make information protection, information sharing, and
Enterprise Storage: information management possible. As a shared central repository for valuable information, EMC
MOSAIC:2000 and ISA Enterprise Storage:
• Connects to disparate computer servers
• Provides common information management, protection and sharing capabilities
• Allows organizations to create a competitive advantage by leveraging large amounts of information
EMC Enterprise Storage systems rely on MOSAIC:2000 and Intelligent Storage Architecture (ISA)
— a combination of industry-standard hardware and software. EMC Enterprise Storage
architecture ensures optimum performance, availability, scalability and connectivity.
Complementary MOSAIC:2000 hardware and ISA software architectures demonstrate the unique
storage system philosophy of all EMC storage products and their capability to share information
within an organization.
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• MOSAIC:2000, the long-standing architectural foundation for Symmetrix, combines industry-

standard hardware with optimized software to provide the highest performance, availability, scal-
ability and connectivity.
ISA provides unique and powerful software that extends the capabilities of Symmetrix in the areas
of information protection, information sharing and information management.
Figure 1. EMC MOSAIC Architecture
Together, MOSAIC:2000 and ISA yield powerful enterprise storage systems that:
• Provide high-level performance, capacity, and reliability
• Store and retrieve data from all major computing platforms, including mainframe and open
systems environments
• Enable software-based functionality that ensures business continuance in the event of a disaster
• Deliver rapid and non-disruptive data migration from one system to another
• Share information, regardless of origin
• Offer highest performance, scalability, connectivity, information protection, information sharing

and information management
• Provide intelligence at the storage system level
• Use industry-standard interfaces
Highest Performance Symmetrix systems use large cache memory configurations, and EMC proprietary caching
algorithms that enable the highest probability for “cache hits” when reading data. One hundred
percent cache fast writes ensure the highest possible performance when writing data. Fast, 100
percent cache writes enable Symmetrix performance to appear as close to that of solid-state disk as
possible while being able to support the largest data capacity per system in the industry.
Scalability Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 systems enable consolidated storage strategies by providing scalable
storage in a common family. System capacities scale from 35GB to multiple terabytes of fully
protected storage. Symmetrix offers new ways to manage change and growth in applications,
databases, servers, and overall business requirements.
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Connectivity Industry-standard interfaces provide connectivity to host platforms. The Symmetrix 5000 series
supports mainframe connections through ESCON®, parallel or block multiplexor channels.
Optional Symmetrix ESP (Enterprise Storage Platform) software allows Symmetrix 5000 systems
to simultaneously support open UNIX, Windows NT, and AS/400 systems with connectivity to
fast-wide-differential (FWD) SCSI, Ultra SCSI, and Fibre Channels.
Symmetrix 3000 systems support connectivity to open UNIX, Windows NT, and AS/400 systems
with connectivity to FWD SCSI, Ultra SCSI, and Fibre Channels. Adding optional Symmetrix ESP
software to Symmetrix 3000 systems simultaneously supports mainframe connections through
ESCON and block multiplexor channels.
This level of Symmetrix connectivity enables simultaneous support of multiple hosts and
multiple host types for greater configuration flexibility and the fulfillment of EMC’s Enterprise
Storage philosophy.
Information Protection EMC software provides a variety of information protection/business continuance options,
including mirroring the optimum RAID level for both performance and availability. The following
software offerings supplement the EMC Enterprise Storage philosophy.
• Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF) provides fast enterprise-wide data recovery capability in
the event of a planned or unplanned data center outage.
• EMC TimeFinder supports the online creation of multiple independently addressable business
continuance volumes (BCVs) of information, allowing simultaneous performance of other
processes (such as backup, batch, application development and testing, and database extractions
and loads) with OLTP and other business operations.
• Symmetrix Dynamic Address Switching (S/DAS) offers the capability to dynamically swap DASD
addresses in an SRDF environment that participates in a parallel sysplex environment. It also
allows dynamic address swapping with Symmetrix Data Migration Services (SDMS).
Customers can use EMC’s Remote Support network to upgrade Symmetrix operating software
(microcode) on an operational Symmetrix system with minimal interruption of service. This
unique approach upgrades Symmetrix software and functionality without downtime, combining
fast functional enhancements with continuous data availability.
Information Sharing Symmetrix provides centralized, sharable information storage that supports changing
environments and mission-critical applications. This leading-edge technology begins with physical
devices shared between heterogeneous operating environments and extends to specialized software
that enhances information sharing between disparate platforms.
• EMC Celerra™ File Server enables direct attachment to networks for high-speed centralized data
storage and data sharing without the need for a general purpose server.
• Symmetrix Enterprise Storage Platform (ESP) software provides simultaneous mainframe and
open systems support for Symmetrix 3000 and 5000 systems.
• Symmetrix provides standard simultaneous multiple open systems support.
• EMC InfoMover extends information sharing. InfoMover facilitates high-speed bulk file transfer
between heterogeneous mainframe, UNIX, and Windows NT host platforms without the need for
network resources.
• DataReach uses ESP as an enabling technology to provide access to mainframe database

information, extract it, and transfer it to UNIX and Windows NT open systems relational databases.
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Information Management Symmetrix systems improve information management by allowing users to consolidate storage
capacity for multiple hosts and servers. EMC offers powerful graphical user interface (GUI)-based
tools that dramatically simplify and enhance Symmetrix configuration, performance, and status
information gathering and management.
• Symmetrix Manager offers enhanced GUI-based storage monitoring, configuration, and

performance tuning management capabilities for Symmetrix systems supporting open systems and
mainframe environments.
• EMC PowerPath optionally offers a combination of simultaneous multiple path access,

workload balancing, and path failover capabilities between Symmetrix systems and supported
server hosts.
• EMC Volume Logix enables storage administrators to efficiently allocate Symmetrix storage in an
Enterprise Storage Network environment to hundreds of UNIX or Windows NT servers located
on the Fibre Channel hub or switched fabric.
• EMC Data Manager (EDM™) supports high-performance network-based or directly connected

open systems and Windows NT backup needs from one centrally managed site while offering a
complete, high-performance database backup solution for the entire enterprise.
• Fast Dump/Restore (FDR), a family of mainframe-based backup/restore utilities, uses Symmetrix

with existing mainframe infrastructures to provide a comprehensive suite of fast, non-disruptive
information protection solutions for both mainframe and open systems environments.
Enterprise Storage Symmetrix systems can serve as the central information repository in an EMC Enterprise Storage
Networks Network™ (ESN). An ESN provides an extremely high-speed, Fibre Channel-based network
consisting of storage, switches, and hubs that expand EMC Enterprise Storage capabilities beyond
the walls of the data center. ESN offers a fault-tolerant, self-healing enterprise-wide architecture
from which an enterprise can better manage, protect, and share all its information resources.
System Intelligence Traditional systems place the bulk of storage management decisions and overhead on the operating
system and host processor. In this approach, decisions (such as what data to cache and when to
cache it) take cycles away from applications and ultimately impact performance. Symmetrix
systems can determine data access patterns in real time and intelligently optimize themselves for
performance, independent of the host processor and operating system. Since these capabilities are
not tied to specific operating systems or versions of operating systems, they can be exploited and do
not require time-consuming and costly software upgrades. Virtually all major mainframe, UNIX,
Windows NT, PC LAN, and AS/400 systems use these capabilities without incurring host
processor overhead.
Industry-Standard Interfaces EMC uses open, industry-standard interfaces within Symmetrix systems. These interfaces allow
introduction of new, leading-edge HDAs in the fastest possible manner, and support popular open
host processor interfaces. This enables Symmetrix products to eliminate lagtime between the
availability of new industry technology and new EMC deliverable products.
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Chapter 2
PowerPath Overview and Benefits
EMC PowerPath delivers a high-availability software solution — combining efficiency,

dependability, recovery, productivity, service, and continuity — for mission-critical environments.
As an EMC software product designed to enhance the operation of open systems in the Enterprise
Storage environment, PowerPath enables computer servers to complete more work in less time,
and virtually eliminates I/O path single points of failure. PowerPath functionality enables
computer servers to run more efficiently, allowing IT departments to refocus on new computer
business opportunities.
HOST APPLICATION
I/O REQUEST
PowerPath
DISK DISK
DRIVER DRIVER
HOST HOST
HOST ADAPTER 1 ADAPTER 2
CHANNEL CHANNEL
DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
CACHE
DISK DISK DISK DISK

DIRECTOR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
DISK 1 DISK 1
M1 M2
SYMMETRIX EMC Supports RAID 1,

RAID-R, and RAID-S
Figure 2. PowerPath Components.
By improving computer server I/O responsiveness, PowerPath increases the value of the server
investment through increased productivity and automatic protection, and avoidance of unplanned
I/O outages. With automatic path failover and online path recovery, PowerPath improves server
and application availability, lowers maintenance impact, and reduces the financial losses associated
with downtime.
PowerPath’s dynamic load balancing capability provides consistent service levels, freeing system
administrators from repetitive and time-consuming tuning of the computer server’s I/O
performance. And, PowerPath allows online adjustments, without disrupting applications on the
computer server.
What is EMC PowerPath? PowerPath, a computer server host-resident software product from EMC, works with a
Symmetrix storage system to deliver intelligent I/O path management. With EMC PowerPath,
administrators can improve the server’s ability to manage heavy storage loads through
continuous, intelligent I/O balancing. PowerPath automatically configures multiple paths and
dynamically tunes for performance as workloads change. PowerPath adds to the high-availability
capabilities of the Symmetrix storage system by automatically detecting — and recovering from —
server-to-storage path failures.
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PowerPath software resides on the UNIX or Windows NT server. It supports Fast-Wide

