Third-party hardware and software

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Known Issues

Third-party hardware and software

September 2021 This document contains all Third-party Hardware and Software that, when used together with SANsymphony, may cause unexpected behavior or impact accessibility, performance, and function. Known issues that apply to DataCore's own products are in their own release notes which are all available from the DataCore Support website. Also see

Minimum Hardware Requirements https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/tech/prerequisites/ Qualified Hardware Components http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529

https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/tech/prerequisites/

http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529

Continued from previous page Table of Contents

Changes made to this document 4

Intel S4510 and S4610 SATA SSD (only 1.8 TB and 3.84 TB are affected) 4 Applies to all 4

Disclaimer 5

Server hardware 6

Microsoft Windows (general) 7 Windows 2016 update regression 7 Windows 2016/2012/2012 R2/2008 7 Windows 2012/2012 R2 only 8 Windows 2008 R2 only 8

Cisco 9 Unified Computing Systems (UCS) 9

Fujitsu 9 Primergy ServerView Control Service 9 Primergy Server Agent 9

Hewlett-Packard 9 Servers with Windows 2012/2012 R2 9 Servers with Windows 2008 10 Servers with Xeon 7500 or E7 Processors 10 ProLiant G9 Servers 10 Automatic Server Recovery (ASR) 10 C-Class BladeSystems 10 Integrated Lights Out (ILO) 10 Insight Management 11 HPE Storage Devices 11 Virtual Connect 11

IBM 12 IPMI Watchdog Timer (IBM) 12 BladeCenter and System x 12

Lenovo 12 ThinkSystem 12

Fibre channel adaptors 13

Emulex 13 Third-party Process Logout (TPRLO) 13 All 16GB (including OEM) 13 All 8GB (including OEM) 13

QLogic 14 All models (including OEM) 14 All 16GB (including OEM) 14

Hewlett-Packard 14 HP StoreFabric 84Q 14

Network adaptors (inc. iSCSI) 15

Broadcom 15 BCM57xxx 15

Emulex 15 Oce11102-NX/Oce10102-NX 15

Hewlett Packard 15 All Converged Network Adaptors (CNAs) 15 CN1000Q 15 NC55* SFP 10 Gigabit Adaptors 16 NC375x/NC382i/NC52x Gigabit Adaptors 16 ProLiant BL460c (Gen10) server blades 16

IBM 16 49y4250/49y7950 10GiB Adaptor 16 49y4250/49y7950 10GiB Adaptor 16

Intel 17 x710 Chipset 17

Nvidia Mellanox 18 ConnectX SmartNICs - general 18 ConnextX-5 18 ConnextX-3 18 All PCI Express 2.0 ConnectX Adaptors 18

Storage hardware 19

Previously used Disk Pool disks 19

NVMe Storage 19 All NVMe storage 19

Adaptec 20 maxView Storage Manager 20

Allied TeleSyn 20 Gigabit Media Converter - MC1000 series 20

Areca 20 ARC-188x 20

Dell EMC 20 MD 36xx/38xx FC 20 Clariion AX150/AX4 20 Compellant SC series 20 RealSSD (Micron) 20 PowerEdge 21 SAS Arrays using Seagate disks 21

Fusion-io 21 Using SANsymphony’s Deduplication 21 VSL Ram calculations 21

Hewlett Packard 22 EVA 4000/8xxx 22

Continued from previous page Table of Contents

HPE MSA 1040/2040 22 P440AR 22 SAS Storage systems 22

Hitachi 22 Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) F and G series 22

IBM 23 DS3400/3500 23 DS4100 23 ServeRAID M5100e 23 ServeRAID M and MR10 Series 23 System x 23

Intel 23 NVMe 23

Lenovo 24 Intel S4510 and S4610 SATA SSDs 24 Micron M.2 and SSD drives 24

LSI 24 Nytro WarpDrive 24

Micron Technology Inc. 24 RealSSD 24

NetApp 25 All E Series arrays 25 Automatic Load Balancing (ALB) 25

Netgear 25 ReadyNAS 3100 25

PureStorage 25 All FlashArray storage 25

Skyera 25 skyHawk 25

Toshiba OCZ 26 Z-Drive 26

Transtec 26 Provigo 26

Violin Memory 26 All PCIe Flash Memory Cards 26

X-IO 26 ISE 1 Storage Arrays 26 ISE 2 Storage Arrays 26 G3 and G4 Storage Arrays 26

Switches – FC, FCoE and IP 27

All Switch Vendors 27 Registered State Change Notifications 27

Brocade 27 Fabric OS 7.x 27 Fabric OS 6.x 27

Cisco Systems Inc. 28 Nexus and MDS Series 28

QLogic 28 IO StreamGuard 28

Third-party software 29

Anti-Virus Software 29 Applies to all 29

Broadcom 29 Advanced Server Program (BASP) 29

Symantec 29 Network Threat Protection (NTP) 29

McAfee 30 VirusScan 30

Oracle 31 Automatic Storage Management (ASM) 31

Veeam 31 Backup Management Suite 31 Changed Block Tracking 31

Previous changes 32

All models (including OEM) 32

Page | 4 Known Issues - Third-party hardware and software

Changes made to this document The most recent version of this document is available from here: https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/838

All changes since February 2021 Added Network adaptors (inc. iSCSI) – Nvidia Mellanox

ConnectX SmartNICs Affects the DataCore Server DataCore have had reports by customers using ConnectX-5 SmartNICs configured for speeds of 100G behaving erratically – the symptoms being IO stalls and continuous disconnects /reconnects between the Target and Initiator - when used for iSCSI connections to or from a DataCore Server. It is also not clear if other models of the ConnectX SmartNIC family (4, 6 and 7) will also show this same problem when using speeds of 50GB or more. DataCore are recommending reducing the speed of the NIC to 25GB as this has been shown to resolve the problems stated above. We are currently investigating this problem.

Storage Hardware – Lenovo

Intel S4510 and S4610 SATA SSD (only 1.8 TB and 3.84 TB are affected) Affects the DataCore Server After 1700 hours of cumulative power-on idle time users can see critical errors under certain use conditions. The drive may report BAD_CONTEXT_2033, BAD_CONTEXT_1042 or excessive LBA mismatch (SMART attribute B8h) after. Once the error code is triggered, the drive will fail to respond on the bus. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID: HT507987 (last updated Sept 2019)

Updated Third Party Software – Anti-Virus software

Applies to all When installed on a DataCore Server Exclude the following on a DataCore Server:

• The DataCore Executive process – Dcsx.exe

For previous changes made to this document please see page 32

https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/838


Disclaimer DataCore Software cannot be held responsible for any incorrect information regarding third-party products or assumptions made that DataCore Software has direct communication with any of the third-party vendors regarding any of the issues listed here. DataCore Software always recommend that users contact the third-party vendor directly to see if there are any updates or fixes since they were documented here. DataCore always recommend that the latest software drivers, firmware and/or BIOS are used on any SAN component (unless of course they are listed here as not working as expected). A few of the issues documented here were discovered during DataCore’s own testing but most have been reported by end users and then subsequently confirmed by the third-party Vendor. Known issues that apply to DataCore's own products are in their own release notes which are all available from the DataCore Support website.


