Dell Compellent Storage Center

Microsoft Multipath IO (MPIO)

Best Practices Guide

Dell Compellent Technical Solutions Group

May 2013
THIS BEST PRACTICES GUIDE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS,
WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND.

© 2013 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information,
contact Dell.

Dell, the DELL logo, and the DELL badge are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft® and Windows® are
either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or
other countries. Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either
the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in
the marks and names of others.

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Table of Contents
1 Preface ................................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 Audience ..................................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Purpose........................................................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Customer Support ..................................................................................................................... 2
2 Introduction......................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Introduction to Microsoft Multipath IO (MPIO) ................................................................... 3
2.2 Dell Compellent Storage Center Connections ....................................................................4
2.2.1 Legacy Ports ...........................................................................................................................4
2.2.2 Virtual Ports............................................................................................................................. 5
2.2.3 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 5
3 Configuring Servers ...........................................................................................................................6
3.1.1 Fibre Channel .........................................................................................................................6
3.1.2 iSCSI .........................................................................................................................................6
3.2 Automatic Configuration ......................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Manual Configuration ...............................................................................................................8
3.4 Verifying Connectivity............................................................................................................... 9
3.5 Choose the IO Transport ....................................................................................................... 11
4 MPIO for Windows Server 2003 .................................................................................................... 12
4.1 Dell Compellent Multipath Manager .................................................................................... 12
4.2 Configuration ........................................................................................................................... 13
4.3 Choosing a Failover Policy..................................................................................................... 14
4.4 iSCSI Multipath Options.......................................................................................................... 15
4.4.1 Installing the Microsoft iSCSI DSM ................................................................................... 15
4.5 Configuring the iSCSI Initiator............................................................................................... 16
4.6 Configuring Microsoft iSCSI DSM ......................................................................................... 19
5 Using MPIO on Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 ................................................................ 21
5.1 Installing the Microsoft MPIO DSM ..................................................................................... 22
5.1.1 Server Manager GUI ........................................................................................................... 22
5.1.2 Server Manager CLI (2008 and 2008 R2 only) .............................................................. 22
5.1.3 To install MPIO on Server Core: ...................................................................................... 22

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 5.2 Associating Dell Compellent Volumes with the DSM .......................................................23
5.3 Setting the Default Load Balance Policy ............................................................................ 24
5.3.1 Windows Server 2008 default load balance policy ...................................................... 24
5.3.2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Default Load Balance Policy .............................................. 24
5.4 Per-volume Load Balance Settings ......................................................................................25
5.4.1 Using MPCLAIM in 2008 R2 and Server 2012 ............................................................... 26
6 MPIO for Windows Server 2012..................................................................................................... 27
6.1 Install the Microsoft MPIO Feature....................................................................................... 27
6.1.1 Server Manager GUI ............................................................................................................ 27
6.1.2 Enable MPIO with PowerShell .......................................................................................... 29
6.2 Associate Dell Compellent Volumes with the In-box DSM ............................................ 30
6.2.1 Using the MPIO Control Panel ......................................................................................... 30
6.2.2 Using PowerShell .................................................................................................................32
6.3 Set the Default Load-balancing Policy ................................................................................33
6.4 Per-volume Load Balance Settings ..................................................................................... 34
6.4.1 Using the Disk Management GUI: ................................................................................... 34
6.4.2 Using PowerShell .................................................................................................................35
7 Configure a Windows 2008 R2/2012 Server for iSCSI MPIO ................................................... 37
7.1 iSCSI Overview ......................................................................................................................... 37
7.2 Configuring a Windows 2008 R2/2012 Server for iSCSI MPIO ...................................... 38
8 Additional Resources ...................................................................................................................... 42
9 Appendix A: Windows Server MPIO Configuration Recommendations for Dell Compellent
Storage Center ........................................................................................................................................ 44

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Document Revisions
Date Revision Author Comments

10/11/2010 1.0 Technical Solutions Initial Draft

10/21/2011 1.1 Technical Solutions Corrected Errors

11/29/2011 1.2 Technical Solutions Additional content on Server Core

10/15/2012 1.3 Kris Piepho Updated to include Windows Server 2012 content

Updated to include Server 2008 R2/2012 iSCSI

5/29/2013 1.4 Kris Piepho initiatior setup and appendix listing recommended
hotfixes and registry values.

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1 Preface
1.1 Audience
The audience for this document is system administrators who are responsible for the setup
and maintenance of Windows servers and associated storage. Readers should have a working
knowledge of Windows and the Dell Compellent Storage Center.

1.2 Purpose
This document provides an overview of MPIO and introduces best practice guidelines for
configuring MPIO on Windows server 2003, 2008, 2008 R2, and 2012 when using the Dell
Compellent Storage Center. For installation procedures, download the MPIO Users Guide
from http://knowledgecenter.compellent.com.

1.3 Customer Support

Dell Compellent provides live support 1-866-EZSTORE (866.397.8673), 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. For additional support, email Dell Compellent at
[email protected]. Dell Compellent responds to emails during normal business
hours.

