MPIO Driver Boot from SAN Script for hdiskpower
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Solution Overview
Problem
System administrators face challenges in enabling boot from SAN operations on multi-pathing devices that do not support bosboot functionality, requiring extensive operational tasks and potentially leading to system unresponsiveness and performance issues.
Innovation Solution
A script is invoked to modify the bosboot script, enabling bosboot command support on non-configured devices, allowing boot image creation operations to run on hdiskpower devices without the need for additional reboots or PVID manipulation, thus ensuring multipathing and redundancy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multi-pathing devices are used for boot from SAN operations, then reliability is improved through multiple access paths, but device complexity increases and bosboot functionality is not supported
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a script as an intermediary component that bridges the gap between multi-pathing devices and the bosboot command. The script modifies the bosboot script to enable it to execute on hdiskpower devices, which are created by the MPIO driver for multi-pathing operations. This intermediary script resolves the incompatibility without requiring changes to the core bosboot utility or the multi-pathing driver.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the boot image creation process into distinct components: the MPIO driver creates a disk device (hdiskpower) representing multiple paths, and a separate script handles the bosboot modification to work with this segmented structure. This segmentation allows each component to specialize - the driver handles path management while the script handles boot image creation compatibility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If extensive operational tasks are performed to enable bosboot on multi-pathing devices, then boot from SAN functionality is achieved, but productivity decreases due to time-consuming manual configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The script enables the system to self-configure by automatically modifying the bosboot script to support hdiskpower devices. Instead of requiring system administrators to manually perform extensive operational tasks, the script automates the configuration process, allowing the system to adapt itself to work with multi-pathing devices out of the box.
Solution Approach 2:
The script performs preliminary modification of the bosboot script before boot image creation is attempted. By pre-configuring the bosboot utility to recognize and work with hdiskpower devices, the system eliminates the need for manual intervention during the actual boot image creation process, significantly improving productivity.
3Stability of the object's composition
If PVID manipulation and additional reboots are required for boot image creation, then compatibility is maintained, but loss of time increases due to multiple system interruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The script enables continuous operation by allowing boot image creation to proceed without requiring system reboots or PVID manipulation. The modification to the bosboot script maintains system stability while eliminating interruptions, allowing the useful action of boot image creation to continue uninterrupted and reducing the total time required for system configuration and maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
A host device is configured to communicate over a network with a storage system. The host device comprises a multi-path input-output (MPIO) driver configured to control delivery of input-output (IO) operations from the host device to the storage system over selected ones of a plurality of paths through the network. The MPIO driver is further configured to create a disk device on the host device, wherein the disk device corresponds to a subset of the plurality of paths to the storage system, and to execute a script enabling a boot image create operation to run on the created disk device.