Server hardware Some of the information in this section may overlap with known issues reported in the section Storage hardware on page 19. Also see

Minimum Hardware Requirements https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/tech/prerequisites/ Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348

https://www.datacore.com/products/software-defined-storage/tech/prerequisites/


Server hardware


Microsoft Windows (general)

Windows 2016 update regression Affects the DataCore and Host Servers Unexpected BSOD when using MPIO Disk Devices after applying updates between Nov and Dec 2020. A crash in Microsoft’s mpio.sys driver may occur when two or more paths to an MPIO disk device are removed, unexpectedly at the same time. This may affect:

• Hosts that being served Virtual Disks that are being managed either by Microsoft’s own MPIO or DataCore’s Windows Integration Kit both of which use the Widows mpio.sys driver.

• DataCore Servers that are using iSCSI Mirrored Virtual Disks – where SANsymphony

utilizes the mpio.sys driver. Fibre Channel mirrored Virtual Disks are unaffected. This issue was fixed in an update issued in January 12th, 2021. Also see

January 12, 2021—KB4598243 (OS Build 14393.4169) https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4598243

Windows 2016/2012/2012 R2/2008 Affects clustered, hyper-converged DataCore Servers Do not use the DataCore Loopback port to serve mirrored Virtual Disks to Hyper-V Virtual Machines This known issue only applies when SANsymphony is installed in the root partitions of clustered, Hyper-V Windows servers where virtual disks are ‘looped-back’ to the Windows Operating system for use by Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Also see: https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/hyperconverged_virtual_san_software.htm A limitation exists in the DataCore SCSI Port driver - used by the DataCore Loopback Ports - whereby if the DataCore Server providing the ‘Active’ cluster path is stopped, the remaining DataCore Server providing the ‘Standby’ path for the Hyper-V VMs is unable to take the SCSI Reservation (previously held by the stopped DataCore Server). This will result in a SCSI Reservation Conflict and prevent any Hyper-V VM from being able to access the DataCore Disks presented by the remaining DataCore Server. In this case please use iSCSI connections as ‘Loopbacks’ for SANsymphony DataCore Disks presented to Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Affects the DataCore Server BitLocker Drive Encryption This server feature must not be installed on a DataCore Server as it will prevent SANsymphony’s Disk Pool feature from working.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4598243

https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/hyperconverged_virtual_san_software.htm

Server hardware


Windows 2012/2012 R2 only Affects the DataCore Server SAS boot drives Restart problems after Microsoft update rollup 2919355. See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2966870 (Last update 2015) A regression in a Windows March 2017 update This caused a TCP Port 'exhaustion' when one or more Microsoft iSCSI initiators cannot connect to a Target (e.g. because the DataCore Server is not available /shutdown or if there is a network problem preventing IP connections from being made). Symptoms include:

• Logins to login to the DataCore Management Console will fail and an "Insufficient Winsock resources available …” error is displayed.

• The Server is unavailable for any RDP and/or other network based logins. • SANsymphony Asynchronous Replication connections will fail

A fix was made available as of the July 2017 rollup. Also see

July 18, 2017—KB4025335 (Preview of Monthly Rollup) https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4025335

Windows 2008 R2 only Affects the DataCore Server A regression was introduced in Microsoft’s January 8th 2019 security update (KB4480970) “Local users who are part of the local “Administrators” group may not be able to remotely access shares”. This affects DataCore’s ‘DcsAdmin’ user and symptoms include:

• Logins to login to the DataCore Management Console will fail. • DataCore Servers within the same Server Group will lose connection via

SANsymphony’s ‘management LAN’ to other DataCore Servers in the group. • SANsymphony Asynchronous Replication connections will fail to and from

Replication Groups. A fix is available from Microsoft (KB4487345). See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487345/ Notes:

This regression was previously documented as DataCore Technical Support FAQ #1711 When a new vNIC is created in place of a an existing one custom settings are lost. See ‘Known issue 1’: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3125574 (Last updated 2018). The "Win32_Service" WMI class leaks memory in Windows Server 2008 R2”. A Hotfix is available: https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/981314 (Last updated 2018) Slow Performance on Windows Server 2008 R2 when using the “Balanced” Power Plan”. Possible resolutions are documented here https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2207548 (Last updated 2017). System Shuts Down After Modifying Critical Battery Notification Level Policy on Windows A resolution is documented here https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2646852 (Last updated 2012).

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/2966870


https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487345/






Server hardware


Cisco

Unified Computing Systems (UCS) Affects the DataCore Server Advanced Format 4k storage does not work with SANsymphony versions 10.0 PSP 4 Update 1 or earlier - as a workaround in for earlier versions of SANsymphony with LUNs greater than 4TB use multiple, smaller sized physical disks and format them using either 512 or 512e.

Fujitsu

Primergy ServerView Control Service Affects the DataCore Server After any reboot of a DataCore Server, this service will prevent SANsymphony’s own DataCore Executive service from starting - either manually or automatically - for about 20 minutes. If possible, disable/remove this service or, if this is not possible, change the DataCore Executive service’s own startup type from Automatic to Automatic (Delayed Start). This forces the DataCore Executive service to wait for the ServerView Server Control service to complete its own startup process before starting itself automatically.

Primergy Server Agent Affects the DataCore Server Use version 7.10.14 or later. Earlier versions caused problems with Microsoft’s Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) resulting connection problems when using SANsymphony’s Management Console.

Hewlett-Packard

Servers with Windows 2012/2012 R2 Affects the DataCore Server May Blue Screen if Configured With an HP Smart Array Controller and the Windows Server 2012 HPCISSS2.SYS Driver Version 62.26.0.64. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keyword c03793656 (Last updated 2014) HP ProLiant Agentless Management Service (AMS) May Consume Excessive Amounts of System Memory on ProLiant Gen8 Servers. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c04219029 (Last updated 2016) May Experience a Memory Leak Up To 5 Mb/ Hour for Some NIC Teaming Configurations. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keyword c04209163 (Last updated 2014)

Hewlett-Packard (continued on next page)

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/home


https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/home%20using%20keyword%20c04219029



Server hardware


Hewlett-Packard (continued from previous page)

Servers with Windows 2008 Affects the DataCore Server May Consume Excessive Amounts of System Memory on ProLiant Gen8 Servers. HP Agentless Management Service (AMS) Version 9.60 corrects this issue. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c04219029 (Last updated 2015) HP ProLiant Agentless Management Service (AMS) May Consume Excessive Amounts of System Memory on ProLiant Gen8 Servers. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c04219029 (Last updated 2016)

Servers with Xeon 7500 or E7 Processors Affects the DataCore Server System ROM Upgrade required to Prevent Unpredictable System Behavior in ProLiant Servers. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c03346558 (Last updated 2012)

ProLiant G9 Servers Affects the DataCore Server The Server May Stop Responding and Will Display Power-On Self-Test (POST) Error Messages on Reboot When Running Smart Array Controllers and/or Host Bus Adaptors. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keyword c04805565 (Last updated 2016)

Automatic Server Recovery (ASR) Affects the DataCore Server This feature must be disabled on a DataCore Server. Some SANsymphony drivers can trigger these function which will result in an unexpected reboot or shutdown.

C-Class BladeSystems Affects the DataCore Server Server Blades May Sporadically Lose SAN Connections Through HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric Modules. HP Virtual Connect firmware Version 4.10 corrects this issue. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c03811226 (Last updated 2012)

Integrated Lights Out (ILO) Affects the DataCore Server Significant TZ (time zone) settings differences within the ILO software and the server’s own system clock/BIOS may result in the DataCore Executive service faulting. These faults will result in unexpected ‘Not Connected’ and/or ‘Logstore not available’ warning messages from other DataCore Servers in the group. Ensure that the TZ settings match.