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2 Introduction
2.1 Introduction to Microsoft Multipath IO (MPIO)
Microsoft Multipath I/O (MPIO) is a framework that allows administrators to configure load
balancing and failover processes for Fibre Channel and iSCSI connected storage devices.
Load Balancing can be configured to use up to 32 independent paths from the connected
storage devices

Although Dell Compellent Storage Centers provide redundancy and failover with multiple
controllers and RAID, servers still need a way to spread the IO load and handle internal
failover from one path to the next. This is where MPIO plays an important role. Without
MPIO, servers see multiple instances of the same disk device in Disk Management.

The MPIO framework uses Device Specific Modules (DSM) to allow path configuration.
Currently there are two options available
 Microsoft provides a built-in generic Microsoft DSM (MSDSM) for Windows
Server 2008 and above. For Windows Server 2008 and above, use the MSDSM;
it provides adequate functionality for Dell Compellent customers.
 Dell Compellent provides a DSM for Windows Server 2003 only.

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2.2 Dell Compellent Storage Center Connections
Before reviewing server-specific MPIO functions, understand various connection options are
available with the Dell Compellent Storage Center that allow multiple paths to be presented
to the servers. The following section provides a quick overview and explains the differences
between legacy port mode and virtual port mode. This overview does not take the place of
the Storage Center Connectivity Guide available on http://kc.compellent.com

2.2.1 Legacy Ports

In legacy mode, the front-end IO ports are designated as either primary or reserve ports
based on a fault domain. Primary/reserved ports allow IO to use the primary path; the reserve
port is in a standby mode until a primary port fails over to the reserve port. In terms of MPIO,
this requires twice as many IO ports to enable multiple paths. Even more ports are required
for a dual fabric. Figure 1 illustrates dual-fabric failover ports in legacy mode.

Figure 1: Legacy Primary/Reserve Configuration

Figure 1 shows four fault domains to the CT-SC040. Each fault domain has a primary and
reserved port. For redundancy, a primary port connects to one controller; the reserved port
in that fault domain connects to the other controller. While this is a highly robust failover
solution, it requires a large number of ports. For this reason, Dell Compellent implemented
virtual ports.

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2.2.2 Virtual Ports
Dell Compellent introduced virtual port mode with Storage Center 5.0. Virtual ports allow all
front-end IO ports to be virtualized. All front-end IO ports can be used at the same time for
load balancing as well as failover to another port. Virtual ports are available for Fibre Channel
connections only, iSCSI connections only, or both Fibre Channel and iSCSI.

Fibre Channel
To use virtual ports for Fibre Channel, all Fibre Channel switches and HBAs must support
NPIV (N_Port ID Virtualization).

Figure 2: Virtual Ports Configuration

Figure 2 shows a virtual port configuration. All ports of one transport type (Fibre Channel or
iSCSI) are in the same fault domain. All ports are active. If one port fails, the load is distributed
between the remaining ports. Failover is just as robust as shown in Figure 1, with half the
ports.

iSCSI
iSCSI follows the same wiring and port setup as Fibre Channel with the exception of the
control port. iSCSI uses a control port configured for each of the fault domains. Servers
connect to the control port, which then redirects traffic to the appropriate virtual port. When
configuring MPIO, this looks slightly different than with the legacy mode configuration
because only the control port in the iSCSI Initiator software needs to be assigned. These
differences are covered below in the OS-specific sections of this document.

2.2.3 Conclusion
There are two methods to enable multiple paths from the Dell Compellent Storage Center:
legacy port mode and virtual port mode. Virtual ports are preferred because they reduce the
number of HBAs required and thus reduce cost and overhead. Note that virtual ports are
enabled based on protocol: virtual ports can be enabled on Fibre Channel only, iSCSI only, or
both.

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3 Configuring Servers
Before configuring MPIO at the operating system level, first configure servers using the Dell
Compellent System Manager. The following example assumes a server has two or more Fibre
Channel or iSCSI IO ports that are zoned/VLAN to see the Storage Center HBAs. With Fibre
Channel, the process is the same for virtual ports as for legacy ports. However, with legacy
ports, the server cannot see reserve ports. iSCSI virtual ports connect only to a control port
on the Storage Center.

3.1.1 Fibre Channel

To create the server, properly zone the switches so that the server and controller ports are in
the same zone. The easiest way to do this is to boot the server into the card's BIOS and scan
the SCSI devices on each port. An alternate method is to preconfigure the WWN's of the
HBAs in the Storage Center System Manager.

3.1.2 iSCSI
As with Fibre Channel, an iSCSI server can be created automatically or manually. For
automatic configuration, enter the IP address of the Storage Center controller HBA ports in
the server iSCSI HBA or Initiator Software. Use either the HBA BIOS or the Software Initiator
configuration wizard. In virtual port mode, enter the IP address of the control port. In legacy
port mode, enter the IP address of the primary port. This is covered in more detail in the OS
specific sections below. However, creating a server in the Storage Center is the same on all
operating systems.

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3.2 Automatic Configuration
Once a server has scanned for devices or logged into the target, Storage Center
automatically recognizes the WWN/IQN. To configure a server:
1. Login to the Dell Compellent System Manager.
2. In the tree view, right-click on Servers.
3. From the shortcut menu, select Create Server.
4. Select the appropriate HBAs and continue the wizard. If the HBA does not
appear, refer to Section 3.3 Manual Configuration.

Note: If the WWN or IQN is not listed, make sure that the Only Show Up Connections box is
unchecked.

