IBM SAN ONLINE Training Introduction:

IBM SAN ONLINE Training is designed to bridge the knowledge gap between AIX/PowerVM education & Storage Management courses. The overall objective is to provide you a description of how AIX interacts with Fibre Channel storage devices. Along with this general view, we will look at common operational issues such as performance & problem solving from the perspective of an AIX administrator.

IBM STORAGE AND NETWORKING ONLINE TRAINING COURSE CONTENT

IBM SAN ENVIRONMENT

• Describe IBM SAN product offerings
• Discuss basic aspects of SAN interaction with Power systems
• Describe course lab environment
• Use AIX commands to identify system resources

IBM SAN DEVICE MANAGEMENT

• Discuss VIO server architecture as it relates to Fibre Channel
• Describe how to configure virtual Fibre Channel adapters
• Utilize VIO server commands to identify Fibre Channel resources
• Differentiate between physical & virtual Fibre Channel resources

SAN BOOT

• Interpret AIX boot strategies using SAN
• Identify resources required to complete a SAN boot
• Configure a SAN attached hdisk as a boot device

STORAGE SERVER DESIGN CONCEPTS

• Define storage server architecture models
  • Active/Passive
  • Active/Active
• Discuss common terminology used with storage servers
• Identify storage manager functions

SAN FABRIC CONCEPTS & OPERATIONS

• Summarize SAN fabric design elements
• Describe SAN addressing
• Discuss virtual FC resources

FIBRE CHANNEL SWITCHING CONFIGURATION

• Describe basic FC switch configuration elements
• Navigate switch environment
• Define zoning process

VIRTUAL I/O SERVER

• Discuss VIO server architecture as it relates to Fibre Channel
• Describe how to configure virtual Fibre Channel adapters
• Utilize VIO server commands to identify Fibre Channel resources
• Differentiate between physical & virtual Fibre Channel resources

SAN PERFORMANCE MONITORING CONSIDERATIONS

• Identify the I/O layers where queuing is handled
• View & change a FC disk & FC disk adapter’s tuning attributes
• Monitor & tune the queue depth of disks & disk adapters
• Identify the filemon reports that display I/O activity
• Test I/O throughput using:
  • The time & dd commands
  • The ndisk program (part of the nstress package)