Hewlett-Packard (continued on next page)







Server hardware


Hewlett-Packard (continued from previous page)

Insight Management Affects the DataCore Server After a reboot of a DataCore Server, these services may prevent SANsymphony’s own DataCore Executive service from starting for anywhere up to 20 minutes. It is possible to manually start the service during this period either, as it will eventually fail with a ‘timeout’ warning. If this happens either:

• Disable/remove the Insight Management feature or • Change the DataCore Executive service’s own startup type from Automatic to

Automatic (Delayed Start). This forces DataCore Executive service to wait for all the Insight Management services to complete their startup before starting itself automatically.

HPE Storage Devices Affects the DataCore Server HPE SAS Solid State Drives Critical Firmware Upgrade Required for Certain HPE SAS Solid State Drive Models to Prevent Drive Failure at 32,768 Hours of Operation – 12th December 2019. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword a00092491en_us (Last updated Dec 2019) Smart Array Controllers Update to Smart Array firmware Version 5.04 to Correct Intermittent Controller Lockup Issues. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword a00007847en_us (Last updated 2017) P212/P410/P410i/P411/P711m/P712m/P812 Controllers One or More Spare Drives and firmware Version 6.40 (or Earlier) May Halt with "Lockup Code = 0xAB" Around 64, 128, or 256 Days. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c04325462 (Last updated 2015) HP’s cpqfcac.sys driver Removed from the Windows Operating system before installing SANsymphony when using DataCore’s FC drivers on Back-end Port connections to HP storage arrays. Otherwise the DataCore Server may crash during the install/upgrade of SANsymphony.

Virtual Connect Affects the DataCore Server A pause flood detection on VC uplink ports results in poor performance and/or an FCoE outage. Generic parity errors are fixed for the HP VC FlexFabric-20/40 F8 Module. HP Virtual Connect Version 4.45 corrects these issues. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c04731344 (Last updated 2015)





Server hardware


IBM

IPMI Watchdog Timer (IBM) Affects the DataCore Server This feature must be disabled on a DataCore Server. Some SANsymphony drivers can trigger these function which will result in an unexpected reboot or shutdown.

Affects the DataCore and Host Server BladeCenter and System x UEFI systems with HBA and >2 TB LUN may have data consistency errors. (Last updated 2010). See: https://www.ibm.com/support/home/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5084554

Lenovo

ThinkSystem Affects the DataCore or Host Server Micron 5100 SSD series may report errors and cause background process to fail. Upgrade the Micron 5100 drive firmware to version MD51 or later. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID:HT507307 (last updated May 2019)

https://www.ibm.com/support/home/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5084554


Fibre channel adaptors Also see

The DataCore Server: Qualified hardware components https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529 Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony – ISCSI and Fibre Channel connections https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348

Emulex

Third-party Process Logout (TPRLO) Applies to the Host Server This must be disabled on a Host using any Emulex fibre channel port connected to a DataCore Server.

All 16GB (including OEM) Affects the DataCore Server These HBAs may behave erratically when using the DataCore Emulex fibre channel driver with SANsymphony 10.0 PSP 7 Update 1 or earlier. End users that were already using DataCore's 16GB/s Emulex fibre channel driver before October 2016 (and were therefore supported by DataCore) should upgrade to 10 PSP 7 Update 2. Also see

Qualified hardware components https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529

All 8GB (including OEM) Affects the DataCore Server Use firmware 2.01a12 or later. Earlier versions may cause the DataCore Server to hang or crash during the installation or upgrade of SANsymphony.




Fibre channel adaptors


QLogic

All models (including OEM) Affects the DataCore Server When using a vendor’s own fibre channel driver to connect to a storage array.

• QLogic driver version 9.1.17.21 with a firmware earlier than 08.03.00 may cause some storage arrays to panic/crash.

• QLogic driver version 9.3.3.20 with firmware 8.01.41 has been reported to cause loss of access to storage attached to the DataCore Server or a crash of the DataCore Server itself after 42 days. DataCore recommend upgrading to driver version 9.4.1.20 or later (which also includes later firmware).

Also see:

http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com/QLogicDriverDownloads_UI/DefaultNewSearch.aspx

All 16GB (including OEM) Affects the DataCore Server When using directly connected QLogic 16GB Mirror ports between two DataCore Servers with SANsymphony 10.0 PSP 4 Update 1 or earlier, set the 'Data rate mode' of all the connected SANsymphony MR ports to 8GB. Also see

Modifying Fibre Channel Port Settings https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/Modifying_Fibre_Channel_Port_Settings.htm Using direct-connected Fibre Channel Ports with a DataCore https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1703

Hewlett-Packard

HP StoreFabric 84Q Affects the DataCore Server Do not use the DataCore Fibre Channel driver on this 4-port HP branded HBA. It has been reported to DataCore that using DataCore QLogic driver on the HP-branded QLogic HBA is unstable. Symptoms include unexplained CRC errors and/or high Transmission and Link error counts. Replace the DataCore driver with the vendor’s own recommended driver. However, by using the vendor’s own driver, the HBA can then only be used to connect to storage arrays and will not appear in the SANsymphony Management Console. Also see

Qualified Hardware Components – How to replace the DataCore fibre channel driver http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529 Important: Using the equivalent QLogic ‘own-branded’ version of this 4-port HBA does not show the same symptoms when using the same DataCore QLogic driver.


https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/Modifying_Fibre_Channel_Port_Settings.htm




Network adaptors (inc. iSCSI) Also see

The DataCore Server: Qualified hardware components https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529 Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony – ISCSI and Fibre Channel connections https://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348

Broadcom

BCM57xxx Affects the DataCore Server Disable the ‘iSCSI MBA initiator’ feature as this interferes with DataCore’s iSCSI Target Driver. Even if the NIC is only used for management LAN connections between DataCore Servers it is still recommended to disable this feature. Please contact the vendor for instructions.

Emulex

Oce11102-NX/Oce10102-NX Affects the DataCore Server Disable ‘TCP Chimney Offload’ on these adaptors otherwise the SANsymphony software may not be able to be stopped properly. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/951037 (Last Updated 2014)

Hewlett Packard

All Converged Network Adaptors (CNAs) Affects the DataCore Server "Immediate Data" is not supported and must be set to "No".

CN1000Q Affects the DataCore Server Use firmware version 4.8.22 or later.

HPE Intel Ethernet 10Gb 562SFP+ Adapter Affects the DataCore or Host Servers HPE Intel i40ea Driver for Windows Server 2016 Versions 1.8.83.0 or 1.8.94.0 May Cause NTFS File Corruption to iSCSI Mounted Volumes When Jumbo Frames Are Enabled. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keywords a00074697en_us (Last updated June 2019).

Hewlett Packard (continued on next page)





Network adaptors (inc. iSCSI)


Hewlett Packard (continued from previous page)

NC55* SFP 10 Gigabit Adaptors Affects the DataCore Server Disable ‘TCP Chimney Offload’ on these adaptors otherwise the SANsymphony software may not be able to be stopped properly. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/951037 (Last Updated 2014)

NC375x/NC382i/NC52x Gigabit Adaptors Applies to the DataCore or Host Server When used for iSCSI connections use driver version 5.3.27.606 and firmware: 4.0.0.19 (9 Sep 2014) or later. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keywords c02964542 (Last updated 2012) and c03734205 (Last updated 2013)

ProLiant BL460c (Gen10) server blades Affects the DataCore Server It has been reported that these server blades use NICs with Broadcom BCM57xxx chipsets – please see the Broadcom entry on the previous page for more details.