Figure 3: Create Server

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3.3 Manual Configuration
To manually configure an HBA:
1. In the Create Server wizard shown in Figure 3, click Manually Define HBA.
2. In the Select Transport Type window, choose Fibre Channel or iSCSI.
3. Enter the WWN or iSCSI name. Click Continue. Repeat for every WWN or iSCSI
HBA to be associated with the server.
4. Once HBAs are added, check the appropriate HBA and continue the wizard.

Note: The new HBA appears with a white X in a red circle. Once the server is connected the
warning state is removed.

Figure 4: Manually-defined HBA

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3.4 Verifying Connectivity
To verify that the connectivity is correct:
1. In the tree view, select a server.
2. Click on Connectivity. This window shows all paths available to the server
based on the HBA and controller ports.

Figure 5: Connectivity Tab

The connectivity tab displays HBAs and controller ports the server can see.
 For Fibre Channel there are four possible paths: two HBAs see two Storage
Center ports.
 However for iSCSI there are a total of six connections: two separate IP
addresses going to three Storage Center ports. If MPIO is not installed and the
volume is mapped using the default mapping method, the server has visibility
to a total of 10 paths to a volume.

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In Storage Center, a volume is mapped to all available paths unless the advanced mapping
button is used to restrict mapping paths to FC only, iSCSI only, or specified HBA ports and
controller ports. To restrict mapping paths:
1. In the tree view, right-click on a volume.
2. From the shortcut menu, select Map Volume to Server. The Map Volume to
Server window appears.
3. Select a server and click Continue. The Map Volume window appears.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Check Only map using specified server ports.
6. Select one of the following:
a. Limit ports by transport type. Select a transport from the drop-down
menu.
-or-
b. Map using specific server ports. Check the specific server ports.

Figure 6: Advanced Mapping Wizard

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Assuming the default mapping wizard is used and paths are not restricted, a volume is
mapped to all available paths, creating multiple IO paths from the server to the volume. To
view the mapped paths:
1. In the tree view, select a volume.
2. Click on the Mapping tab.

Figure 7: Volume Mapping Tab

Figure 7 shows that MPIO Volume 1 was mapped to the server with four FC ports and two
iSCSI ports.

3.5 Choose the IO Transport

Most organizations today have settled on either Fibre Channel or iSCSI for the IO transport
mechanism. With the advent of 10GB iSCSI, the difference in performance characteristics
between these two transports has gotten smaller. Choosing between these two depends on
what the organization has in place today and where they are heading in the future. Dell
Compellent offers 8GB and 16GB Fibre Channel and 10GB iSCSI. For a converged fabric iSCSI
may be the best option because it can utilize existing networking infrastructure.

The remainder of this document focuses on specific MPIO configuration options available
from:
 Windows Server 2003 Dell Compellent provided DSM
 Windows Server 2008 and above MSDSM
 Microsoft iSCSI DSM.

It is assumed that there are multiple front-end controller paths to the servers and that the
servers have multiple connections to the controller.

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4 MPIO for Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 offers two methods for handling MPIO:
 Storage Center ISV-provided DSM
 Microsoft iSCSI DSM
These two methods cannot be used concurrently in the Windows 2003 platform. This
chapter describes each of these options and provides guidance on how to configure MPIO
with both the Storage Center DSM and the Microsoft DSM.

4.1 Dell Compellent Multipath Manager

The Dell Compellent Multipath Manager is a Dell Compellent-provided DSM that handles all
Fibre Channel and iSCSI failover and load balancing. Fibre Channel requires the Dell
Compellent Multipath Manager. iSCSI can be configured with either the Microsoft iSCSI DSM
or the Dell Compellent Multipath Manager. For information on installing and configuring the
Dell Compellent Multipath Manager, refer to the Storage Center Multipath IO (MPIO)
Manager for Microsoft Servers User Guide on the Dell Compellent Knowledge Center.

Once the Dell Compellent DSM has been installed, configure the load balance policies for
the volumes attached to the server. The default load balance policy for the Dell Compellent
DSM is failover-only. However, this can be changed to round robin or round robin subset.
 Failover only: Only one path is active. IO fails over to the next available
standby path only when the active path fails. The new active path remains
active until another failover occurs. By default, the first discovered path is the
active path. You can configure the failover only policy to behave as failback by
setting the active path and enabling the preferred path option. For failback, the
system fails back to the original active path when it becomes available after a
failover.
 Round robin: All paths are active and IO is distributed across all paths.
 Round robin subset. Allows multiple active and standby paths and IO is
distributed across all active paths. Standby paths are used only when all active
paths fail. You can configure the round robin subset policy to behave as
failback by explicitly setting one or more active paths. For failback, the system
fails back to the original active path when it becomes available after a failover.

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4.2 Configuration
To configure the default load balance policy or to change the active configuration of the
DSM, open the Dell Compellent Multipath Manager Configuration wizard from the Program
Files menu. Below is a brief overview of how to change the policies.

Figure 8: Multipath Manager Configuration

To change the default load balance policy for all future volumes attached to the system:
1. Click Set Default Policy at the top of the screen.
2. In the Policy field, select a policy for the environment.

Figure 9: Set Default Policy

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To change the policy for a given device:
1. Click on the device.
2. From the drop down menu, set the load balance policy.