Diffierential (FWD) Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Ultra SCSI, and Fibre Channel (FC)
interfaces. Optimized for the Symmetrix storage system, PowerPath improves computer server
performance by dynamically load balancing I/O across multiple paths, which in turn delivers
consistent service levels to the entire I/O subsystem.
PowerPath provides automatic detection of failed I/O paths. Should the server lose a Host Bus
Adapter (HBA), a Symmetrix Channel Director, or a cable, for example, PowerPath completes an
I/O request through another available channel, thereby preventing interruption of an application.
PowerPath provides online path recovery after the path is repaired, which reduces planned outages
to restore services. The administrator issues a single command to restore a failed channel to an
online and available state. This task is performed while the Symmetrix, the server, and the
application remain available.
After installing PowerPath, administrators can perform all path maintenance, monitoring, and
configuration work while the computer server remains fully available, thereby reducing planned
outages. Typical cable work and Symmetrix channel director replacement can occur without a
power down. Some computer servers, however, do not provide hot-swappable HBAs, therefore
requiring a power down.
The EMC Effect PowerPath offers significant financial, operational, and business impact for the enterprise. The
of PowerPath EMC Effect includes the following advantages:
PowerPath Features ➯ Benefits
• Multiple paths to a device ➯ Improves server performance

and data availability
• Dynamic load balancing across paths ➯ Consistent service levels;
less setup time
• Automatic detection and ➯ Improves application and server
management of failed paths availability
• Online path recovery after repair ➯ Improves server availability
Figure 3. The EMC Effect.
• Financial Impact
— Because PowerPath increases I/O subsystem efficiency, IT departments can defer purchases of
additional I/O bandwidth or avoid overpurchasing bandwidth to handle peak loads. As a result,
these departments can leverage current capital investments in host computers and Symmetrix
storage systems.
— All Symmetrix systems support PowerPath. And, with a scalability feature that supports from
two to 32 paths, PowerPath enables Symmetrix-to-server connectivity expansion.
• Operational Impact
— PowerPath delivers high availability to mission-critical environments, with both automatic path
failover and online path recovery. PowerPath offers automatic protection from the host bus
adapter to the Symmetrix channel director, avoiding unplanned outages. Plus, PowerPath allows
non-disruptive recovery after repair of a failed component.
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— With PowerPath, system administrators spend less time fine tuning the server’s performance, and
more time concentrating on other tasks. PowerPath gives administrators the ability to make
necessary adjustments, without disrupting either the application or the computer server.
• Business Impact
— PowerPath provides efficient load balancing at the device level, which eliminates the need for
application programmers to tune their software in order to improve I/O performance. Because
PowerPath manages performance, it reduces development costs and the number of software
changes required. By enabling faster software application development cycles, businesses can
deploy new applications sooner, and meet time-to-market objectives.
— PowerPath means more work done in a shorter time, more customers served, more applications
run and more business opportunities exploited. Most important, PowerPath provides business
continuity for both planned path maintenance and unplanned path failures with online recovery
of failed paths, delivering a high level of application and server availability.
— PowerPath becomes a cornerstone building block for companies striving for three, four, or five
“nine’s” availability. (For additional information, see the Availability Defined via “Nines”
section in Chapter 4.)
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Chapter 3
Architecture and Multipathing
The roots of dynamic load-balanced multipathing and channel failover technology — commonly
known as dynamic path selection (DPS) and dynamic path reconnect (DPR) — originated in the
1980s mainframe environment. When UNIX servers began sharing many tasks performed by
mainframe systems, the need for a similar high-availability technology became apparent. UNIX
server vendors attempted to meet this requirement with primitive channel failover features built
into an operating system. These early offerings eliminated single points of failure for I/O paths, but
did not provide scalability, application tuning, ease-of-use and maximum uptime.
EMC recognized the opportunity to bring mainframe-like capabilities to the UNIX and Windows
NT server environments with PowerPath. With SCSI protocols as the mainstay technology in open
systems, the PowerPath architecture could manage these protocols in both SCSI and Fibre Channel
physical interconnects. The Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) protocol connects multiple
peripheral devices to a single controller via a common cable. All I/O in this environment follows
a single path. A protocol layer, cabling, host bus adapters (HBA) and drivers make up the
SCSI interface.
Application HOST APPLICATION

Layer I/O REQUEST
PowerPath POWER POWER

POWERPATH
Layer DEVICE DEVICE
Disk
DISK DISK DISK DISK DISK DISK
Device 1 2 3 4 5 6
Layer
Physical
HOST Device HOST
ADAPTER
HOST
ADAPTER
HOST
ADAPTER
Layer
CHANNEL CHANNEL CHANNEL

DIRECTOR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
Y-BUS
X-BUS
CACHE
DISK DISK DISK DISK

DIRECTOR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
DISK1 DISK2 DISK1 DISK1

M1 M2 M2 M1
SYMMETRIX
EMC Supports RAID 1,

RAID-R, and RAID-S
Figure 4. PowerPath Devices
As an independent software layer, PowerPath uses the SCSI protocol with either type of physical
attachment (SCSI or Fibre Channel). PowerPath resides on the computer server, where it balances
the SCSI I/O across all available paths. The application issues I/Os to a logical device, and
PowerPath manages the path selection to that device.
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PowerPath manages the placement of I/O requests to a specific path. The SCSI driver manages its
own I/O path queue. PowerPath provides a one-to-many mapping of a logical device and the
available paths to access that device. Without PowerPath, the mapping is one-to-one (e.g., only one
path exists to a device).
PowerPath in a The SCSI environment includes commands, protocols, interconnects and devices. The operating
SCSI Environment system first translates an I/O storage command to a SCSI command. Then, PowerPath decides
which path should receive this command, based upon the active load-balancing policy and the
available paths.
The SCSI driver contains both a high-level and a low-level component.
• The high-level component (typically provided by the operating system vendor) translates the SCSI
command into a series of SCSI control commands.
• The low-level component of the driver (typically provided by the HBA vendor) manages
the commands transmission and the signal transmission method. This component remains specific
to the type of host bus adapter and its location on the computer bus. This driver and HBA
communicate with the Symmetrix channel director.
Designed for SCSI protocols and commands, PowerPath works with either SCSI or Fibre Channel
HBAs, and communicates with the high-level driver component.
PowerPath overcomes a SCSI implementation limitation, specifically the one-to-one-to-one

mapping of an application, logical device, and SCSI path. PowerPath distributes I/O requests
across all available paths, reducing bottlenecks and maintaining I/O responsiveness. Symmetrix
channel directors write to global Symmetrix cache, not to a specific disk, so any channel director
can handle any request. This advantage of the Symmetrix architecture allows PowerPath to
constantly tune the server and dynamically adjust to changing I/O loads.
PowerPath’s one to many mapping works because the Symmetrix system provides multiple
channel directors coupled with a common cache pool, and de-stages the data to/from the cache
and to/from the appropriate physical storage device.
Fibre Channel Storage Fibre Channel, the enabling technology behind storage area networks (SAN), expands standard
Area Networks SCSI connectivity from a point-to-point to multi-point topology. Fibre Channel configurations
associated with this multi-point topology include Fibre Channel hubs, switches, and host bus
adapters (HBAs).
Fibre Channel hubs use Fibre Channel-arbitrated loop (FC-AL) protocols and technology. A loop
can attach up to 126 nodes. A hub maintains the characteristics of a logical loop while a physical
layout appears as a star topology. This topology allows:
• Non-disruptive additions to (or removals from) the loop
• Connections of up to 500 meters or 10 kilometers (depending on the optical transceivers used)
• Cascading to increase connectivity and total distance
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Fibre Channel switched fabric uses Fibre Channel switch protocols and technology. A switched
fabric can support hundreds of nodes, with sufficient flexibility to allow implementation of different
topology strategies (e.g., distance, capacity, and consolidation, or a combination of the three
strategies). A switched fabric allows:
• Non-disruptive additions to (or removals from) the fabric
• Connections of up to 500 meters or 10 kilometers (depending on the optical transceivers used)
• Topology flexibility to encompass Fibre Channel loops
Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBAs) provide an I/O interface between the computer server’s
internal bus and external storage devices. The “device driver” contained in an HBA connects the
different physical interfaces and protocols of the server and the storage device. Typically, Fibre
Channel physical interconnects use SCSI protocols and commands.
For information about PowerPath functions in a Fibre Channel configuration, see Chapter 4,
Configuration and Management.
PowerPath’s Key Figure 5 shows PowerPath residing on the computer server as a thin, efficient software layer
Software Component between applications, operating system facilities, and the SCSI device layer. PowerPath operates
independently of applications, database managers, management utilities, file systems, and volume
managers, so administrators can install and configure PowerPath without modifying the
already-installed software.
Applications
DBMS Management
Utilities
File System
Logical Volume Manager
PowerPath
SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI
FC or FC or FC or FC or FC or FC or
SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI
HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA
Figure 5. Server Software Architecture
Note: EMC designed PowerPath as a user-installable program. EMC also offers Professional
Services support to assist customers with PowerPath planning, setup and installation. Chapter 7
contains more information about EMC’s service and support capabilities.
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PowerPath features a power driver, which resides on the host above the HBA device layer. This
transparent component allows PowerPath to create virtual power devices (emcpower devices) that
provide failure-resistant and load-balanced paths to the Symmetrix storage system. An application
only references a power device, and PowerPath manages path allocation.
PowerPath
Power p0 p1
Devices
OS
Disk 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Devices
UNIX or Host Bus a1 a2 a3 a4