IBM

49y4250/49y7950 10GiB Adaptor Applies to the DataCore or Host Server Disable ‘TCP Chimney Offload’ on these adaptors otherwise the SANsymphony software may not be able to be stopped properly. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/951037 49y4250/49y7950 10GiB Adaptor Applies to the DataCore or Host Server Disable ‘TCP Chimney Offload’ on these adaptors otherwise the SANsymphony software may not be able to be stopped properly. See https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/951037







Intel

x710 Chipset Affects the DataCore and Host Server DataCore had previously made recommendations to avoid using this family of adaptors for any/all ISCSI connections after reports of erratic behavior under load. Symptoms included continual disconnect/reconnect events to/from Host and Mirror Port iSCSI Initiators. Initial reports of erratic behavior were for:

• Rebranded versions of the NICs - e.g. as provided by HP and Dell - rather than directly from Intel.

• Using February 2017 released drivers that were from HP and Dell rather than Intel.

DataCore have had reports from other end users after updating Intel’s own Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) to version 6.01 (issued December 2017) the adaptors appear to no longer show the same erratic behavior as before. Therefore based on this, DataCore are cautiously recommending Intel’s NVM version 6.01 (or later) be applied to any x710 adaptors in a DataCore Server and Host for any iSCSI Target/Initiator port connections. If your x710 adaptor is rebranded, then contact the vendor to see if an equivalent version of the NVM code is available for their version of Intel’s NIC. Also see: Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Update Utility for Intel® Ethernet Network Adapter 710 Series https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24769 Affects ESXi hosts (including Hyperconverged SANsymphony installations) ESXi host that uses Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller X710 for 10GbE SFP+ NIC with the i40e driver fails with PSOD https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2126909 If using HP server hardware with ESXi see https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2126909

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24769

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2126909

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2126909



Nvidia Mellanox

ConnectX SmartNICs - general Affects the DataCore Server DataCore have had reports by customers using ConnectX-5 SmartNICs configured for speeds of 100G behaving erratically – the symptoms being IO stalls and continuous disconnects /reconnects between the Target and Initiator - when used for iSCSI connections to or from a DataCore Server. It is also not clear if other models of the ConnectX SmartNIC family (4, 6 and 7) will also show this same problem when using speeds of 50GB or more. DataCore are recommending reducing the speed of the NIC to 25GB as this has been shown to resolve the problems stated above. We are currently investigating this problem.

ConnextX-5 Affects the DataCore Server Use a minimum firmware version of 16.27.1016 and WinOF-2 driver version 2.40 (22511.0 or later). Users on earlier firmware and driver versions reported unexpected and repeated network disconnections.

ConnextX-3 Affects the DataCore and Host Server DataCore recommend a minimum of WinOF VPI version 5.50 or later.

All PCI Express 2.0 ConnectX Adaptors Affects the DataCore and Host Server When used for iSCSI connections use firmware version 2.9.1000 or later with PCI Express 2.0 otherwise I/O may stall or stop working completely.


Storage hardware Some of the information in this section may overlap with known issues reported in the section Server hardware on page 6. Also see:

Storage Hardware Guideline for use with DataCore Servers http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1302

Previously used Disk Pool disks

Affects the DataCore Server If a physical disk had been used in a Disk Pool created on another DataCore Server, a Disk Pool that had not been cleanly deleted, then the SANsymphony Disk Pool driver may be able to re-discover the old Disk Pool’s Storage Allocation Unit (SAU) catalog. This will lead to ‘foreign pools’ appearing that can neither be imported or deleted. To prevent this from happening, always cleanly decommission physical disks from a Disk Pool or if that is not possible because there were problems with the RAID set preventing any access by the Disk Pool, then always make sure that the RAID set and/or physical disk is re-formatted before presenting it back to the DataCore Server. Storage arrays often allow for a ‘quick’ rebuild/create of RAID sets without deleting any block data on the physical disks. This will mean that the ‘new’ RAID set still has the old Disk Pool catalog on it and lead to the problems mentioned above. Always ‘low level’ any physical disks that had previously been used in a Disk Pool but had not been removed properly. Also see

Removing Physical Disks from Pools https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/removing_physical_disks.htm

NVMe Storage

All NVMe storage Affects the DataCore Server Does not work with SANsymphony versions 10.0 PSP 1 Update 1 or earlier.


https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/removing_physical_disks.htm

Storage hardware


Adaptec

maxView Storage Manager Use version v1.07.21229 or later. Earlier versions prevented Adaptec RAID controllers from being discovered and SANsymphony Task Triggers from sending Emails.

Allied TeleSyn

Gigabit Media Converter - MC1000 series Affects the DataCore Server Do not use ‘Smart Missing Link’ (SML) Mode Status.

Areca

ARC-188x Affects the DataCore Server Use firmware versions 1.51 2012-12-24 or later. Earlier versions may cause the DataCore Server to become unresponsive or unable to boot after a restart.

Dell EMC

MD 36xx/38xx FC Affects the DataCore Server Access to and failover of storage LUNs will not work as expected when connected to DataCore FC drivers. Use Dell EMC-approved FC drivers and MPIO software.

Clariion AX150/AX4 Affects the DataCore Server Access to and failover of storage LUNs will not work as expected when connected to DataCore FC drivers. Use Dell EMC-approved FC drivers and MPIO software.

Compellant SC series Affects the DataCore Server DataCore have had reports of significant increased latency while using this storage array’s own, built-in, deduplication feature. While DataCore do not have any special recommendations when using a storage array’s own deduplication feature, we would recommend temporarily turning this feature off to see if there is any overall increased performance.

RealSSD (Micron) Affects the DataCore Server Use Support Pack version 145.07.xx with firmware version 218 or higher. Earlier versions have been reported as having performance issues.

Dell EMC (continued on next page)

Storage hardware


Dell EMC (continued from previous page)

PowerEdge Affects the DataCore Server Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) Fan Offset settings for PowerEdge servers are lost after any power failure when using any firmware version 2.15.10.10 to 2.21.21.21. Use a later firmware version.

SAS Arrays using Seagate disks Affects the DataCore Server Model number ST8000NM0185 Dell recommend updating firmware to PT52, A00 (25 April 2019) or later. See: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=poweredge-r730xd&driverId=13YD9&lwp=rt Customers using older firmware version 2.3.11.183 reported SANsymphony Disk Pools going offline unexpectedly because of constant I/O resets.

Fusion-io

Using SANsymphony’s Deduplication Affects the DataCore Server When configuring SANsymphony’s deduplication feature with Fusion-io disk devices use Fusion-io driver/firmware versions 3.2.10.1509 or greater. Customers using the older Fusion-io firmware version 2.3.11.183 reported ‘indefinite hangs’ during the creation process of SANsymphony Deduplication Pools. After upgrading the Fusion-io driver/firmware the problem was resolved. Version 3.2.10.1509 was the most current at that time.