Note: If moving to a round robin policy, notice that the device paths do not change from
standby to active until the settings are applied and the wizard is restarted or refreshed.

4.3 Choosing a Failover Policy

Determining the best failover policy is accomplished by deciding which is more important for
the application: failover, performance, or a combination of both. Cost also plays a significant
role in the decision since having multiple paths adds to the overall cost of a solution.
However, in today's world of zero downtime, failover is required in most organizations.

As mentioned previously in failover only mode, the server uses only one path at a time. While
this ensures redundancy, it may not provide adequate bandwidth for certain workloads. Also,
any IO ports in standby mode are sitting idle until a failover occurs, resulting in underutilized
resources in a data center.
Round robin, on the other hand, provides a means for IO to traverse all available paths while
still providing a level of redundancy. If one path fails, the system uses the remaining paths to
complete the request.

Round robin subset is a mix of both of the above policies and provides greater granularity for
managing when and where IO travels. With round robin subset, a set of ports can be grouped
to provide the benefits of round robin performance and provide a means for failover and
failback with an alternate path or group of paths. Round robin subset is most commonly
used when utilizing both FC and iSCSI transports for the same volume.

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4.4 iSCSI Multipath Options
As mentioned previously, the Dell Compellent Multipath Manager handles both FC and iSCSI
connections. In the Dell Compellent Configuration window, the transport for each
connection can be viewed and configured for each volume.

Figure 10: Dell Compellent DSM with Both FC and iSCSI

However, if the built-in Microsoft iSCSI DSM is installed, the Dell Compellent Multipath
Manager software must be uninstalled. Typically this is done for a server with volumes
connected only via the iSCSI transport. Otherwise there is no way to control the Fibre
Channel MPIO functionality. If the server has both transports in Windows Server 2003, the
best practice is to use the Dell Compellent DSM and not install the Microsoft iSCSI DSM.

4.4.1 Installing the Microsoft iSCSI DSM

To install the MS iSCSI DSM, simply install the iSCSI initiator software and select Microsoft
MPIO Multipathing Support for iSCSI.

Figure 11: Installing MS iSCSI DSM

Once installed, all iSCSI volume MPIO characteristics are controlled by the MS iSCSI DSM.
Before jumping into MPIO configuration with iSCSI it is important to understand how to
connect and configure the iSCSI initiator.

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4.5 Configuring the iSCSI Initiator
When using the MS DSM or the Dell Compellent DSM for iSCSI, the server must first be
configured to communicate with the Dell Compellent iSCSI front-end ports. This section
describes how to configure the iSCSI Initiator and make this connection. It assumes that the
initiator software is installed, the server has been rebooted, and the Dell Compellent Storage
Center has two or more iSCSI front-end ports. In the following examples, the server is
configured with two NIC cards, each used to communicate with the iSCSI network. To
configure the connection to the Dell Compellent Storage Center:
1. Open the iSCSI Initiator.
2. Click on the Discovery tab. The Discovery tab contains two sections: Target
Portals and iSNS Servers. Dell Compellent front-end ports are added as Target
Portals.
3. Click on Add. If you are using virtual port mode, enter the IP address of the
control port. If you are using legacy port mode, enter the first primary port IP
address. Do not enter reserve ports. Continue until all front-end ports have
been added.

Figure 12: Configure Discovery Targets

4. Click on the Targets tab. In this example there are two targets. For MPIO to
function correctly, each of the NIC cards must be logged in to each target,
thus providing multiple connections to that specific target.
5. Select the first target and click Log On.
6. Check Automatically Restore to reconnect after a reboot.
7. Check Enable multi-path.
8. Click on Advanced.

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The advanced options window is where each NIC card is selected to connect to the target.
This log-on sequence must be done for each IP address that communicates with the front-
end port. In this example, it entered two times for each target. Follow the steps below to
make a connection for each.

9. Select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator from the Local adapter drop-down box.
10. Select the first IP address from the Source IP.
11. Select the Target Portal.
12. Select the necessary checkboxes for Data Digest and Header Digest.
13. Enter any Chap login information and click OK.
14. Select the same target and click Log On again.
15. Repeat steps 3-11 for each Source IP and each additional target.

Figure 13: Configure Multiple Logons for Each Target Portal

In this example, there are two targets and two source IP addresses. Each IP address is logged
in to each target, creating four separate connections to the controller.

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To verify:
1. Open the Dell Compellent System Manager. Create a server (if it hasn't already
been created).
2. Click on the server in the tree view.
3. Click on the Connectivity tab. The connectivity window shows the IQN of the
server and associated controller ports (target IP addresses) that the server can
see.

Figure 14: System Manager iSCSI Connectivity

As can be seen in Figure 14, the two Dell Compellent ports see each of the server IP
addresses as being connected (10.5.25.33 and 10.5.25.40).

The iSCSI Initiator provides another method for verification:

1. From the Targets tab in the iSCSI Initiator, select each of the targets.
2. Click on Details. There are two connections for each of the targets.
3. Click on Connections to verify that each connection is using a different source
IP address.

Figure 15: iSCSI Initiator Connectivity Verification

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4.6 Configuring Microsoft iSCSI DSM
At this point the server and the Dell Compellent Storage Center are connected and the
connectivity has been verified. The next step is to use the Microsoft iSCSI DSM to configure
the default load balance policy for any new volumes that are mapped to the server.

