Migration wizard prerequisites

Before you begin migrating external storage, confirm that the restrictions and prerequisites are met.

Administrators can migrate data from the external storage system to the system that uses either iSCSI connections, serial-attached SCSI connections, and Fibre Channel or Fibre Channel over Ethernet connections. To use Fibre Channel connections, the system must have the optional Fibre Channel host interface adapter installed.

Prerequisites for Fibre Channel connections

Cable this system into the SAN of the external storage that you want to migrate.

Ensure that your system is cabled into the same storage area network (SAN) as the external storage system that you are migrating. If you are using Fibre Channel, connect the Fibre Channel cables to the Fibre Channel ports in both canisters of your system, and then to the Fibre Channel network. If you are using Fibre Channel over Ethernet, connect Ethernet cables to the 10 Gbps Ethernet ports.

Change VMWare ESX host settings, or do not run VMWare ESX.

If you have VMware ESX server hosts, you must change settings on the VMWare host so copies of the volumes can be recognized by the system after the migration is completed. To enable volume copies to be recognized by the system for VMWare ESX hosts, you must complete one of the following actions:

Enable the EnableResignature setting.
Disable the DisallowSnapshotLUN setting.

To learn more about these settings, consult the documentation for the VMWare ESX host.

Note: Test the setting changes on a nonproduction server. The LUN has a different unique identifier after it is imported. It looks like a mirrored volume to the VMWare server.

Prerequisites for SAS connections

Cable this system directly to the external storage system that you want to migrate.

For the storage system that you are migrating, ensure that your system is cabled to the external storage system that uses SAS connections. For SAS attached external storage systems, the system supports only wide port SAS connections and requires that the external storage system is directly attached to the system. However, the system supports multiple I/O groups when migrating data from an external storage system, use the node canisters in one I/O group. Using the SAS cables, connect the external storage system to both node canisters in that I/O group before you begin the migration. All of the SAS ports except port 4 can be used for data migration from external storage to the system. Port 4 is used exclusively to connect the control enclosure to expansion enclosures.

Change VMWare ESX host settings, or do not run VMWare ESX.

Enable the EnableResignature setting.
Disable the DisallowSnapshotLUN setting.

To learn more about these settings, consult the documentation for the VMWare ESX host.

Note: Test the setting changes on a nonproduction server. The LUN has a different unique identifier after it is imported. It looks like a mirrored volume to the VMWare server.

Prerequisites for iSCSI connections

Cable this system to the external storage system with a redundant switched fabric.

To migrate iSCSI external storage requires that the system and the storage system are connected through an Ethernet switch. Symmetric ports on all nodes of the system must be connected to the same switch and must be configured on the same subnet. In addition, modify the Ethernet port attributes to enable the external storage on the Ethernet port to enable external storage connectivity. To modify the Ethernet port for external storage, select Network > Ethernet Ports and right click a configured port. Select Modify Storage Ports to enable the port for external storage connections.

Cable the Ethernet ports on the storage system to fabric in the same way as the system and ensure that they are configured in the same subnet. Optionally you can use Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) to define network traffic for the system ports. See Modify VLAN for details on setting up VLAN for storage systems.

For full redundancy, configure two Ethernet fabrics with separate Ethernet switches. If the source system nodes and the external storage system both have more than two Ethernet ports, additional redundant iSCSI connection can be established for increased throughput.

Change VMWare ESX host settings, or do not run VMWare ESX.

Enable the EnableResignature setting.
Disable the DisallowSnapshotLUN setting.

To learn more about these settings, consult the documentation for the VMWare ESX host.

Note: Test the setting changes on a nonproduction server. The LUN has a different unique identifier after it is imported. It looks like a mirrored volume to the VMWare server.