Dell S5000 Deployment/Configuration Manual page 6

Dell Networking S5000: Deployment of a Converged Infrastructure with FCoE
processes for FC and iSCSI connected storage devices. You can configure load balancing to use up to
32 independent paths from the connected storage devices. The MPIO framework uses Device Specific
Modules (DSM) to allow path configuration. For Windows Server 2008 and above, Microsoft provides a
built-in generic Microsoft DSM (MSDSM) and it should be used. For Windows Server 2003 only, Dell
Compellent provides a DSM.
A load balance policy is used to determine which path is used to process I/O. Once the Compellent
volume has been created and mapped accordingly as will be demonstrated shortly, to see the selected
MPIO policy in Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise navigate to 'Start->Administrative Tools-
>Computer Management'. On the left-hand pane navigate to 'Computer Management->Storage->Disk
Management' and right click the disk created on the Compellent storage array and select 'Properties'.
Next, select the 'Hardware' tab, click the 'Properties' button at the bottom right, and select the 'MPIO'
tab. Figure 2 below displays what you should see. Note that the default will be "Round Robin".
The Dell Compellent SC8000 will only support 'Round Robin' or 'Fail Over Only' MPIO policies. The
other policies require Asymmetric Logical Unit Access (ALUA) support on the array and additional
support through a DSM.
Figure 2: Checking MPIO settings in Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Additionally, there are two IO connection options available with the Dell Compellent Storage Center
that allow multiple paths to be presented to the servers: 'Legacy Ports' and 'Virtual Ports'. You will be
asked which one you would like to use when initially setting-up the Compellent Storage Center and
6 Deployment of a Converged Infrastructure with FCoE
Deployment/Configuration Guide