To configure the default MPIO policy:

1. Open the iSCSI Initiator.
2. Click on the Targets tab.
3. Select each target and click on Details. Within the details section, there are
two or more Identifiers.
4. Select each one and click on Connections.
5. Using the drop down menu, select an appropriate load balance policy for that
connection, and click Apply. Note that this must be done for each connection.

Figure 16: Default Load Balance Policy

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To configure the MPIO policy for pre-existing volumes:
1. Open the iSCSI Initiator. Click on Targets.
2. Select each of the targets.
3. Click Details.
4. Click Devices.
5. For each device, click Advanced. The Advanced window appears.
6. Click MPIO.
7. Select the appropriate policy for each volume.
8. Click Apply.

Figure 17: Change Policy for Existing Volumes

The Microsoft iSCSI DSM offers three additional policies that are not provided by the Dell
Compellent DSM.
 Least Queue Depth: The DSM routes IO to the path with the least number of
outstanding requests.
 Weighted Paths: A weight is assigned to each path. The weight indicates the
relative priority of a given path. The larger the number, the lower the priority.
The DSM chooses the path with the least weight.
 Least Blocks: The DSM routes requests to the processing path with the least
number of pending IO blocks.

In conclusion, there are two methods for handling MPIO in the Windows Server 2003
operating system. If multiple protocols are in use on the server, the Dell Compellent
Multipath Manager Software must be used. However if iSCSI is the only transport, the
Microsoft iSCSI DSM is a valid choice.

Note: Remember that both DSMs cannot be used on the same server as this will cause issues
with the MPIO stack.

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5 Using MPIO on Windows Server 2008 and
2008 R2
Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 have a built-in Microsoft DSM out of the box that
manages all aspects of failover and load balancing. Dell Compellent uses this DSM because it
provides all required functionality for our customers. This also simplifies implementation, as it
eliminates the need to install and maintain another piece of software in the environment. The
built-in DSM for Windows Server 2008 and above can manage both iSCSI and FC volumes.

The process for mapping volumes and creating servers is identical to the 2003 section
described above under Configuring Servers so it will not be covered here. The remaining
sections cover Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 configuration options.

Note: Please refer to Appendix A in this document for important Windows Server 2008 / R2
MPIO configuration recommendations.

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5.1 Installing the Microsoft MPIO DSM
For Windows 2008 and above, the process of installing and configuring the Microsoft MPIO
DSM has been streamlined. A new configuration tool, the Server Manager, provides a single
interface for installing server features and roles. To access Server Manager click on Start 
Administrative Tools  Server Manager or click on the icon in the toolbar. There are
currently two available options for installing the DSM: the Server Manager GUI or the
servermanagercmd command line interface (CLI).

5.1.1 Server Manager GUI

To install using the GUI on 2008 and 2008 R2:
1. Open Server Manager.
2. In the tree view, click on Features.
3. Check MPIO.
4. Click Next.
5. Click Install. Once the feature has been installed click Yes, if prompted, to
allow the reboot.

5.1.2 Server Manager CLI (2008 and 2008 R2 only)

To install using the CLI, open a command prompt with elevated (administrator) privelages
and type:

Servermanagercmd -install "Multipath-IO"

5.1.3 To install MPIO on Server Core:

For a Windows Server 2008 Core installation, at the command prompt, type:

start ocsetup MultipathIo

For a Window Server 2008 R2 Core installation, at the command prompt, type:

DISM /online /enable-feature:MultipathIo

Note: For server core installations, the above commands are case sensitive and must be run
before the MPCLAIM command can be used.

At this point, the Microsoft MPIO DSM has been installed but not configured. Dell
Compellent volumes must be associated with the DSM so that it can manage MPIO
characteristics. The Microsoft DSM manages all Fibre Channel and iSCSI volumes presented
by the Dell Compellent Storage Center. You can choose either or both of these transports.
The built-in iSCSI initiator or an iSCSI HBA can also be used: management of the iSCSI

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Multipath IO is the same.

The iSCSI initiator provides all necessary performance and stability. However, if using an HBA,
it is still supported and available from Dell Compellent.

5.2 Associating Dell Compellent Volumes with the DSM

This section will describe how to associate the DSM with Dell Compellent volumes and how
to setup and configure the DSM based on the failover and load balancing policies of an
organization. This section assumes that servers have been created in the Dell Compellent
System Manager and that at least one volume is mapped to the server via FC or iSCSI with
MPIO enabled..

To associate the DSM with Dell Compellent volumes:

1. Open the MPIO control panel by clicking Start  Administrative Tools 
MPIO.
2. Once opened, click on Discover Multi-Paths.
3. Under Others, COMPELNTCompellent Vol appears.

Note: If COMPELNTCompellent Vol does not appear, rescan disk devices in Disk
Management. Click on COMPELNTCompellent Vol and then click on Add. This can take a
minute. When Disk Management prompts to reboot the server, accept the prompt and allow
the server to reboot. This reboot is required to set up the association between the volumes
and the DSM.

Another option for providing associations is the MPCLAIM CLI command. Open a command
prompt with elevated (administrator) privilages and type the following:

mpclaim.exe -r -i -d "COMPELNTCompellent Vol"

This command provides the same result as the Control Panel option. It associates a Dell
Compellent volume and then restarts the server. To bypass the reboot option (if rebooting
later is desired), use the -n option rather than the -r option.