Windows NT Adapters
Server
Channel
Director
Port 1
LUN A
Port 2
Port 3
LUN B
Port 4
Symmetrix
Figure 6. The Power Device
With PowerPath, the route between computer server and storage system can assume a complex
path. One power device can include as many as 32 physical I/O paths, with each path designated
to the operating system by a different name. The physical path can include cables, hubs, switches,
etc. between two points. No matter how complex the path, however, PowerPath provides channel
failover protection for the complete path between the host computer and the Symmetrix.
Load Balancing Imagine a computer environment that features typical I/O queue management but which lacks
PowerPath (Figure 7, left side). The computer server views each disk resource assigned to a single
path. No dynamic load balancing is present. System administrators and EMC system engineers
pre-plan I/O load allocation to the paths. The allocation scheme calls for spreading the I/O load
over as many paths and directors available in the configuration while considering the individual
storage requirements for each application based on current application snapshot measurements,
predictive loads, path component performance characteristics, and experience. (Chapter 7
contains information about EMC services and products that can enhance this planning and
allocation effort.)
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SCSI I/O Queuing without PowerPath SCSI I/O Queuing with PowerPath
) ) ) ) ) )
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n(s
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tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio tio
ca ca ca ca ca ca lica lica lica lica pli
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p pli p pli p pli p pli p pli p pli A pp App App App Ap Ap
tA tA stA stA tA tA st st st st s t s t
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Server Request PowerPath

Request Request
Server Request
Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request
Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request Request
SD SD SD SD SD SD SCSI Driver SD SD SD SD SD SD SCSI Driver
HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA Host Bus Adapter HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA Host Bus Adapter
CD CD CD CD CD CD Channel Director CD CD CD CD CD CD Channel Director
Cache Cache
Symmetrix Symmetrix
Figure 7. Comparison of Load Balancing
Should a significant load imbalance occur in such an environment, the system administrator or
database administrator must reallocate the host server applications to paths and rebalance the I/O
load. This situation can produce one or more I/O bound channels while other channels operate
with only light loads. The imbalance may result in erratic and unpredictable application
performance. In addition, Symmetrix devices may require reconfiguration to provide adequate
storage capacity, remove single device bottlenecks, and rebalance director loads.
Enhancing this I/O bound environment with PowerPath (Figure 7, right side), greatly improves the
performance of the computer server’s applications (caused by overloaded or imbalanced I/O
paths), making performance levels consistent and predictable (See figure 9). PowerPath
accomplishes this by intelligently allocating I/O requests across all the available paths with a
dynamic load-balancing algorithm. Because it functions automatically all the time, PowerPath can
significantly reduce the amount of time a system administrator spends tuning the system for
application I/O loads.
Note: Multiple channels can minimize the queue depth on all channels. Symmetrix front-end
channel directors read and write to Symmetrix cache — not to disks — so any channel director can
handle any request from any path. The Symmetrix itself handles the data movement from cache
to/from the physical disks. PowerPath complements the Symmetrix so any computer server path
can handle an I/O request from any application.
PowerPath automatically and dynamically balances I/O loads by distributing incoming I/O
requests across all available paths to the device. Administrators can select from four types of load
balancing policies: round robin, least I/Os, least blocks, and Symmetrix optimization. Table 1
describes each policy.
• Round-robin assigns I/O requests to each available path in rotation.
• Least I/Os assigns I/O requests to the path with fewest pending I/O requests.
• Least blocks assigns I/O requests to the path with fewest pending blocks.
• Symmetrix optimization assigns I/O requests on the basis of path load, device priority, and I/O
patterns that can exploit the Symmetrix caching algorithms.
15
Policy Assigns I/O requests to.... Characteristics

Round-robin Each available path in • Does not select optimal path
rotation • Synchronous behavior can impact performance
• Lockstep behavior in Fibre Channel can
impact performance
• Single physical device can impact all paths
• Does not optimize sequential activity for a path
Least I/Os The path with fewest • May not select optimal path when used with
pending I/O requests mixed block sizes
• Large block requests may adversely impact
performance
Least Blocks The path with fewest • May not select optimal path when used with
pending blocks mixed block sizes
• Large number of small block requests may
adversely impact performance
Symmetrix On the basis of path load •Distributes I/O based on estimated completion
Optimization and device priority time
(default) • Calculates the “depth” of each queue in units
of time (e.g., the queue with the shortest time
gets the request)
• Considers sequential activity, channel speed,
cache read and write speeds, volume loading,
channel groups
Table 1. Load Balancing Policies
PowerPath Advantages Typical systems are statically configured with each storage device on one physical path. Imbalances
can occur due to changes in use or instantaneous demands, assigning heavy I/O to one device and
significantly lighter I/O to another device. This imbalance results in diminished performance to the
heavily loaded device.
PowerPath monitors I/O for all paths between the computer server and the Symmetrix storage
system, and uses the selected load balancing policy to choose the least-burdened path from those
available. With the Symmetrix optimization load balancing policy, for example, PowerPath
chooses each path intelligently for every I/O request, creating an approximately equal load
on all paths.
Devices share physical paths in a PowerPath environment and PowerPath balances the paths
according to the selected load balancing policy. PowerPath efficiently uses the I/O processing
capacity of all paths. No path remains overloaded and slow while others remain idle.
PowerPath offers significant advantages to path-bound environments (e.g., an environment in

which the I/O load experiences limited execution time due to processing capacity and/or bus
capacity for a given path). In an environment where I/O regularly queues up on a single path and
overloads it, PowerPath can spread the load across the paths evenly and significantly improve
I/O performance.
16
PowerPath also allows administrators to set device priorities by using the Symmetrix optimization
policy. Different priorities for different devices ensure more bandwidth for certain applications
(e.g., the system chooses I/O to high-priority devices over I/O to low-priority devices). Devices
associated with order-entry applications, for example, may demand high priority. By allowing
these high-priority devices to remain available — even when the server synchronously writes
database logs — PowerPath ensures optimal transaction performance. Assigning low priority to
devices associated with other types of I/O (e.g., table space I/O) allows asynchronous completion
of I/O, with no direct impact on transaction performance.
Measures of Load Measures of load balancing across available paths include skew and bandwidth maximization.
Balance Capability
Skew Skew values provide a measure of average load imbalance. At the low end, zero percent (0%) skew
indicates a perfectly balanced system, with I/O evenly distributed across each channel (all channels
contain approximately the same load at any given time). At the other extreme, one hundred per-
cent (100%) skew indicates that all I/O uses one channel, with the remaining channels idle.
0% SKEW 50% SKEW 75% SKEW 100% SKEW

Paths
Logical
Devices
4 Paths 2 Paths 2 Paths 1 Path

8 LUNs 8 LUNs 8 LUNs 8 LUNs
Figure 8. Performance and Skew
Normal operation typically ranges between 30 and 70 percent skew at any point in time because
multiple applications issue I/O requests in peaks and valleys. These extremes remain a reality in any
system just as highway and airport traffic patterns vary depending on the time of day, weather, or
other conditions.
Read- and Write-intensive Skew A data warehouse environment, for example, could require a system optimization schema that
handles queries between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM, with refresh periods between midnight and
3:00 AM. This optimization produces a random read-intensive environment (query period) and a
write-intensive environment (refresh period).
System managers generally anticipate usage. They compensate for peak loads, and provide ample
bandwidth for the highest loads. Unfortunately, this policy promotes inefficient use of assets: The
average usage rate falls below the full utilization of the available bandwidth. With the two different
types of operations during the 24-hour period, available bandwidth may remain underutilized for
a period of hours.
17
Most dynamic systems promote storage growth. A system manager initially may implement a
database or data warehouse with zero percent skew (e.g., by configuring each port so that it
services an equivalent number of volumes). If an eight-volume system expands by two volumes, for
example, the system manager must allocate the new volumes to a path. This can result in one or
two paths with more volumes than the other two or three paths.
How PowerPath Handles Skew PowerPath allows optimal utilization of available I/O bandwidth during peak traffic periods,
ensuring skews closer to zero percent. By handling different I/O patterns at different hours of the
day, PowerPath provides optimal bandwidth utilization during all hours of operation. As a result,
system managers spend less time on system tuning. More important, IT departments can defer
purchases of additional I/O bandwidth or avoid overpurchasing bandwidth to handle peak loads.
Bandwidth Maximization Figure 9 uses configurations with and without PowerPath to show the effects of skew on I/O
performance. The figure represents three different workloads: 2K, 8K and 32K blocks. The left
axis indicates performance measured in time. Applications with high skew levels in a
non-PowerPath environment perform poorly as compared to a PowerPath environment. Figure 9
demonstrates that PowerPath can deliver consistent service levels to an application regardless of
the skewing factor because it allocates I/O intelligently across all available I/O bandwidth.
PowerPath Performance
PowerPath vs Standard Configuration PowerPath
8 LUNs, 4 Paths Disk Dump Utility, 100% Reads Standard
Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

