Fibre Channel nodes
A Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptor (HBA) is a controller card that connects a host to a storage area network (SAN). The controller card contains logical devices that process data for transmission. Each logical device has a number of ports which are the hardware attachments that allow the node to send and receive information.
The following nodes are used to model connections to a SAN:
- HBA node — models the Host Bus Adaptor card
- FCN node — models the logical devices
- FCP node — models the ports
This is shown below.
These nodes all have the same lifecycle, that is, they are created, or removed at the same time, as the result of the same discovery data. The same data also updates the nodes, though not all nodes might change at the same time. The lifecycle for all three node types is shown in the following sections, and the attributes and links are shown for individual node types. The three node types are referred to collectively as Fibre Channel nodes.
BMC Discovery currently models QLogic and Emulex HBA cards.
HBA node
An HBA node represents a Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptor, the controller card that connects a host, usually via an optical connection to a SAN. The HBA node has child nodes; one or more FCN nodes, which in turn have child nodes; one or more FCP nodes.
FCN node
The FCN node represents the logical devices that process data for transmission. The logical devices are called FCNs and each has a unique World Wide Node Number (WWNN). FCNs have firmware on board which might be updated frequently. The firmware version can differ between nodes on the same HBA card.
FCP node
FCN nodes have one or more ports to provide a physical interface to communicate. The port is a hardware attachment that allows the node to send and receive information via the physical interface. The ports are called FCPs and each has a unique World Wide Port Number (WWPN).
Fibre Channel nodes lifecycle
The following section describes the scenarios in which the Fibre Channel nodes are created, updated or destroyed.
Creation
The Fibre Channel nodes are created in the datastore when a host is scanned with sufficient credentials to run the HBA discovery commands. See the GetHBAList methods in User-privileges-and-information-access-for-UNIX-and-related-operating-systems and User-privileges-and-information-access-for-Windows-operating-systems. New HBA nodes and their children are only created if an HBA node with the same name (hba_id) does not exist on that Host node.
Update
The Fibre Channel nodes are updated in the datastore when a host is scanned with sufficient credentials to run the HBA discovery commands.
Removal
The Fibre Channel nodes are not automatically removed, by default. They are only removed if their parent Host node is destroyed.
This is a Containment Removal type, see Containment Removal.
To remove a Fibre Channel node manually, find the necessary Fibre Channel node, select it in the list and pick Delete from the Actions list.
Fibre Channel HBA attributes
The attributes and relationships on an HBA node are described in the tables below.
Fibre Channel HBA relationships
The relationships of an HBA node are described in the table below.
FCN node attributes
The attributes and relationships on an FCN node are described in the tables below.
FCN node relationships
The relationships of an FCN node are described in the table below.
FCP node attributes
The attributes and relationships on an FCP node are described in the tables below.
FCP node relationships
The relationships of an FCP node are described in the table below.