Host Architectures
Fibre Channel HBA Multipathing
Multipathing
• Multipathing drivers provide three basic features:
– Failover:
• Detection of link failure
• Automatic rerouting to alternate path
• Varying levels of transparency
– Load-balancing:
• Path selection—per-LUN
• Dynamic traffic leveling
– Administration:
• Intelligent path selection
• Dynamic configuration
• Centralized configuration
Multipathing drivers provide three basic features:
Failover.
This includes detection of link failure and automatic rerouting to
alternate path. Different HBA drivers provide different levels of
transparency to the OS and application.
Load-balancing.
Some multipathing drivers allow you to manually determine which
LUNs are accessed over which HBA ports, while others provide
automatic path selection capability. This is basic load-levelling.
More advanced multipathing software provides actual load-
balancing—dynamic levelling of traffic flows on a per-flow or per-
Exchange basis.
Administration.
Multipathing software can provide intelligent path selection capability,
dynamic configuration, and centralized administration of multiple hosts
from one console.