Section 4.10. Practical Implications

   

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4.10 Practical Implications

Fibre Channel SANs provide the illusion that a storage device is directly connected to a server, even when it is really connected through a switch. Thus, as far as a Windows operating system is concerned , the Fibre Channel device is accessed via either the SCSIPort or the Storport driver model described in Chapter 2. Hence the implications of direct-attached storage also apply here.

The new Storport driver model provides a lot of functionality, including optimizing I/O and driving throughput. However, system administrators and IT procurement officials should note that the Storport driver model is applicable to only the Windows Server 2003 platform. IT procurement officials who have settled on the Windows platform will want to investigate the plans of their storage device vendor to adopt the Storport model and meanwhile investigate the same vendor device support on the Windows 2000 platform, including details of how the vendor had implemented the driver. Specifically, it is important to determine whether the system throughput is adequate with the soon-to-be legacy SCSIPort model driver if that's what the vendor is using. Also find out if the vendor has developed its own solution that does not use the SCSIPort driver at all and whether that solution has been certified and is supported by all relevant parties. Finally, investigate if the vendor will provide a smooth migration path from the current Windows 2000 solution to a Storport-based solution on Windows Server 2003.

LUN masking is currently not natively supported by any released version of the Windows operating system. Windows Server 2003 is not expected to change that situation. Before purchasing any new hardware and software, determine the vendor architecture for implementing LUN masking and confirm that the architecture is a good Windows citizen.

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