VSL Ram calculations Affects the DataCore Server DataCore recommends setting the Average Written Block Size (bytes) to 512 for the purposes of calculating the Maximum RAM Requirements for the VSL software.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=poweredge-r730xd&driverId=13YD9&lwp=rt


Storage hardware


Hewlett Packard

EVA 4000/8xxx Affects the DataCore Server Do not use storage controller firmware version 6.22 as this causes unexpected disconnections to the DataCore Server.

HPE MSA 1040/2040 Affects the DataCore Server Use storage controller firmware version GL220P008 or later. Earlier versions cause unexpected disconnections to the DataCore Server. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword c05158553 (Last updated 2016)

P440AR Affects the DataCore Server Use driver version 63.12.0.64 (A) or later. Earlier versions (including 63.12.0.64) have been reported causing poor performance when connected to a DataCore Server.

SAS Storage systems Affects the DataCore Server Firmware upgrade required for Specific SAS Hard Drive Models to Prevent a Rare Data Compare Issue. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keywords c03747345 (Last updated 2014) and c03924194 (Last updated 2013)

Hitachi

Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) F and G series Affects the Host System Option Mode 725 = OFF (default setting) may prevent Host Virtual Machines from being able to access DataCore Virtual Disks after rebooting the DataCore Server. Each time a DataCore Server is stopped, HUS VMs will report that paths to the DataCore Server’s Virtual Disks are ‘Not Ready’. When this ‘Not Ready’ is status is returned 3 times within 3 minutes to the VM, the path to the DataCore Server’s Virtual Disk is blocked – even if the DataCore Server is running and the Virtual Disk is accessible. This blocked status cannot be recovered automatically. Therefore, DataCore recommend using System Option Mode 725 = ON for paths to DataCore Virtual Disk devices to avoid this problem. Please contact Hitachi for more information on this System Option Mode setting and also see Hitachi’s own Knowledgebase: https://knowledge.hitachivantara.com/Documents/Storage/VSP_Gx00_and_VSP_Fx00/83-04-2x/VSP_F400%2C_F600%2C_F800_Hardware_Guide/System_Option_Modes



https://knowledge.hitachivantara.com/Documents/Storage/VSP_Gx00_and_VSP_Fx00/83-04-2x/VSP_F400%2C_F600%2C_F800_Hardware_Guide/System_Option_Modes


Storage hardware


IBM

DS3400/3500 Affects the DataCore Server These arrays may need to have LNXAVT enabled to function as an ‘Active/Active’ storage array for DataCore Server Back End connections. Testing is strongly advised.

DS4100 Affects the DataCore Server Access to and failover of storage LUNs will not work as expected when connected to DataCore FC drivers. Use IBM-approved FC drivers and MPIO software.

ServeRAID M5100e Affects the DataCore Server Poor performance under ‘high load’ has been reported to DataCore when the ‘Performance Accelerator for IBM System x with MegaRAID FastPath’ setting was enabled. Testing is strongly advised.

ServeRAID M and MR10 Series Affects the DataCore Server When using driver v6.702.07.00 for Microsoft Windows Server 2012R2/2012/2008R2/2008 releases may experience an unexpected controller reset or system hang while under moderate to heavy I/O. See http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm1MIGR-5096069 (Last updated 2015)

System x NMI may occur when network cables are removed or connected. See: https://www.ibm.com/support/home/docdisplay?lndocid=migr-5084146 (Last updated 2012)

Intel

NVMe Disk device ID not unique Affects the DataCore Server Always use the latest Intel device driver available. Earlier intel drivers - including the driver comes with Microsoft Windows - will prevent the NVMe disk devices from having a unique disk device identifier. This will cause problems in SANsymphony Server Groups with more than one DataCore Server, where each server has its own NVMe storage. Without a unique device identifier, all NVMe storage will appear incorrectly as ‘shared physical disks’ across all DataCore Servers. Microsoft Windows PCIe driver Affects the DataCore Server Possible BSOD when issuing a temperature request. Use driver version 4.4.0.1003 or later. See release notes from : https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29983/Client-NVMe-Microsoft-Windows-Drivers-for-Intel-SSDs? (September 2020)

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm1MIGR-5096069

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm1MIGR-5096069

https://www.ibm.com/support/home/docdisplay?lndocid=migr-5084146

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29983/Client-NVMe-Microsoft-Windows-Drivers-for-Intel-SSDs


Storage hardware


Lenovo

Intel S4510 and S4610 SATA SSDs Affects the DataCore Server After 1700 hours of cumulative power-on idle time users can see critical errors under certain use conditions. The drive may report BAD_CONTEXT_2033, BAD_CONTEXT_1042 or excessive LBA mismatch (SMART attribute B8h) after. Once the error code is triggered, the drive will fail to respond on the bus. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID: HT507987 (last updated Sept 2019) Micron M.2 and SSD drives Affects the DataCore Server Micron 5100 SSD series may report errors and cause background process to fail. Upgrade the Micron 5100 drive firmware to version MD51 or later. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID:HT507307 (last updated May 2019)

LSI

Nytro WarpDrive Affects the DataCore Server These SSDs may ship with identical disk device identifiers. Reformat the SSD using LSI’s own disk utility to re-generate a new unique disk device identifier. Contact LSI directly for instructions. Without a unique device identifier, all LSI SSD storage will appear incorrectly as ‘shared physical disks’ across all DataCore Server groups with more than one DataCore Server.

Micron Technology Inc.

RealSSD Affects the DataCore Server Use Support Pack version 145.07.xx with firmware version 218 or higher. Earlier versions are known to cause performance issues.

Storage hardware


NetApp

All E Series arrays Affects the DataCore Server Access to storage LUNs will not work when connected to DataCore FC drivers. Use NetApp’s own DSM as well as NetApp-approved HBA and Switch firmware (refer to their own Interoperability Matrix Tool).

Automatic Load Balancing (ALB) Affects the DataCore Server This feature, when enabled, may cause additional latency for backend I/O to and from a DataCore Server. Any user that experiences latency warnings or errors when connected to NetApp storage should disable this feature as a first-step to see if this resolves the problem. From NetApp’s own documentation: “Although overhead for volume ownership transfer has been minimized in development, the feature is not completely free, and there is some amount of added I/O latency for the duration of the transfer. As a result, ALB should be disabled in latency-sensitive environments that cannot tolerate even the slightest fluctuation in I/O response times.” See section 4.1 - Enabling and Disabling ALB from NetApp’s Technical Reference documentation TR-4737 for more details - https://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4737.pdf

Netgear

ReadyNAS 3100 Affects the DataCore Server Poor performance under ‘high load’ has been reported to DataCore using these arrays. Testing is strongly advised.

PureStorage

All FlashArray storage Affects the DataCore Server Access to storage LUNs will not work when connected to DataCore FC drivers unless using controller versions 3.40 or later. For versions before 3.40 use PureStorage-approved drivers and MPIO software.

Skyera

skyHawk Affects the DataCore Server Using firmware versions v1.0 or later to avoid unexpected loss of the array’s own disk configuration settings - which results loss of access from the DataCore Server.

https://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4737.pdf

Storage hardware


Toshiba OCZ

Z-Drive Affects the DataCore Server Affects 4500, R4 R and Deneva 2 R Series drives. Use firmware 3.22e or higher. Storage arrays using older firmware versions have been reported with serious problems with Disk Pool access and data integrity when used in a DataCore Server.