1:55:12
1:40:48
1:26:24
1:12:00
Elapsed Time
0:57:36
0:43:12
Consistant Service Level
0:28:48
0:0:0
0% 33% 50% 100% 0% 33% 50% 100% 0% 33% 50% 100%

2K Blocks 8K Blocks 32K Blocks
Skew Factor
Figure 9. PowerPath Performance
Failover Channel loss usually results in the availability loss of one or more applications. Failure of a host
bus adapter, channel director, FC-AL hub, Fibre Channel switch, or cable prevents I/O from
passing between the Symmetrix cache and the computer server.
PowerPath handles the loss of a channel as an extension of its load-balancing functions; it balances
the load across one fewer (n – 1) channels. An application may experience some degradation of
performance by using one less channel but PowerPath allows the application to continue operating
without downtime.
18
In event of a channel loss, PowerPath spreads the load across the remaining channels. The
computer server may operate adequately in this “degraded” mode, which allows service
technicians to wait for a quiet time to bring the system down and replace the failed component.
The amount of system downtime, if any, depends on the type of failed component (e.g., a cable
versus a HBA).
Clustered computer servers provide for performance scalability and application high-availability
without incurring the expense of fault-tolerant computer servers. PowerPath complements these
environments by supporting shared cluster resources, and providing channel failover capabilities
and load-balanced paths. PowerPath reduces cluster node failovers due to path failure. Node
failovers, however, can disrupt applications and users.
Figure 10 compares a situation lacking channel protection versus PowerPath channel protection:
Path Failure without PowerPath Path Failure with PowerPath
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SD SCSI Driver SD SD SCSI Driver

SD SD SD SD SD SD SD
F F
Server A Server A
I HBA HBA HBA HBA Host Bus Adapter I HBA HBA HBA HBA Host Bus Adapter
HBA HBA
L L
E E
D D
CD CD CD CD CD Channel Director CD CD CD CD CD Channel Director
Cache Cache
Symmetrix Symmetrix
Figure 10. PowerPath Load Balancing in Event of Component Failure
• Typical channel failover products work in pairs, allowing only one channel to back up the other.
After a failure, all the load falls on one other pre-assigned channel, effectively doubling its load and
threatening its capability to meet the I/O demand. Other channel pairs share none of the failed
path’s load.
• Powerpath works with all available paths as a collective group. In the above example for a path
failure, PowerPath spreads the I/O over the five remaining channels; each channel assumes only
part of the workload while retaining its existing capacity.
• In the event of a path failover, PowerPath automatically and non-disruptively directs all outstanding
and subsequent I/O requests to the alternative path(s).
19
Chapter 4
Configuration and Management
The PowerPath management utility powermt allows monitoring of device status and management
of path resources specific to the host computer from which the utility runs. These commands permit:
• Real-time monitoring of I/O traffic flow through the emcpower devices and paths.
• Administrators can divert I/O traffic from an adapter channel undergoing maintenance during
replacement of a Symmetrix channel director.
• On-the-fly fine tuning of PowerPath performance, which allows administrators to enable/disable

paths; assign paths to devices; or configure paths that favor I/O traffic to certain devices. Changing
the load-balancing algorithm can adjust to varying conditions in the I/O load.
• Configuration of all known Symmetrix devices for maximum accessibility based on how the
Symmetrix presents the devices. A typically configured Symmetrix for a PowerPath environment
shows all logical devices that appear on all ports. This typical configuration gives PowerPath
software the maximum flexibility to balance the I/O load for optimum performance.
• Administrators can monitor host adapters, emcpower devices, and manage PowerPath functions
using powermt.
Note: Use of the powermt utility requires superuser system privileges.
Monitoring Host Bus From the PowerPath user interface, several commands permit monitoring of host adapters and
Adapters and emcpower devices:
emcpower Devices
The powermt display command returns a snapshot of the host bus adapters’ operational states.
This global view includes all device paths connected to multiported Symmetrix devices. The
powermt watch command displays the same information, and refreshes itself after a specified
number of seconds.
The powermt display dev command shows a snapshot of a specific emcpower device or all
emcpower devices. The powermt watch dev command displays the same information, and
refreshes the display after a specified number of seconds.
The Appendix provides a cross-reference to the fields in UNIX and Windows NT device displays.
Managing PowerPath Administrators manage PowerPath functions through commands that allow powermt to configure
paths to Symmetrix devices; restore, verify, and remove device paths; change the load balancing
policy; change the mode of a device path; enable/disable a host bus adapter; set the I/O priority for
an emcpower device; save, and load a custom configuration.
Configure Paths to The powermt config command detects which Symmetrix port contains a device. The command
Symmetrix Devices creates a configuration that maximizes the number of paths to reach each device.
Restore, Verify, and The powermt restore command restores all closed paths to service. The powermt set
Remove Device Paths adapter_switch command disables a device path on a particular adapter.
20
The powermt validate command verifies that the active path opened for each power device is
connected to the proper Symmetrix volume. The powermt check dev command confirms the
power device connections to the proper Symmetrix volume.
The powermt remove command removes the device path associated with a specific host bus
adapter from all emcpower devices (Solaris® only).
Change Load Balancing The powermt set policy command sets the load balancing policy based on a choice of round-robin,
Policy and Mode number of pending I/Os, pending blocks in I/Os, or Symmetrix optimization.
Change Device Path Mode The powermt set mode command sets device path(s) as either active or standby mode for a
specified adapter or device.
Enable/disable Host The powermt set adapter_switch enables or disables a particular host bus adapter.
Bus Adapter
Set I/O Priority for an The powermt set priority command establishes a priority for a set of devices. This command
emcpower Device functions only when the powermt set policy command is set to the Symmetrix optimized
load-balancing algorithm.
Save and Load a The powermt save command can save the parameters of a customized configuration, including
Custom Configuration path attributes and load-balancing policy. The system stores the file under /etc/powermt.custom
unless the administrator specifies another file name. Saving the configuration allows
administrators to load it for future applications.
The powermt load command loads a previously saved configuration from the
etc/powermt.custom file, unless the administrator specifies another file name.
Accessing PowerPath EMC’s Symmetrix Manager provides a GUI for PowerPath implementations on AIX® and
through Symmetrix Manager Solaris® systems. A button on the toolbar launches the PowerPath monitoring CLI within a Motif®
window, and allows monitoring of power devices, power paths, and queued I/O. This utility, based
on the powermt watch command, provides a user-selectable time variable to refresh the status.
Advanced Applications PowerPath brings advanced applications to the Fibre Channel and clustered environments, and to
of PowerPath segmenting paths for environments with more than four paths.
PowerPath in a Fibre Fibre Channel technology provides flexibility to configure a topology to meet any requirement for
Channel Environment extended distance, storage consolidation and expanded storage capacity. Additionally, Fibre
Channel meets high-availability requirements. Fibre Channel configurations consist of a physical
topology and a logical topology.
• Physical topology includes physical interconnects for a host computer, a Symmetrix storage system
and other Fibre Channel components, such as hubs and switches.
• Logical topology describes the logical paths established between the operating system device
names and their associated Symmetrix ports and volumes.
PowerPath works within all three physical topologies — switched fabric, arbitrated loop, and
point-to-point connections — to enhance high availability and I/O congestion avoidance in a Fibre
Channel configuration.
• High availability: Achieved within the Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN) by configuring
dual paths between connections, configuring alternate paths to SAN components, and deploying
redundant SAN components.
21
Some SAN switch components (such as the EMC Connectrix Enterprise Storage Network System)
feature redundant subsystems to ensure high availability and a reliable fabric.
• Congestion avoidance: SAN congestion can develop when multiple computer servers send I/O into
a single SAN component, especially when the SAN component is part of a fan-out or fan-in
strategy for storage consolidation or expanded storage capacity.
By monitoring each path’s throughput and responsiveness within the host computer, PowerPath
can redirect new I/O away from congestion points, as detected by an unresponsive path (assuming
an alternate path exists on the host and in the SAN to redirect the I/O). The host computer may not
cause the SAN congestion that redirects I/O away from the congestion with the use of PowerPath.
Still, PowerPath improves the I/O performance on the host computer and enhances SAN traffic
patterns by avoiding bottlenecks.
Figure 11 illustrates a system in which Hosts A and B (with PowerPath) are connected to two hubs
and a Symmetrix system. If either hub fails, PowerPath allows both computer servers to
continuously access the Symmetrix storage system. Connecting each hub to a different Symmetrix
channel director also protects against channel director failure. Alternatively, administrators can
configure a high-availability fabric environment with switches instead of hubs.
HOST A HOST B
HUB HUB
A B A B
CHANNEL CHANNEL
DIRECTOR DIRECTOR
SYMMETRIX
Figure 11. Fibre Channel Configuration
Switch and Typically, parallel SCSI channels or point-to-point FC-AL (Fibre Channel- Arbitrated Loop)
Hub Configurations channels isolate disk I/O loads from other servers. Fibre channel switches and FC-AL hubs,
however, increase connectivity and remove this isolation. The I/O load from one server can affect
all servers sharing the same FC-AL hub (Fig. 12), creating congestion within the SAN.
22
Storage with FC-AL Hubs
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Servers Request Request
Request Request Request Request
Request Request Request Request Request Request Request
HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA
Hub Hub Hub
Symmetrix CD CD CD CD
Cache
Figure 12. Storage with FC-AL Hubs
Typical switch or hub configurations make management of computer server and application
performance increasingly difficult because I/O performance tuning must accommodate the varying
loads of all the computer severs within the storage area network. Only a time-intensive analysis of
the environment could statically allocate loads to avoid SAN congestion.
Switch and Hub Configuration PowerPath intelligently calculates the pending I/O queue depth for each channel, and then balances
with PowerPath the new I/O load across the channels on each server (Figure 13). This load balancing process
continues throughout the fabric or loop, with PowerPath adjusting path selection for each server
based on the performance of each channel. No matter how many computer servers exist in the
fabric or loop, PowerPath can continually adjust the I/O loading without interrupting computer
server applications.
PowerPath with FC-AL Hubs
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Servers Request
Request Request Request Request Request Request
Request Request Request Request Request Request Request
HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA HBA
Hub Hub Hub
Symmetrix CD CD CD CD
Cache
Figure 13. PowerPath Managing FC-AL Hubs
23
Note: The storage area network must provide a sufficient number of paths for PowerPath to select
one that offers adequate performance for a given computer server. The availability of adequate I/O
bandwidth determines the ability of PowerPath to optimize performance within each computer
server while redirecting I/O from SAN congestion areas at any given point in time.
Fibre Channel acts as an enabling technology within EMC’s Enterprise Storage Network
environment to provide the flexibility necessary to implement topologies that meet a range of
requirements. PowerPath serves as an integral component in deploying high-performance and
high-availability configurations (see chapter 5).
PowerPath in Clustering offers a means to interconnect two or more high-performance computer servers,
Clustered Environments allowing them to work together as a single processing resource or as a high-availability resource.
Clustering Configuration Clustering provides high availability to both users and applications, and scalability of computer
resources (by adding additional computer servers to a configuration). Clustering significantly
increases application availability over standalone computer servers.
PowerPath complements a clustered configuration by increasing application availability within