Once the server reboots, use Disk Management to verify that the configuration is correct.
There should only be one instance of each SAN volume listed in Disk Management.

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5.3 Setting the Default Load Balance Policy
Once volumes are associated, specify the default load balance policy and change any
existing volumes to use the new policy. There are some slight differences between Windows
2008 and Windows 2008 R2.

5.3.1 Windows Server 2008 default load balance policy

By default in Windows Server 2008, the Dell Compellent volumes have a default load balance
policy of Failover Only because a Storage Center is not an Asymmetric Logical Unit
Assignment (ALUA) device. Unfortunately with Server 2008 there is no way to change the
default policy. Therefore it is imperative that the policy is changed to reflect the best
practices of an organization each time a volume is mapped to the server.

The same procedure is used to change the policy on a per-volume basis with both Windows
2008 and Windows 2008 R2.

5.3.2 Windows Server 2008 R2 Default Load Balance Policy

With Server 2008 R2 and newer, a Storage Center is designated as a Round Robin device by
default. However, 2008 R2 and newer provides a method for changing the default policy
system-wide as well as on a per-volume basis.

To change the default load balance policy in Server 2008 R2 and 2012, use the MPCLAIM CLI
command as follows:

mpclaim.exe -L -M <0-7> -d "COMPELNTCompellent Vol"

<0-7> refers to the desired load balance policy as shown in Table 1:

Table 1: Windows 2008 R2 Load Balance Policy

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For example, to change all Dell Compellent volumes to a failover only policy, use the
following command:

mpclaim.exe -L -M 1 -d "COMPELNTCompellent Vol"

5.4 Per-volume Load Balance Settings

Now that the default policy is set, it is important to understand how to change the policy on
a per-volume basis. Some organizations may require a different policy based on the type of
application or service provided. Use Disk Management in 2008 and 2008 R2 or through the
MPCLAIM utility in 2008 R2 to change the per-volume policy. To change the policy in Disk
Management:
1. Click Start  Administrative Tools  Server Manager.
2. In the tree view, click on Storage  Disk Management.

Figure 18: Disk Management

3. Right-click on the disk number in the disk column for the disk. Select
Properties.
4. Select the MPIO tab.

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Figure 19: MPIO Settings Tab

5. From the drop-down box, select the appropriate MPIO policy for the volume.

Refer to page 24 for a listing of the available policies and their intended functions.

5.4.1 Using MPCLAIM in 2008 R2 and Server 2012

Windows Server 2008 R2 and 2012 provide an enhanced MPCLAIM utility that allows the
policy to be changed on a per-volume basis much like Disk Management. The command is
similar to setting the default policy for all volumes; however in this case the administrator
chooses which volume to set.

List of all MPIO volumes on the system with the following mpclaim command:

mpclaim.exe -s –d

Figure 20: List Disks with MPCLAIM

Figure 20 shows that the current policy for Disk 0 is RR (round robin). Use the mpclaim.exe
command to change the policy for this disk.

mpclaim.exe -L -M 1 -d 0

Refer to the Microsoft TechNet site for the full MPCLAIM reference guide.

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6 MPIO for Windows Server 2012
MPIO for Windows Server 2012 functions the same way as for 2008 R2. However, Server
2012 introduces the MPIO module in PowerShell. The MPIO module is a powerful alternative
to using the MPCLAIM command. Although the MPCLAIM command is included in Server
2012, Microsoft recommends using the MPIO module in PowerShell. This chapter will focus
on using the GUI and PowerShell to install and configure MPIO.

Note: On Server Core installations, please follow the instructions for PowerShell. PowerShell
can be accessed on a Server Core installation by typing powershell <enter> at the command
prompt.

Also new to Server 2012 is the ability to use heterogeneous HBA types with MPIO. In
previous versions of Windows Server, it was a requirement to use HBAs of the same model.
Like Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012 contains a built-in Microsoft
DSM out of the box that manages all aspects of failover and load balancing.

Note: Please refer to Appendix A in this document for important Windows Server 2012 MPIO
configuration recommendations.

6.1 Install the Microsoft MPIO Feature

The MPIO DSM can be installed on Server 2012 either through the GUI or through the MPIO
module in PowerShell.

6.1.1 Server Manager GUI

1. Open Server Manager.

Figure 21: Server Manager

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 2. From the Dashboard, click on Add roles and features.

Figure 22: Add Roles and Features

3. When the Add Roles and Features Wizard window opens, click Next on the Before
you Begin screen.
4. Select Role-based or feature-based installation and click Next.

Figure 23: Role-based or feature-based installation

5. Choose the local server from the Select destination server screen and click Next.
6. Click Next on the Select server roles screen (do not select any roles to install).
7. Check Multipath I/O.

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Figure 24: Select Multipath I/O

8. Click Next.
9. Check the box to Restart the destination server automatically if required.
10. Click Install.
11. Click Close when finished.