Transtec

Provigo Affects the DataCore Server For firmware releases 3.5 or 3.7 go into the Storage Management Software > Advanced Options > Performance Options and set ‘Overload Management’ to ’Disabled’ for lowest latency.

Violin Memory

All PCIe Flash Memory Cards Affects the DataCore Server These storage devices may ship with identical disk device identifiers. Reformat them using Violin Memory’s recommended disk utility to re-generate a new unique disk device identifier. Contact Violin Memory directly for instructions. Without a unique device identifier, all storage devices will appear incorrectly as ‘shared physical disks’ across all DataCore Server groups with more than one DataCore Server.

X-IO

ISE 1 Storage Arrays Affects the DataCore Server Use controller firmware versions 1.7.20 and higher. Earlier versions would cause the DataCore Server to crash.

ISE 2 Storage Arrays Affects the DataCore Server DataCore recommend firmware 4.1.14 or higher which contains improvements to I/O queue handling that will help improve overall performance. Please contact X-IO for more information.

G3 and G4 Storage Arrays Affects the DataCore Server For G4 Storage Arrays: DataCore recommend firmware version 4.1.14 or higher which contains improvements to I/O queue handling that will help improve overall performance. For G3 Storage Arrays: Please contact X-IO to see if there is a later firmware version with equivalent improvements as per the G4 storage arrays noted above.


Switches – FC, FCoE and IP

All Switch Vendors

Registered State Change Notifications This must be enabled on all DataCore Server and Host connected switch ports. RSCNs Event Timeout setting must also be the same across all DataCore Server, Host and Storage Array controller ports.

Brocade

Fabric OS 7.x Use FOS 7.4.1a or later. This includes a fixes where:

• DataCore and Host ports may not login after a DataCore Server or switch reboot, or after any other ‘significant’ disruption - Brocade defect DEFECT000429695 – also fixed in FOS 7.0.2d, 7.1.1 and 7.2.0a.

• Switches may observe loss of connectivity on ports and/or trunked Inter Switch Links (ISL) – Brocade defect DEFECT000324848.

• A small number of user had reported unexpected, random logouts for 16GB FC Port connections while using FOS versions before 7.0.3a because of Switch Buffer Credit exhaustion. A workaround to this specific case was to set the DataCore FC Port’s ‘Data rate mode’ to 8GB.

Fabric OS 6.x Use a FOS 6.4.3e or later. This includes fixes where:

• State Change Registration (SCR) value was not properly registered in the switch’s own name server table – Brocade defect DEFECT000284472.

• DataCore and Host ports may not login after a DataCore Server or switch reboot, or after any other ‘significant’ disruption – Brocade defect DEFECT000429695.

• Switches may observe loss of connectivity on ports and/or trunked Inter Switch Links (ISL) – Brocade defect DEFECT000324848.

Brocade (continued on next page)

Switches – FC, FCoE and IP


Brocade (continued from previous page)

Applies to 8GB brocade switches only Mixing 4GB and 8GB FC connections in the same fabric zone require specific fillword settings to be set Each FC port’s ‘fillword’ setting may need to be changed to avoid symptoms such as random port log-outs and errors (e.g er_enc_out or er_bad_os) from being generated. Use the portcfgshow command to check the current fill word setting. Use the portCfgFillWord command to change the fill word for each port.

• Use ‘mode 3’ on all 8GB Ports • Use ‘mode 0’ (zero) on all 4GB Ports

Refer to Brocade’s documentation for the correct syntax for your switch. Changing the fillword will force the port to be temporarily unavailable while the change takes place. There should be no need to stop the SANsymphony software but care should be taken to avoid double failures. Make one port change at a time, making sure that the port connection has been re-established before proceeding to the next.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Nexus and MDS Series All DataCore Server ports connected to these switches must have their own unique FC Area IDs configured. Please refer to the appropriate Cisco switch documentation for more information. Nexus 7xxx and MDS 9xxx Series using releases 8.2(0)SK(0.90) 8.2(1) 8.2(2) Intermittent frame timeout drops with no other signs of congestion in the form of transmit credit wait or credits to zero transition events. Drops may occur on any port type (Fibre Channel or Ethernet). See: https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvj58687/

QLogic

IO StreamGuard Must be disabled so as to enable RSCN (see the ‘All Switch Vendors’ entry on the previous page).

https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvj58687/


Third-party software This section applies to any third-party software installed on a DataCore Server.

Anti-Virus Software

Applies to all When installed on a DataCore Server Exclude the following on a DataCore Server:

• The DataCore Executive process – Dcsx.exe • The SANsymphony installation folder - C:\Program Files\DataCore

This prevents any interference to SANsymphony updating configuration files. • SANsymphony’s Asynchronous Replication buffer

This stops any delay in the sending of replication data to the remote DataCore Server.

Also see

The ‘Third-party software’ section in Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348 See the entry, further down in this section for McAfee-specific configuration settings.

Broadcom

Advanced Server Program (BASP) When installed on a DataCore Server TCP/IP interruptions can cause the virtual NIC’s MAC Address to change unexpectedly. This will cause existing DataCore iSCSI Targets offline and new Targets Port to appear.

Symantec

Network Threat Protection (NTP) Disable this feature when installed on a DataCore Server as it can affect the performance of SANsymphony.


Third-party software


McAfee

VirusScan When installed on a DataCore Server Current versions of McAfee’s software products interfere with the installation/upgrade of DataCore’s software products. Apply the following settings to avoid any conflicts or unexpected results when running, upgrading, or modifying either SANsymphony or DataCore’s Windows Integration Kit (WIK). Using ePolicy Orchestra (ePO) settings: Exclusions:

• C:\Program Files\DataCore • Any other directory where the DataCore Installation/upgrade binaries are run from. • Asynchronous Replication buffer (applies to SANsymphony only)

Using unmanaged client settings: Common → Advanced options Exclusion:

• ‘Dcsx.exe’ as a process (applies to SANsymphony only)

Threat Prevention Exclusions:

• The SANsymphony installation folder - C:\Program Files\DataCore • Any other directory where the DataCore Installation/upgrade binaries are run from.

Threat Prevention → Advanced options → On-Access Scan Process Settings Add the following as ‘Low Risk’:

• setup.exe • smartdeploymentwizard.exe • DatacoreServer.exe • DcsAddMem.exe • DcsConsole.exe • DcsDriverSetup.exe • DcxGroupInstall.exe • DcsImport.exe • DcsTelemetry.exe • DcsTrace.exe • DCSX.exe

Process Type Exclusions:

• C:\Program Files\DataCore • Any other directory where the DataCore Installation/upgrade binaries are run from.

Threat Prevention → Advanced options → On-Demand Scan Full, Quick Scan and Right Click Scans Exclusions (include subfolders)

• C:\Program Files\DataCore • Asynchronous Replication buffer (applies to SANsymphony only)

Also see

The ‘Third-party software’ section in Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348


Third-party software


Oracle

Automatic Storage Management (ASM) Affects the Host The ASM default ‘15’ second timeout needs to be increased so that it is greater than the DataCore-recommended disk timeout setting for the host’s Operating System. Please refer to DataCore’s host-specific Configuration Guides. Also see:

ASM diskgroup dismount with "Waited 15 secs for write IO to PST" (Doc ID 1581684.1) https://support.oracle.com/knowledge/Oracle Database Products/1581684_1.html The ‘Host Server configuration guides’ section from SANsymphony Administrators: http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/838

Veeam

Backup Management Suite Affects the DataCore Server when used with DataCore’s VSS Hardware provider Requires Patch 4 (or later) with Veeam Backup & Replication 7.0 The following SANsymphony-related issues are fixed by this patch:

• The DataCore’s VSS Hardware Provider cannot be selected by the ‘Resource Owner’ of a Microsoft Cluster when using Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs).