each clustered server node by handling local I/O failures locally. PowerPath reduces node failovers
due to I/O path failures and maximizes existing I/O bandwidth within each server node.
Availability Defined via “Nines” Today’s norm of a 7x24x365 computing environment affords little tolerance for unplanned system
outages. Fortunately, clustering computer systems significantly improves mission-critical data and
applications availability, even when a critical cluster component fails.
Availability refers to the computer system’s ability to deliver usable applications to users,
represented by the number of “nines” in the uptime percentage. Table 2 shows that more nines
mean less downtime.
Uptime percentage No. of Nines Downtime

99% 2 3.5 days/year
99.9% 3 9 hours/year
99.99% 4 1.0 hour/year
99.999% 5 5 minutes/year
Table 2. Availability Percentage
For example, a high-availability requirement of 99.9 percent translates into an unplanned

application downtime of approximately nine hours per year using the following calculation:
365 days x 24 hours = 8,760 total hours

8,760 hours x 99.9% = 8,751 actual hours
8,760 – 8,751 = 9 hours unplanned downtime
Similarly, 99.5 percent availability means 44 hours of downtime a year; 99.8 percent availability
means 18 hours of downtime a year. Most clusters operate at 99 percent uptime. PowerPath’s I/O
channel failover features can further reduce downtime.
24
Maintaining Availability Clustering host computers reduces application downtime by providing alternate hardware to run
applications. Clustering enables applications to rapidly switch from one host computer node to
another host computer. Loss of a component can cause an application or host computer node
failure. A failover process maintains access to shared storage resources and applications by
automatically switching access from the failed node to the operating nodes remaining in the cluster.
Typically, a shared access cluster configuration allows access to storage one node at a time. When a
computer node failover occurs, another node in the cluster takes over the shared storage. This node
failover, however, disrupts the application and users. The presence of PowerPath on each computer
server within a shared access cluster reduces node failovers due to I/O path failures, thereby
increasing cluster availability. The PowerPath driver monitors the I/O path between a node and the
Symmetrix storage system. By detecting a path failure, PowerPath redirects the I/O to an alternate
path. A node failover occurs when the last remaining path on a node fails.
PowerPath provides identical benefits when installed in a concurrent access cluster configuration,
which allows parallel databases to operate on multiple computer nodes and share the same
database concurrently. A distributed lock manager manages concurrent access.
Figure 14 shows how a failure of Adapter 1 on Node 1 causes PowerPath to redirect I/O to Adapter 2.
Host Bus
Channel
Adapter Director
Adapter 1 Port A
Port B
Adapter 2
LUN A
Node 1
Host Bus Channel
Adapter Director
LUN B
Adapter 1 Port A
Adapter 2 Port B
Node 2
Symmetrix
LUN A
LUN B
Figure 14. High-availability Clustered Environment
25
Online Management PowerPath allows online maintenance, configuration and tuning without interrupting applications.
First, PowerPath disables a path after failure. Then, after repairing the physical fault, UNIX
administrators can execute a simple command to bring the failed path online. Windows NT
administrators simply point and click to restore the path. Re-establishing the path does not require
application downtime.
A failure on any given I/O path does not cause a cluster node failover (Figure 14). PowerPath
always redirects I/O traffic to the alternate path, avoiding disruption of the application’s access to
storage. This channel failover feature detects path failures for path components consisting of the
host bus adapter, the cable, and the Symmetrix front-end channel director.
When it detects a path failure, PowerPath disables the path and places it in a failed state. Path
management capabilities from PowerPath restore the path online. No application disruption
occurs after path repair for a cable and/or Symmetrix channel directors.
Hot-pluggable Symmetrix components ensure non-disruptive repair. Replacement of most