6.1.2 Enable MPIO with PowerShell

1. Open a PowerShell window with elevated (administrator) privileges.
2. At the PowerShell prompt, type in the following command:

Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature –online –FeatureName MultiPathIO

Figure 25: Enable MPIO in PowerShell

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6.2 Associate Dell Compellent Volumes with the In-box DSM
Now that the DSM has been installed, Dell Compellent volumes must be associated with the
DSM so that the DSM can manage MPIO characteristics. On Windows Server 2012, Dell
Compellent volumes can be associated with the DSM through the use of either the MPIO
Control Panel, or through PowerShell.

Note: Once the DSM is associated with Dell Compellent volumes, Windows will
automatically claim all Fibre Channel and iSCSI volumes presented from Storage Center and
apply default MPIO settings to those volumes.

6.2.1 Using the MPIO Control Panel

1. Open the MPIO Control Panel through Server Manager, by clicking on Tools, then
MPIO. MPIO can also be accessed through the Control Panel.

Figure 26: MPIO Control Panel

2. Click on the Discover Multi-Paths tab.

3. Under Others, COMPELNTCompellent Vol should be shown.

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Figure 27: Discover Multi-Paths

4. Highlight COMPLENTCompellent Vol, and click Add.

5. Click Yes on the Reboot Required window.

Figure 28: Reboot Required

6. Once the server has rebooted, open up the MPIO Control Panel and verify that
COMPELNTCompellent Vol is listed under Devices on the MPIO Devices tab.

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Figure 29: MPIO Device Listing

7. Click OK to close the window.

6.2.2 Using PowerShell

1. Open a PowerShell window with elevated (administrator) privileges.
a. On Server Core installations, type in powershell <enter> at the command
prompt
2. At the PowerShell prompt type:

New-MSDSMSupportedHW –VendorID COMPELNT –ProductID ‘Compellent Vol’

Figure 30: Adding Compellent to DSM

3. Now that Dell Compellent is supported through the Microsoft DSM, the next step is to
claim all available Dell Compellent volumes to be used by MPIO. To do so, type in the
following:

Update-MPIOClaimedHW –Confirm:$false

Figure 31: Claiming Available Volumes

4. Restart the server by typing in the following:

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 shutdown –r –t 0 <enter>

6.3 Set the Default Load-balancing Policy

Similar to Server 2008 R2, the default load balancing policy for Server 2012 is round robin.
However, the default load balancing policy can be changed system-wide or on a per-volume
basis. Storage Center supports the round robin and failover only load-balancing policies for
Server 2012.

To change the default load balancing policy to failover only, open a PowerShell window with
elevated (administrator) privileges,and type in the following command:

Set-MSDSMGlobalDefaultLoadBalancePolicy –Policy FOO <enter>

Figure 32: Set Default Load Bbalance Policy to Failover Only

To change the default load balancing back to round robin, type in the following command:

Set-MSDSMGlobalDefaultLoadBalancePolicy – Policy RR <enter>

Figure 33: Set Default Load Bbalance Policy to Round Robin

To verify the default load balance policy, type in the following command:

Get-MSDSMGlobalDefaultLoad BalancePolicy

If the default policy is set to round robin, the result will return “RR”:

Figure 34: Round Robin Default Load Balance Policy

If the default policy is set to the Failover Only, the result will return “FOO”:

Figure 35: Failover Only Default Load Balance Policy

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6.4 Per-volume Load Balance Settings
Changing load balance settings on specific volumes can be done through the Disk
Management GUI, or from PowerShell.

6.4.1 Using the Disk Management GUI:

1) Click Start  Administrative Tools  Computer Management.
2) In the tree view, click on Storage  Disk Management.

Figure 36: Disk Management

3) Right-click on the disk number for the disk. Select Properties.

4) Select the MPIO tab.

Figure 37: MPIO Properties

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 5) From the drop-down box, select the appropriate MPIO policy (Failover Only or
Round Robin) for the volume.

6.4.2 Using PowerShell

The PowerShell MPIO module doesn’t include any cmdlets that can change the default load
balancing policy on a specific volume. Similar to Server 2008 R2, the MPCLAIM command
must be used to make changes to specific volumes.

Note: The load balancing policy cannot be changed from round robin to failover only using
the MPCLAIM command. MPCLAIM only supports switching from Failover Only to Round
Robin.

To change the default load balancing policy on a single volume, open a command prompt or
PowerShell window with elevated (administrator) privileges (commands will work in both):

To list all MPIO volumes on the system, type in the following command:

mpclaim –s -d

Figure 38: Listing MPIO Volumes

Figure 38 shows that the load balancing policy (LB Policy) is set to RR (round robin) for all 3
volumes.

The syntax to change the load balancing policy on a specific volume is as follows:

mpclaim –l –d <disk #> <0-7>

Please refer to the table on page 24 for load balancing policies and the associated numbers
for the mpclaim command.

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Table 2: Windows Server 2012 Load Balance Policy

For example, to change the load balancing policy of MPIO disk 2 to round robin, type in the
following command:

Mpclaim –l –d 2 2 <enter>

Figure 39: Set Load Balance Setting

Verify the new settings:

Figure 40: Verifying MPIO Settings

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7 Configure a Windows 2008 R2/2012 Server
for iSCSI MPIO
7.1 iSCSI Overview
Windows 2008 R2 and 2012 servers support MPIO with the iSCSI software initiator. iSCSI
initiator software is provided natively by the Windows Server OS.