• The ‘Resource Owner’ cannot backup its own CSVs using DataCore’s VSS. Nodes that are not designated however are still able to use the DataCore VSS hardware provider as normal.

Also see:

https://www.veeam.com/kb1891 (Last updated 2014). Changed Block Tracking Affects the DataCore Server Do not install Veeam’s Changed Block Tracking driver (CBT) on a DataCore Server as this will prevent the DataCore Server from being able to boot (until Veeam CBT is removed via the "Veeam Recovery Media"). Also see: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/backup_cbt_driver.html

https://support.oracle.com/knowledge/Oracle%20Database%20Products/1581684_1.html


https://www.veeam.com/kb1891

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/backup_cbt_driver.html


Previous changes

February 2021 Added Fibre Channel Adaptors – QLogic All models (including OEM) Affects the DataCore Server When using a vendor’s own fibre channel driver to connect to a storage array.

• QLogic driver version 9.3.3.20 with firmware 8.01.41 has been reported to cause either loss of access to storage (attached to the DataCore Server) or a crash of the DataCore Server itself after 6 weeks of operation. Upgrading to QLogic driver version 9.4.1.20 or later (which also includes later firmware) resolves the problem.

Also see: http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com/QLogicDriverDownloads_UI/DefaultNewSearch.aspx Updated Microsoft Windows – General Windows 2016 update regression Affects the DataCore and Host Servers Unexpected BSOD when using MPIO Disk Devices after applying updates between Nov and Dec 2020. A crash in Microsoft’s mpio.sys driver may occur when two or more paths to an MPIO disk device are removed, unexpectedly at the same time. This may affect:

• Hosts that being served Virtual Disks that are being managed either by Microsoft’s own MPIO or DataCore’s Windows Integration Kit both of which use the Widows mpio.sys driver.

• DataCore Servers that are using iSCSI Mirrored Virtual Disks – where SANsymphony utilizes the mpio.sys

driver. Fibre Channel mirrored Virtual Disks are unaffected. This issue was fixed in an update issued in January 12th, 2021. Also see

January 12, 2021—KB4598243 (OS Build 14393.4169) https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4598243

January 2021 Added Server Hardware – Lenovo - ThinkSystem Servers Affects the DataCore or Host Server Added Microsoft Windows – General - Windows 2016 update regression Affects the DataCore and Host Servers Unexpected BSOD when using MPIO Disk Devices after applying KB4586830 A crash in Microsoft’s mpio.sys driver may occur when two or more paths to an MPIO disk device are removed, unexpectedly at the same time. This may affect: • Hosts that being served Virtual Disks that are being managed either by Microsoft’s own MPIO or DataCore’s Windows Integration Kit both of which use the Widows mpio.sys driver. • DataCore Servers that are using iSCSI Mirrored Virtual Disks – where SANsymphony utilizes the mpio.sys driver. Fibre Channel mirrored Virtual Disks are unaffected. At this time (December 2020) DataCore are currently testing a fix provided by Microsoft with a view to Microsoft either releasing their own hotfix or publishing the fix in a future Windows Update. Also see November 10, 2020— KB4586830 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4586830 Storage Hardware – Intel NVMe - Microsoft Windows PCIe driver Affects the DataCore Server Possible BSOD when issuing a temperature request. Use driver version 4.4.0.1003 or later. See release notes from : https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29983/Client-NVMe-Microsoft-Windows-Drivers-for-Intel-SSDs? (September 2020)





Previous changes


Updated - Storage Hardware – X-IO - G3 and G4 Storage Arrays Affects the DataCore Server For G4 Storage Arrays: DataCore recommend firmware version 4.1.14 or higher which contains improvements to I/O queue handling that will help improve overall performance. For G3 Storage Arrays: Please contact X-IO to see if there is a later firmware version with equivalent improvements as per the G4 storage arrays noted above.

August 2020 Added Server Hardware – Lenovo - ThinkSystem Servers Affects the DataCore or Host Server Micron 5100 SSD series may report errors and cause background process to fail. Upgrade the Micron 5100 drive firmware to version MD51 or later. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID:HT507307 (last updated May 2019) Network Adaptors - Hewlett Packard - HPE Intel Ethernet 10Gb 562SFP+ Adapter Affects the DataCore or Host Server HPE Intel i40ea Driver for Windows Server 2016 Versions 1.8.83.0 or 1.8.94.0 May Cause NTFS File Corruption to iSCSI Mounted Volumes When Jumbo Frames Are Enabled. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keywords a00074697en_us (Last updated June 2019). Network Adaptors - Mellanox Technologies - ConnextX-5 Affects the DataCore Server Use with a minimum firmware version of 16.27.1016 and WinOF-2 driver version 2.40 (22511.0 or later). Users on earlier firmware and driver versions reported unexpected, and repeated network disconnections. Storage Hardware – Lenovo - Micron M.2 and SSD drives Affects the DataCore Server Micron 5100 SSD series may report errors and cause background process to fail. Upgrade the Micron 5100 drive firmware to version MD51 or later. Search Lenovo’s own support website for Document ID:HT507307 (last updated May 2019)

January 2020 Added Server Hardware - HPE Storage Devices Affects the DataCore Server HPE SAS Solid State Drives Critical Firmware Upgrade Required for Certain HPE SAS Solid State Drive Models to Prevent Drive Failure at 32,768 Hours of Operation – 12th December 2019. Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center with keyword a00092491en_us (Last updated Dec 2019)

October 2019 Updated General This document has been reviewed for SANsymphony 10.0 PSP 9. No additional settings or configurations are required.

August 2019 Added Storage Hardware – NetApp - Automatic Load Balancing (ALB) Affects the DataCore Server This feature, when enabled, may cause additional latency for backend I/O to and from a DataCore Server. Any user that experiences latency warnings or errors when connected to NetApp storage should disable this feature as a ‘first step’ to see if this resolves the problem. From NetApp’s own documentation: “Although overhead for volume ownership transfer has been minimized in development, the feature is not completely free, and there is some amount of added I/O latency for the duration of the transfer. As a result, ALB

Previous changes


should be disabled in latency-sensitive environments that cannot tolerate even the slightest fluctuation in I/O response times.” See section 4.1 - Enabling and Disabling ALB from NetApp’s Technical Reference documentation TR-4737 for more details - https://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4737.pdf