non-hot-pluggable computer server HBAs, however, disrupts the computer system and its
applications. A clustered environment can reduce the impact for application availability by failing
over to another node in the cluster during HBA replacement. A growing number of computer
servers feature hot-pluggable option cards, such as HBAs, which further add to computer
environment uptime.
Segmenting Paths in a System administrators can establish segmented paths for a host computer with PowerPath. Generally,
PowerPath Environment segmentation works for environments containing four or more paths between a host computer and
a Symmetrix storage system when:
• Application tuning within the computer server with dedicated groups of paths benefits the overall
computer server performance or meets application service level requirements, or when
• A host computer contains more than one type of channel technology to connect to a Symmetrix
storage system (e.g., combinations Fast-Wide SCSI, Ultra-Wide SCSI, and/or Fibre Channel host
bus adapters). Segmentation avoids potential undesirable load balancing effects associated with
different channel speeds.
With the PowerPath powermt set mode command, administrators can place paths for a given
device into either active or standby mode. An application accessing one group of devices
establishes one group of paths as active mode and another group of paths as standby mode. A
second application for a different group of devices sets the first group of paths into standby mode
and the other group of paths into active mode. Now, each application contains its own dedicated
group of active paths, while the overall configuration provides channel failover protection. If one
group of paths fails, the application I/O is redirected automatically to the second group of paths
already set to standby mode.
26
If required, either a system administrator or a command script can make additional bandwidth
available to an application by setting paths to an active mode (from standby) for a power device.
Command scripts are typically used for temporary allocations to accommodate workloads that
run for a few hours (e.g., the data warehouse refresh period mentioned in Chapter 3, Measures of
Load Balancing Capability).
Figure 15 shows mixed paths with SCSI and FC-AL. This configuration may benefit IT
environments where administrators transition from SCSI paths to a comprehensive Fibre Channel
strategy in incremental steps. Load balancing is active only within each channel group, not across
channel groups.
Channel Grouping with PowerPath
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Request Request Request Request Request
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Server SD SD SD SD SD SD SCSI Driver
SCSI SCSI FC FC FC FC Host Bus Adapter
SA SA FA FA FA FA Channel Director
Symmetrix
Cache
Figure 15. Channel Grouping with PowerPath
27
Chapter 5
EMC Enterprise Storage Network (ESN)
Continuing the progress offered by EMC’s Symmetrix system — with superior information
protection, management, and sharing capabilities that provide the industry-standard for enterprise
storage systems — the EMC Enterprise Storage Network holds a decisive leadership position in
storage area network (SAN) technology.
Implementation ESN offers significant advantages in information consolidation, connectivity, multi-host support,
Advantages ease of management, and enterprise value. And only EMC offers a complete ESN implementation
package consisting of hardware, software, consulting, product support services, and
vendor-supplied equipment qualification. Consolidating information onto EMC Enterprise Storage:
• Gives customers a single view of enterprise-wide information that they can convert into business
value within every division and business process.
• Frees existing local and wide area networks from data transfer and information sharing tasks,
which result in performance increases.
• Unburdens servers from consuming valuable cycles spent in moving data.
ESN effectively extends the unmatched information protection, management, and sharing
capabilities of EMC Enterprise Storage software. As a specialized open network, ESN offers
universal data access for every major computing platform, operating system, and application
across any combination of SCSI, Ultra SCSI, Fibre Channel, and ESCON® technologies.
With ESN, EMC delivers a complete Fibre Channel SAN solution set comprised of Connectrix™
Enterprise Storage Network System, Enterprise Storage Network Management Software,
Enterprise Storage Network Professional Services, EMC customer service, and extensive SAN
component interoperability activities. Additionally, EMC formed the Fibre Alliance with industry-
leading Fibre Channel product companies to develop and implement common methods for
managing Fibre Channel-based SANs.
ESN functionality (from Connectrix Manager, ESN zoning, and VolumeLogix™ software)
combined with the capabilities of PowerPath and Symmetrix Manager (EMC’s powerful
Symmetrix Enterprise Storage management software solution) give system administrators
unprecedented control of the information storage and connectivity environment. The IT
department discovers the value of dramatically simplified management functions, and the ability to
devote more time and staff to business services and application development.
Fibre Channel Fibre Channel, a highly resilient network technology, adds a significant dimension within ESN,
High-availability allowing implementation of extended distance capabilities, capacity expansion strategies, and
Physical Topologies storage consolidation. High availability topologies feature redundant SAN components.
PowerPath provides maximum channel failure protection with SANS configured this way.
Distance Topology Fibre Channel distance standards range from 500 meters (for shortwave lasers with multimode
optical fibers) to distances of up to 10 kilometers (longwave lasers with single-mode fiber generally
provide hardware capability exceeding 500 meters). Longwave laser topology usually requires a
minimum of two fabric switches (Figure 16).
28
Shortwave Shortwave
Fibre Channel Fibre Channel
FC FC
SWITCH
Host SWITCH
Longwave
Fibre Channel
FC FC
SWITCH SWITCH
Figure 16. Fibre Channel Distance Topology
Capacity Topology The capacity topology application allows a single Host Bus Adapter in a file server to access the
large capacity stored on multiple Symmetrix devices.
This logical topology means the fan-in rate (e.g., “into Symmetrix”), illustrated in Figure 17 as a
fan-in rate of two. The Symmetrix systems in the figure each connect one Fibre Channel Director
port to a shared server port.
FC
SWITCH
Host
FC
SWITCH
Figure 17. Fibre Channel Capacity Topology
Consolidation Topology Many Windows NT environments require a consolidation topology that connects a large number
of low-end servers with a high-performance Symmetrix system, expanding the required number of
server connections into the Symmetrix. This logical topology refers to the fan-out rate (e.g., “out of
Symmetrix”), illustrated in Figure 18 as a fan-out rate of six. Six server connections share a single
Symmetrix port, with an implied 6:1 logical topology.
The consolidation topology can handle both clustered and non-clustered applications. Through
host-based file-locking facilities, clustered hosts share information assets. Non-clustered
application environments can share physical storage assets, capacity, bandwidth, and connectivity.
Host
Host
FC
Host SWITCH
Host FC
SWITCH
Host
Host
Figure 18. Fibre Channel Consolidation Topology.
29
Chapter 6
Supported Platforms and Environments
Hardware and System administrators planning to implement PowerPath require a Symmetrix 3000 or 5000
Software requirements system (with ESP). In addition, the host system requires a path interconnect technology such as
Fast Wide SCSI, Ultra-SCSI, or Fibre Channel, and the necessary operating system support.
PowerPath Software The following table lists the host server environments supported by PowerPath software:
Support Criteria
Computer Server Models Operating Number of High-availability Cluster

Vendor System Support Paths Software
(maximum)
Bull Escala Series AIX 4.2, 4.3 32 HACMP

Information
Systems
Compaq AlphaServers Digital UNIX 4.0D, 32 (planned)

4.0E
Hewlett HP® 9000 Series HP-UX® 10.10, 32 MC/ServiceGuard™

Packard 10.20 and 11.0
IBM RISC System/6000™, AIX® 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 32 HACMP

SP2™
Intel®- Pentium®, Pentium II, Windows NT 4.0 8 Microsoft Cluster Server,

based* Pentium III, Pentium-Pro NCR® LifeKeeper® ,
VERITAS® FirstWatch
NEC TX7000/NX7000 HP-UX 10.20, 11.0 32 MC/ServiceGuard
Siemens RM600E Reliant UNIX 32 (planned)

Y5.44C10 and
higher
Sun SPARC®server Solaris® 2.51 and 32 Sun® Enterprise Cluster,

SPARCcenter, Ultra higher Qualix HA+,
SPARC, Ultra Enterprise VERITAS® FirstWatch
*Major computer vendors manufacture and deliver Intel-based servers to the marketplace.
NOTE: AIX, HP-UX, Reliant UNIX, Solaris, and Intel-based Windows NT platforms support FWD SCSI, Ultra-SCSI,
and Fibre Channel paths. The Digital UNIX platform supports Ultra-SCSI paths only. Consult EMC for
specific configuration guidelines and supported host bus adapter models. PowerPath is compatible with the
industry-leading file systems, volume managers and databases for the operating systems listed in the above table.
Table 3. Supported Host Server Environments and Cluster Software
Contact EMC for current information about supported host server environments.
30
Chapter 7
EMC Software Solutions and Service
Software Solutions EMC offers software solutions for information protection, management and sharing.
Information Protection EMC software solutions maintain continuous data availability. The standard features of
Symmetrix software solutions facilitate continuous data availability in the event of major system
component failure or power outage, and provide the ability to repair or replace the failed
component without any interruption in operation. EMC Enterprise Storage software solutions
continually perform self-diagnosis to identify and correct potential problems prior to any
disruption of data availability. These software solutions include:
• Symmetrix Remote Data Facility (SRDF)
• EMC TimeFinder
• Symmetrix Data Migration Services (SDMS)
Information Sharing EMC offers centralized, sharable information storage for supporting changing environments and
mission-critical applications. This leading-edge technology begins with physical devices shared
between heterogeneous operating environments and extends to specialized software that enhances
sharing information between disparate platforms. These software solutions include:
• Symmetrix Enterprise Storage Platform (ESP)
• EMC InfoMover
• DataReach
Information Management EMC consolidates storage capacity for multiple hosts and servers and improves information
management. The Symmetrix Manager family of products further enhances this efficient,
consolidated storage approach. These optional software solutions provide powerful GUI-based
tools that simplify Symmetrix configuration, performance, and status information gathering and
management. These software solutions include:
• Symmetrix Manager
• EMC PowerPath
• EMC Volume Logix
• EMC Data Manager (EDM)
• FDR Family of Backup/Restore Solutions
Services EMC meets customer needs through its extensive service and support organizations.
• Professional Services consultants leverage EMC product knowledge and project management skills
to facilitate the customer’s software implementation.
• Customer service personnel operate worldwide teams that provide high-level technical expertise.
• EMC Customer Support offers direct support for EMC hardware and software products.
31
EMC Professional Services EMC Professional Services consultants offer a unique capability to put information at the center of
an IT infrastructure. These experts can help architect, design, build, and manage an EMC
Enterprise Storage infrastructure that enables customers to leverage information while attaining
business goals expeditiously, cost-effectively, and with minimal risk.
EMC Storage Logic Methodology Professional Services consultants incorporate EMC Storage Logic™ throughout the engagement.
This framework of EMC-specific and storage industry best practices — developed from EMC’s
decade-long focus on storage technology — addresses all phases of an enterprise solution. EMC
Storage Logic ensures a consistent and effective process for building an information-centric
infrastructure, one that empowers users to take full advantage of critical information.
EMC Storage Logic allows EMC consultants to deliver time-tested and predictable software
implementation services. This methodology addresses all phases of an enterprise solution, reduces
risk, and ensures a consistent and effective process with repeatable and predictable results.
Software Implementation EMC Professional Services consultants understand PowerPath benefits, such as online peak
Services for PowerPath performance through channel failover and I/O load balancing. This understanding, combined with
their knowledge and experience of operability requirements, allows EMC Professional Services
consultants to facilitate the customer’s software implementation.
EMC Professional Services offerings feature standard installation assistance and extended custom
implementation services (with project management, testing, and migration assistance). The
extended offering includes full integration of EMC products in the customer’s unique environment
and the capability to solve critical business problems.
Standard Installation EMC Professional Services offers basic installation assistance preparatory to extending and
integrating PowerPath use throughout an environment. This service includes:
• Basic installation and configuration of EMC PowerPath to achieve operability between a host
server attached to a single Symmetrix system.
• A demonstration of EMC PowerPath’s capabilities, combined with a review of the installed