The iSCSI “quick connect” feature works well for single iSCSI path connectivity. Configuring
iSCSI to use MPIO requires a few more steps, but is still easy to configure.

Figure 41: iSCSI Virtual Ports and Domains

Figure 41 represents a dual-controller Dell Compellent Storage Center that is configured

with virtual front-end ports with 2 fault domains. Two physical iSCSI ports (one from each
controller) are grouped logically as a virtual domain that is assigned a virtual iSCSI IP address.
Each virtual domain’s physical ports are connected to two separate iSCSI switches to ensure
full path redundancy to the dual iSCSI NICs on the server.

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7.2 Configuring a Windows 2008 R2/2012 Server for iSCSI
MPIO
Environment overview (refer to Figure 41):
 Windows 2008 R2 or 2012 server.
 Two dedicated NIC ports (one for each fault domain) on the server for iSCSI
communications.
 A Dell Compellent Storage Center with dual controllers configured with virtual front-
end iSCSI ports and two virtual fault domains.
 The MPIO feature is installed on the server.

1) Configure two physical NIC ports on the server to use iSCSI.

a. Configure one NIC (along with any necessary cabling and switching
configurations) to access one virtual iSCSI domain, and configure the 2nd NIC
to access the other virtual iSCSI domain.
b. In this example as show in Figure 41, the server’s NICs are assigned with IPs of
10.10.95.101 (for fault domain 100), and 10.10.128.101 (for fault domain 200).
c. Once configured, the server should be able to ping both of the virtual iSCSI IP
addresses associated with the two fault domains on the Dell Compellent
Storage Center, in this example, 10.10.95.1 (fault domain 100) and 10.10.128.1
(fault domain 200).
2) Logon to the Windows 2008 R2 or 2012 server and launch the iSCSI Initiator software.

Figure 42: Start the Microsoft iSCSI Service Prompt

a. For Server 2008, go to StartAdministrative ToolsiSCSI Initiator.

b. For Server 2012, start Server Manager, and from the Dashboard, click on
ToolsiSCSI Initiator from the drop-down list.

Note: If receiving a prompt to start the iSCSI service (for either Server 2008 R2 or Server
2012), click on Yes.

May 2013 (version 1.4) Dell Compellent Storage Center Microsoft Multipath IO (MPIO) Best Practices 38
 3) Select the Discovery tab then click the Discovery Portal button.

Figure 43: Enter iSCSI Target IP

4) Enter the IP address of the first iSCSI target IP, in this example, the virtual iSCSI IP
addressed associated with the first virtual fault domain on the Dell Compellent
Storage Center (see Figure 41), and then click on the Advanced Button.

Figure 44: Advanced Settings for iSCSI Initiator

5) From the Local adapter drop-down list, select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator.
6) From the Initiator IP drop-down list, select the local IP address of the server’s NIC
that is to be associated with the first fault domain (fault domain 100) which in this
example is 10.10.95.101.

Figure 45: Target Portal for First Fault Domain

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 7) Click OK, and then OK again to return to the iSCSI Initiator properties window.
8) Verify that the target IP address and adapter IP address now show in the Target
Portals window as shown in Figure 45.
9) Repeat steps 3 – 8 above to add the 2nd target IP for the 2nd virtual fault domain and
the server’s 2nd iSCSI NIC (in this example, 10.10.128.1 and 10.10.128.101)

Figure 46. Both Sets of Target and Initiator IPs Are Now Listed

10) When completed, both pairs of iSCSI initiators and targets should be listed as shown
in Figure 46.

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Figure 47. Activate Targets and Enable Multipath

11) Select the Targets Tab. This should be populated with the discovered iSCSI target
ports on the Dell Compellent Storage Center.
12) Highlight the first target by clicking on it, and then click on the Connect button.
13) On the Connect To Target screen, verify that both Add this connection to the list of
Favorite Targets and Enable multi-path are checked.
14) Click on the Advanced button.

Figure 48. Advanced Settings for iSCSI Target Connections

15) Set Local adapter to Microsoft iSCSI Initiator.

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 16) Select the Target portal IP from the dropdown list.
17) Select the Initiator IP from the dropdown list.
18) Then click OK, and then OK again to return to the iSCSI Initiator properties window.
19) Repeat steps 12 - 18 above for each additional target listed.

Figure 49. Targets Now Show as Connected

20) When finished, all the targets should show as Connected as shown in Figure 49.
21) Click on OK to exit the iSCSI Initiator Properties window.

8 Additional Resources
Dell Compellent Documentation
 Windows Server 2012 Best Practices
http://kc.compellent.com

Microsoft MPIO Step-by-Step Guide (2008 R2)

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee619778(v=ws.10).aspx

Configuring iSCSI MPIO on Windows Server 2008 R2

http://blogs.technet.com/b/migreene/archive/2009/08/29/3277914.aspx

Microsoft MPIO Users Guide for Windows Server 2012

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30450

Managing MPIO with Windows PowerShell on Windows Server 2012

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/san/archive/2012/07/20/managing-mpio-with-windows-
powershell-on-windows-server-2012.aspx

Multipath I/O (MPIO) Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell Reference

http://technet.microsoft.com/library/hh826113.aspx

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9 Appendix A: Windows Server MPIO
Configuration Recommendations for Dell
Compellent Storage Center

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