Dual-Bus Sun StorEdge 3310 JBOD Configurations May Lose SCSI Termination in a Multi-Initiator Environment

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Impact

Failover capability may be compromised when using the Sun StorEdge 3310 JBOD array in a multi-initiator environment.

Contributing Factors

This issue can occur with the following configurations :

• Sun StorEdge 3310 JBOD disk array in a dual-bus configuration

This issue only occurs in multi-initiator SCSI environments. (for example, in a Sun Cluster environment) when a host connected to the "IN" port loses power.

Notes: Sun StorEdge 3310 JBOD arrays in a single-bus configuration and Sun StorEdge 3310 RAID arrays are not affected.

The SE 3310 JBOD disk array relies on the cluster nodes to provide SCSI bus termination. As termination power is not supplied from the array's "IN" ports, if the system connected to these loses power, SCSI bus termination will be lost. This in turn may result in the remaining host losing access to the shared storage on that SCSI bus.

Symptoms

The symptoms for loss of SCSI bus termination will vary depending on the length of the SCSI bus, the number of devices connected to the bus, and the environment it is installed in.

Common errors for loss of termination include SCSI bus phase errors and devices dropping their transfer rates. In extreme cases, access to the devices may be lost completely.

Workaround

To work around the described issue, do not use the dual-bus SE 3310 array in a multi-initiator environment.

Resolution

All known cases of this issue have been addressed.

Dual-Bus Sun StorEdge 3310 JBOD configurations in a multi-initiator environment is supported with the -02 revision of the SE3310 JBOD I/O module, Sun part number 370-5396.

Modification History


Date: 17-JUN-2004

• State: Resolved
• Updated Resolution section

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