A Storage Partition Topology is a collection of topological elements (default host group, host group, host, and host port) shown as nodes in the Topology View of the Mappings Window. You must define the various topological elements if you want to define specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings for host groups and/or hosts.
Note: Even if you are not planning to use storage partitioning, you can still define your hosts and host ports that are connected to the particular storage subsystem and view the default logical drive-to-LUN mappings to determine which logical unit numbers are being used to access the logical drives in your storage subsystem.
Defining Storage Partitions Topology
A Default Host Group is a standard node in the Topology View that designates all host groups, hosts, and host ports that: (1) do not have any specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings, and (2) share access to any logical drives that were automatically assigned default LUNs by the controller firmware during logical drive creation.
A host group is an optional topological element that you define if you want to designate a collection of hosts that will share access to the same logical drives. For more information, see Defining a Host Group.
A host is a computer that is attached to the storage subsystem and accesses various logical drives on the storage subsystem through its host ports. You can define a host as a separate entity or as part of a host group. You can define specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings to an individual host as well as have the host be part of a host group that shares access to one or more logical drives. For more information, see Defining a Host.
A host port is a physical connection on the host adapter that resides within a host. When the host adapter only has one physical connection (host port), the terms host port and host adapter are synonymous. The host ports are automatically discovered by the storage management software. A host port is the actual physical connection that allows a host to gain access to the logical drives in the storage subsystem. Therefore, if you want to define specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings for a particular host and create partitions, you must define its associated host ports. Initially, all discovered host ports belong to the default host group and have access to any logical drives that were automatically assigned default LUNs by the controller firmware during logical drive creation. For more information, see Defining a Host Port.
Any host port in the default host group can automatically access the following logical drives:
Example: In the following example, the logical drives in the storage subsystem Midwest have not been given specific logical drive-to-LUN mappings, therefore any hosts and their associated host ports in the default host group can request data from these logical drives. The LUNs are automatically assigned by the controller firmware.
Reconfiguring Storage Partitions Topology
A Storage Partitions topology is reconfigurable. You can:
Move a host from one host group into another host group
Delete a host group, host, or host port
Rename a host group, host, or host port
Learn About Creating Storage Partitions