system’s functions and operations.
By ensuring proper installation and operation, the standard service creates a foundation that
enables continued, confident use of the PowerPath solution.
Extended Implementation Extended implementation offers additional assistance, including detailed testing of EMC
PowerPath in a high-availability environment. Consultants simulate failover conditions by
disconnecting channels and observing actual I/O re-allocation patterns. This combination of EMC
Professional Services product knowledge and project management skills maximizes customer
confidence in the EMC solution.
32
Best Practices for Best Results In summary, EMC Professional Services eliminates the need for customers to divert in-house
resources from core business activities; brings expertise and resources to maximize business
impact; and helps customers experience the benefits of The EMC Effect.
EMC Customer Service EMC Customer Service dedicates more than 1,500 technical, field, and support personnel to its
worldwide organization. Over 400 professionals are based at corporate headquarters in
Hopkinton, Massachusetts. More than 550 experts, including over 400 Customer Engineers,
support North and Latin American customers in the field from more than 60 field service offices
across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. International
Customer Service is staffed by more than 550 professionals from over 60 field offices spanning
29 countries. Another 36 countries are serviced by EMC-trained customer service personnel
provided by EMC business partners.
EMC Customer Support The EMC Customer Support Center, headquartered in the United States, directly supports
EMC hardware and software products. Use the following numbers to contact EMC and obtain
technical support:
U.S.: (800) 782-4362 (SVC-4EMC)
Canada: (800) 543-4782 (543-4SVC)
Worldwide: (508) 497-7901 (or contact the nearest EMC office)
33
Appendix: List of Fields in Device Display
This Appendix includes Table 4, which lists the field names and values used in PowerPath displays;
an illustration that shows typical fields in a UNIX device display; and an illustration that shows
typical fields in a Windows NT device.
Field Value
emcpowerN* PowerPath device identifier, N is an integer with a value of
0 or greater
state unconfigured, operational, recovering, dead, or unknown
policy round_robin, least_ios, least_blocks, or symm_opt
priority Integer in the range 0 — 10 (valid for symm_opt policy only)
I/Os in progress Non-negative integer
(Adapter) ## Integer in the range 0 — 31
(Adapter) Name String that represents part of the path to this adapter in the
/devices directory
(Device Path) Active or Standby

Mode
(Device Path) Link String of the form cntndn
(Device Path) ID* String of the form sdNN
(Device Path) Open, Closed, Detaching, Unconfigured

State
Serial Number Hexadecimal number of eight digits, taken from the Inquiry
command data on the Symmetrix volume, or logical unit
Queued I/Os Non-negative integer, queued I/Os not completed
Errs Integer in the range 0 — 4, number of recovered errors
* Field names and values are specific to the Solaris operating system. Other PowerPath-supported
UNIX and Windows operating systems feature different operating system-specific names
and values.
Table 4. List of Fields in a Device Display.
34
emcpowerN state policy priority I/Os in progress
(Adapter)##
Errors
(Adapter) Name
(Device Path)
Mode
(Device Path) Link
(Device Path)
(Device Path) ID Serial Number Queued I/Os
State
Figure 19. Typical Fields in a UNIX Device Display.
(Device Paths) I/Os just

(Device) state Queued I/Os I/O Errors I/O Retries
status summary completed
Open paths/
Total paths
(Adapter)##
Serial Number
priority
emcpower
deviceN
Volumes policy
Figure 20. Typical Fields in a Windows NT Device Display.
35
Glossary of Terms
active — Indicates the mode (user-defined state) of a physical I/O path. I/O is queued to an active
path whenever available. PowerPath performs load balancing on a power device with more than
one active path, based on the device’s load balancing policy setting. See standby.
adapter — A card that provides the physical interface between the host system I/O bus (typically
PCI) and the SCSI or FC-AL bus. See host bus adapter.
adapter name — Each host bus adapter in a PowerPath environment is identified by the path to its
device node in the /devices (Solaris) or /dev (AIX) directory. The adapter name entry reflects the
significant substrings from the relevant path.
arbitrated loop — A Fibre Channel topology structured as a loop and requiring a port to
successfully negotiate to establish a circuit between itself and another port on the loop.
attribute — Describes the condition of a power device, host bus adapter, or device path. PowerPath
uses user-defined attributes (e.g., modes) and driver-defined attributes (e.g., states).
bandwidth — The maximum amount of data that can be transmitted through a data channel per
unit of time. Usually expressed in megabytes per second.
bus — A collection of signal lines that work together to connect computer modules, such as
peripheral controllers and the central processor, or two cooperating controllers such as a SCSI host
adapter and a SCSI device controller.
cache — Random access electronic storage used to retain frequently used data for faster access by
the channel.
channel — Point-to-point link that transports data from one point to another.
channel director — The component in the Symmetrix subsystem that interfaces between the host
channels and data storage. It transfers data between the channel and cache.
cluster — A collection of high performance, interconnected computer servers working together as

a single processing resource in an application environment to provide scaleable, high availability to
both users and applications.
configured — Indicates that PowerPath knows the power device. A configured power device is in a
driver-defined state, such as operational, recovering, dead, or unknown.
controller — This computer module interprets signals between a host and a peripheral device. The
controller, often part of the peripheral device, generally acts as a device that controls other
hardware devices or communication interfaces.
closed — Indicates that the PowerPath power driver will not direct I/O to this physical I/O path.
The power driver closes a physical I/O path when it receives an error from the underlying disk
device. After closing the path, the power driver tests the path to determine whether it can re-open
it. See open.
36
cluster — A group of two or more servers that cooperate at some level, and that take over for one
another in the event of failure.
dead — Indicates that the power driver closed all physical I/O paths associated with a specific
power device, rendering the power device out of service. See operational, recovering, unconfigured,
and unknown.
degraded — Indicates that one or more, but not all, physical I/O paths originating from this host
bus adapter are closed. See failed and optimal.
device — A uniquely addressable part of the Symmetrix subsystem that consists of a set of access
arms, the associated disk surfaces, and the electronic circuitry required to locate, read, and write
data. See also volume.
device driver — Controller functions implemented in software. Device drivers typically interpret
commands set in a higher-level, more general language and translate them into lower-level, more
specific instructions understood by the firmware and/or hardware on the device.
device name — The device name or address used to access a LUN, such as c0t0d0. The cNtNdN
syntax identifies the controller, target address, and LUN.
device path — A PowerPath device path consists of one or more physical I/O paths. A physical I/O
path consists of a single host bus adapter, the associated SCSI bus or Fibre Channel cabling, and a
single port on an EMC Symmetrix Channel Director. With Fibre Channel fabric configurations,
the physical I/O path could end at a Fibre Channel switch or hub instead of at a Symmetrix
Channel Director port.
director — The component in the Symmetrix subsystem that allows Symmetrix to transfer data
between the host channels and disk devices. See also channel director and disk director.
disk director — The component in the Symmetrix subsystem that interfaces between cache and the
disk devices.
disabled — This user-defined attribute indicates that the system administrator made this host bus
adapter unavailable for use by PowerPath. Disabling a host bus adapter indicates to the power
driver that it should not use any device paths originating from this host bus adapter for I/O.
See enabled.
distributed lock manager — A cluster scheduling program that lets multiple processes and users
access shared resources without memory and data corruption. Typically used in clustered
computer server configurations.
dynamic load balancing — See load balancing.
emcpower device — See power device.
enabled — This user-defined attribute indicates that the system administrator considers this host
bus adapter available for use by PowerPath. See disabled.
error count — An integer greater than 0 and less than 4 indicates the total number of recovered
errors experienced since last running powermt restore. After four errors, the power driver
considers the path too unstable to use and marks it closed.
37
fabric — A Fibre Channel topology structured with one or more switching devices that
interconnect Fibre Channel N_Ports and route Fibre Channel frames.
failed — Indicates that all device paths originating at a specific adapter are closed. See also optimal
and degraded.
failover — The process by which PowerPath recovers from a physical I/O path going out of service.
On detecting a path failure, PowerPath first tries to restore the path (unless the system
administrator already disabled the path). If the path remains unresponsive, PowerPath marks the
path as out of service and re-distributes all incomplete and future I/O operations to alternate
physical paths.
FC-AL — See Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop.
FCP — See Fibre Channel Protocol.
Fibre Channel arbitrated loop (FC-AL) — A standard for a shared access loop, in which a number
of Fibre Channel devices are connected (as opposed to point-to-point transmissions).
Fibre Channel Protocol (FCP) — The mapping of SCSI-3 operations to Fibre Channel.
hard disk — A mass storage device for computer data that consists of a hermetically sealed
enclosure that holds stacked, rotating, magnetizable disks accessed by multiple read/write heads.
Originally, and still sometimes, called Winchester disks.
HBA — See host bus adapter.
host — A computer server, typically networked, that “hosts” some service used by or from other
computers (e.g., web servers, file servers, and application servers).
host bus adapter (HBA) — A device that connects the host computer system and the SCSI bus. The
host bus adapter usually performs the lower level of the SCSI protocol and normally operates in the
initiator role.
hot swapping — A method of component replacement in which the system containing the
component remains online during removal of the failed component and insertion of a replacement.
hub — A Fibre Channel device used to connect several devices (such as computer servers and
storage systems) into a Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL).
initiator — A SCSI or Fibre Channel device (usually a host system) that requests an operation to be
performed by another SCSI/Fibre Channel device. See target.
least_blocks — This load balancing policy assigns I/O requests to the path with fewest blocks
loaded, regardless of how many requests are loaded. See load balancing.
least_ios — This load balancing policy assigns I/O requests to the path with fewest requests loaded,
regardless of how many blocks are loaded. See load balancing.
38
load balancing — Distributes the I/O workload across all paths.
• Static load balancing assigns different devices to different physical paths, so

