Dell PowerVault MD3820f - Manual (Page 71)

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About Your Host
Configuring Host Access
Dell PowerVault Modular Disk Storage Manager (MD Storage Manager) is comprised of multiple modules.
One of these modules is the Host Context Agent, which is installed as part of the MD Storage Manager
installation and runs continuously in the background.
If the Host Context Agent is running on a host, that host and the host ports connected from it to the
storage array are automatically detected by the MD Storage Manager. The host ports are displayed in the
Host Mappings tab in the Array Management Window (AMW). The host must be manually added under
the Default Host Group in the Host Mappings tab.
NOTE: On MD3800i, MD3820i, and MD3860i storage arrays that use the iSCSI protocol, the Host
Context Agent is not dynamic and must be restarted after establishing iSCSI sessions to
automatically detect them.
Use the Define Host Wizard to define the hosts that access the virtual disks in the storage array. Defining
a host is one of the steps required to let the storage array know which hosts are attached to it and to
allow access to the virtual disks. For more information on defining the hosts, see
Defining A Host .
To enable the host to write to the storage array, you must map the host to the virtual disk. This mapping
grants a host or a host group access to a particular virtual disk or to a number of virtual disks in a storage
array. You can define the mappings on the Host Mappings tab in the AMW.
On the Summary tab in the AMW, the Host Mappings area indicates how many hosts are configured to
access the storage array. Click Configured Hosts in the Host Mappings area to see the names of the
hosts.
A collection of elements, such as default host groups, hosts, and host ports, are displayed as nodes in the
object tree on the left pane of the Host Mappings tab.
The host topology is reconfigurable. You can perform the following tasks:
• Create a host and assign an alias or user label.
• Add or associate a new host port identifier to a particular host.
• Change the host port identifier alias or user label.
• Move or associate a host port identifier to a different host.
• Replace a host port identifier with a new host port identifier.
• Manually activate an inactive host port so that the port can gain access to host specific or host group
specific LUN mappings.
• Set the host port type to another type.
• Move a host from one host group to another host group.
• Remove a host group, a host, or a host port identifier.
• Rename a host group, or a host.
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