that all paths are used for one or more devices.
• Dynamic load balancing distributes the workload over all the paths that the
devices share, and make all paths equally burdened from moment to moment.
logical device — One or more physical devices or partitions managed by the storage controller as a
single logical entity. Logical devices aggregated and managed at a higher level by a volume manager
are referenced as logical volumes rather than logical devices.
logical volume manager (LVM) — Software that manages logical storage devices. Abbreviated,
logical volume managers typically reside under the computer server’s filesystem.
logical unit number (LUN) — A logical unit - the addressable function within a target that executes
active target I/O processes - is addressed by the logical unit number (LUN). Use of the term LUN
(versus volume) means that a LUN is the atomic storage unit (e.g., indivisible or incapable of
division into smaller pieces) presented by the storage device to the host. A volume can coincide
with a LUN, include multiple LUNs, or contain only a piece of a LUN. Volumes are not atomic.
See volume.
LUN — See logical unit number.
LVM — See logical volume manager.
mode — A mode is an attribute of a power device, device path, or host bus adapter that the system
administrator can set.
open — Indicates that the PowerPath power driver can direct I/O to this physical I/O path.
See closed.
operational — Indicates that a specific power device contains at least one physical I/O path open to
a LUN. Other possible states for a power device are recovering, unconfigured, and unknown.
optimal — Indicates that all device paths originating from this host bus adapter are open. See also
degraded and failed.
path — See device path.
path failure — A condition inferred from a persistent inability to get a response from any device
on a particular physical path. Possible causes include a broken or disconnected cable, a failed host
bus adapter, or a defective controller port.
partition — The standard division of a physical disk device, as supported directly by the operating
system and disk drives.
policy — Identifies the current load-balancing algorithm: round_robin, least_ios,

least_blocks, symm_opt.
port — An access point in a device to which a link attaches.
39
power device — A virtual device under control of the power driver and managed by the PowerPath
utilities. It represents a set of device paths from the server to the Symmetrix storage system. Each
device path in a power device targets the same physical storage. To an application, a power device
appears as a single, highly available path to storage.
A single power device can consist of as many as 32 physical I/O paths from the server to storage,
each represented by a different name to the computer server operating system. The paths
themselves can include hubs, switches, etc.
The power device provides an application such as a logical volume manager (LVM) with the
benefit of multiple I/O paths — faster I/O throughput, highly available data access — while
shielding it from the complexity and vulnerability of these paths.
priority — An integer greater than 0 and less than 10 that indicates the amount of scheduling
favoritism shown to certain power devices by the power driver (applicable only to the Symmetrix
Optimized load-balancing policy). A high priority shows traffic to and from these power devices at
a heavier than actual rate. The high-priority designation gradually causes power devices to take
over certain paths for their own use, and thereby obtain better performance. This designation
works best when administrators assign higher priority to a limited number of power devices.
queue — Arrangement of tasks within a task set, usually according to the temporal order in which
they were created.
RAID — Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks. A method of storing data across multiple
magnetic or optical devices to increase output performance, storage capacities, and to provide
varying degrees of redundancy and fault tolerance.
recovering — Indicates that the power driver closed all physical I/O device paths associated with
the power device, and is determining whether any can re-open. If one or more of the closed paths
pass the test, the power driver re-opens those paths, increments the error count, and begins to
direct I/O to those paths. See operational, unconfigured, and unknown.
Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) — See RAID.
round_robin — Load balancing policy that distributes I/O requests to each available path in turn,
regardless of other factors.
SAN — Storage Area Network.
SCSI — See Small Computer System Interface.
single point of failure — A hardware or software item that causes an application or whole system
to become unavailable if it fails. High-availability design attempts to eliminate single points of
failure through redundancy, recovery, or failover.
Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) — The ANSI standard set of protocols that host
computers use to communicate with attached peripherals.
40
SCSI device — Host bus adapter, peripheral controller, or intelligent peripheral that can attach to
the SCSI bus.
standby — User-defined state that indicates the mode of a physical I/O path. A standby path is held
in reserve against failure. No I/O is sent over a standby path while the power device can access an
available active path. PowerPath brings standby paths into service as active paths fail. See active.
state — Describes the driver-defined condition of a power device, host bus adapter, or device path.
static load balancing — See load balancing.
storage device — Physical device that can attach to a SCSI device, which in turn connects to the
SCSI bus.
switch — A Fibre Channel device used to connect devices (e.g., computer servers and storage
systems) into a Fibre Channel fabric.
symm_opt — The Symmetrix optimized load balancing policy that assigns I/O requests to paths
to best balance the I/O load, taking into account path load and the priority; symm_opt is the
default setting.
target — A device that performs an I/O process requested by the initiator. See initiator.
unconfigured — Indicates that there are no valid paths, either open or closed, to this device. This
path, therefore, is not associated with a power device. Other possible states for a power device are
operational, recovering, and unknown.
unknown — Indicates that PowerPath cannot get enough valid information to determine the
state of the device. Other possible states for a power device are operational, recovering,
and unconfigured.
volume — Virtual disk into which a file system, database management system (DBMS), or other
application can place data. A volume can be a single disk partition or multiple disk partitions on
one or more physical drives. Computer applications that use volumes do not need to be aware of
the underlying physical structure. Software handles the mapping of virtual partition addresses to
physical addresses. See also device and logical unit number.
41
EMC Corporation
Hopkinton
Massachusetts
01748-9103
1-508-435-1000
In North America
1-800-424-3622 ext. 362
www.EMC.com
EMC2, EMC, and Symmetrix are registered

trademarks and EMC Enterprise Storage,
The EMC Effect, The Enterprise Storage Company,
TimeFinder, EDM, SDMS, SRDF, PowerPath,
InfoMover, EMC Storage Logic, EMC Enterprise
Storage Network, and CopyPoint are trademarks of
EMC Corporation. Other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners. RAB is a
Certification Mark of the RAID Advisory Board,
St. Peter, MN, 507-931-0967.
Produced by EMC Global Communications.
©1999 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

Printed in the USA. 6/99
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EMC ENTERPRISE STORAGE SOLUTION

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EMC PowerPath Product Description Guide

Table of Contents 2 Table of Figures

30 Supported Platforms and Environments

Table of Figures 5 Figure 1. EMC MOSAIC Architecture

• Higher transaction throughput

• Improved availability to information

• Faster data analysis for decision support

In addition, higher performance:

• Helps customers improve time-to-market of their products and services

• Enables implementation of global services through improved data processing procedures

— Redundant critical components

— Non-disruptive upgrades and repair of critical components

— Data protection that optimizes performance, availability, and price

• Compatibility and ease of implementation

— Online host-independent mirroring between physically separated Symmetrix systems through

— MOSAIC:2000, a modular hardware framework, allows rapid development and deployment

• Superior economic value

— Less floor space

— Lower power and cooling requirements

— Lower maintenance costs

• Connects to disparate computer servers

• Provides common information management, protection and sharing capabilities

• Allows organizations to create a competitive advantage by leveraging large amounts of information

• MOSAIC:2000, the long-standing architectural foundation for Symmetrix, combines industry-

Figure 1. EMC MOSAIC Architecture

• Provide high-level performance, capacity, and reliability

• Share information, regardless of origin

• Offer highest performance, scalability, connectivity, information protection, information sharing

• Provide intelligence at the storage system level

• Use industry-standard interfaces

• Symmetrix provides standard simultaneous multiple open systems support.

• DataReach uses ESP as an enabling technology to provide access to mainframe database

• Symmetrix Manager offers enhanced GUI-based storage monitoring, configuration, and

• EMC PowerPath optionally offers a combination of simultaneous multiple path access,

• EMC Data Manager (EDM™) supports high-performance network-based or directly connected

• Fast Dump/Restore (FDR), a family of mainframe-based backup/restore utilities, uses Symmetrix

EMC PowerPath delivers a high-availability software solution — combining efficiency,

DISK DISK DISK DISK

SYMMETRIX EMC Supports RAID 1,

Figure 2. PowerPath Components.

PowerPath software resides on the UNIX or Windows NT server. It supports Fast-Wide

PowerPath Features ➯ Benefits

• Multiple paths to a device ➯ Improves server performance

Figure 3. The EMC Effect.

Application HOST APPLICATION

PowerPath POWER POWER

CHANNEL CHANNEL CHANNEL

DISK DISK DISK DISK

DISK1 DISK2 DISK1 DISK1

EMC Supports RAID 1,

Figure 4. PowerPath Devices

The SCSI driver contains both a high-level and a low-level component.

PowerPath overcomes a SCSI implementation limitation, specifically the one-to-one-to-one

• Non-disruptive additions to (or removals from) the loop

• Connections of up to 500 meters or 10 kilometers (depending on the optical transceivers used)

• Cascading to increase connectivity and total distance

• Non-disruptive additions to (or removals from) the fabric

• Connections of up to 500 meters or 10 kilometers (depending on the optical transceivers used)

• Topology flexibility to encompass Fibre Channel loops

SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI SCSI

Figure 5. Server Software Architecture