July 2019 Added Storage Hardware - Dell EMC - Compellant SC series Affects the DataCore Server DataCore have had reports of significant increased latency while using this storage array’s own, built-in, deduplication feature. While DataCore do not have any special recommendations when using a storage array’s own deduplication feature, we would recommend temporarily turning this feature off to see if there is any overall increased performance. Removed Storage Hardware - Fusion-IO - SANsymphony Console display Affects the DataCore Server with SANsymphony-V 9.0 PSP4 Update 4 (and earlier) Fusion-io disk devices will not display ‘UNKNOWN’ for all Vendor-specific information in the ‘Info’ tab. This has no functional impact and can be ignored. As SANsymphony 9.0 PSP 4 Update 4 is now end of life, this entry has been removed. Added Storage Hardware - Hitachi - Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) F and G series Affects the Host System Option Mode 725 = OFF (default setting) may prevent Host Virtual Machines from being able to access DataCore Virtual Disks after rebooting the DataCore Server. Each time a DataCore Server is stopped, HUS VMs will report that paths to the DataCore Server’s Virtual Disks are ‘Not Ready’. When this ‘Not Ready’ is status is returned 3 times within 3 minutes to the VM, the path to the DataCore Server’s Virtual Disk is blocked – even if the DataCore Server is running and the Virtual Disk is accessible. This blocked status cannot be recovered automatically. Therefore, DataCore recommend using System Option Mode 725 = ON for paths to DataCore Virtual Disk devices to avoid this problem. Please contact Hitachi for more information on this System Option Mode setting and also see Hitachi’s own Knowledgebase: https://knowledge.hitachivantara.com/Documents/Storage/VSP_Gx00_and_VSP_Fx00/83-04-2x/VSP_F400%2C_F600%2C_F800_Hardware_Guide/System_Option_Modes

April 2019 Added Storage Hardware - Dell EMC - Compellant SC series Affects the DataCore Server DataCore have had reports of significant increased latency while using this storage array’s own, built-in, deduplication feature. While DataCore do not have any special recommendations when using a storage array’s own deduplication feature, we would recommend temporarily turning this feature off to see if there is any overall increased performance. SAS Arrays using Seagate disks with model number ST8000NM0185 Affects the DataCore Server Dell recommend updating firmware to PT52, A00 (25 April 2019) or later. Customers using older firmware version 2.3.11.183 reported SANsymphony Disk Pools going offline unexpectedly because of constant I/O resets. See: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/DriversDetails?productCode=poweredge-r730xd&driverId=13YD9&lwp=rt Third Party Software Oracle Automatic Storage Management (ASM) Affects the Host The ASM default ‘15’ second timeout needs to be increased so that it is greater than the DataCore-recommended disk timeout setting for the host’s Operating System. Please refer to DataCore’s host-specific Configuration Guides. Also see:

ASM diskgroup dismount with "Waited 15 secs for write IO to PST" (Doc ID 1581684.1) https://support.oracle.com/knowledge/Oracle Database Products/1581684_1.html A valid oracle login is required to view the contents of this document.

https://www.netapp.com/us/media/tr-4737.pdf





https://support.oracle.com/knowledge/Oracle%20Database%20Products/1581684_1.html

Previous changes


The ‘Host Server configuration guides’ section from SANsymphony Administrators: http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/838

April 2019 Added Veeam - Changed Block Tracking Affects the DataCore Server Do not install Veeam’s Changed Block Tracking driver (CBT) on a DataCore Server as this will prevent the DataCore Server from being able to boot (until Veeam CBT is removed via the "Veeam Recovery Media"). Also see: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/backup_cbt_driver.html

March 2019 Added Server Hardware - Microsoft Windows (general) - Switches – Fibre Channel, FCoE and IP Cisco Systems Inc. - Nexus 7xxx and MDS 9xxx Series using releases 8.2(0)SK(0.90) 8.2(1) 8.2(2) Intermittent frame timeout drops with no other signs of congestion in the form of transmit credit wait or credits to zero transition events. Drops may occur on any port type (Fibre Channel or Ethernet). See: https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvj58687/ QLogic - IO StreamGuard Must be disabled so as to enable RSCN. Removed Switches – Fibre Channel, FCoE and IP - McData Sphereon This company no longer exists (it was acquired by Brocade in 2006)


https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/agentforwindows/userguide/backup_cbt_driver.html

https://quickview.cloudapps.cisco.com/quickview/bug/CSCvj58687/

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February 2018 Added Server Hardware - Microsoft Windows (general) Windows 2016/2012/2012 R2/2008 Affects clustered, hyper-converged DataCore Servers Do not use the DataCore Loopback port to serve mirrored Virtual Disks to Hyper-V Virtual Machines This known issue only applies when SANsymphony is installed in the root partitions of clustered, Hyper-V Windows servers where virtual disks are ‘looped-back’ to the Windows Operating system for use by Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Also see: https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/hyperconverged_virtual_san_software.htm A limitation exists in the DataCore SCSI Port driver - used by the DataCore Loopback Ports - whereby if the DataCore Server providing the ‘Active’ cluster path is stopped, the remaining DataCore Server providing the ‘Standby’ path for the Hyper-V VMs is unable to take the SCSI Reservation (previously held by the stopped DataCore Server). This will result in a SCSI Reservation Conflict and prevent any Hyper-V VM from being able to access the DataCore Disks presented by the remaining DataCore Server. In this case please use iSCSI connections as ‘Loopbacks’ for SANsymphony DataCore Disks presented to Hyper-V Virtual Machines. Windows 2008 R2 only Affects the DataCore Server A regression was introduced in Microsoft’s January 8th 2019 security update (KB4480970) “Local users who are part of the local “Administrators” group may not be able to remotely access shares”. This affects DataCore’s ‘DcsAdmin’ user and symptoms include:

• Logins to login to the DataCore Management Console will fail. • DataCore Servers within the same Server Group will lose connection via SANsymphony’s ‘management

LAN’ to other DataCore Servers in the group. • SANsymphony Asynchronous Replication connections will fail to and from Replication Groups.

A fix is available from Microsoft (KB4487345). See: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487345/ Notes: This regression was previously documented as DataCore Technical Support FAQ #1711 Network Adaptors (inc. iSCSI) - Hewlett Packard ProLiant BL460c (Gen10) server blades Affects the DataCore Server It has been reported that these server blades use NICs with Broadcom BCM57xxx chipsets – please see the Broadcom entry on the previous page for more details.

November 2018 Added Server Hardware - Microsoft Windows (general) - Windows 2016 Affects the DataCore Server BitLocker Drive Encryption This feature must be disabled on a DataCore Server as it prevents Disk Pools from functioning properly. Hewlett-Packard - Integrated Lights Out (ILO) Affects the DataCore Server Significant TZ (time zone) settings differences within the ILO software and the server’s own system clock/BIOS may result in the DataCore Executive service faulting. These faults will result in unexpected ‘Not Connected’ and/or ‘Logstore not available’ warning messages from other DataCore Servers in the group. Ensure that the TZ settings match. Storage hardware - X-IO - ISE 2, G3 and G4 Storage Arrays Affects the DataCore Server DataCore recommend to use firmware 4.1.14 or higher which contains improvements to I/O queue handling that will help improve overall performance. Removed Fibre Channel Adapters - Directly connected ports This information has now been moved to: ‘Using direct-connected Fibre Channel Ports with a DataCore Server’ http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1703

https://docs.datacore.com/SSV-WebHelp/hyperconverged_virtual_san_software.htm

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4487345/


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ISCSI and Network Adaptors - Hewlett-Packard • NC510* 10 Gigabit Server Adaptor • NC512m Dual Port 10GbE Multifunction Adaptor

Neither of these adaptors are supported by HP on Windows 2008 or later Search Hewlett Packard’s Enterprise Support Center using keyword c01507703 (Last Updated 2008)

October 2018 Added Third Party Software McAfee VirusScan Updated Third Party Software Any AV Software ISCSI and Network adaptors Intel - All x710 Adaptors – added a VMware KB as this ‘Known Issue’ will apply if configuring ESXi as a DataCore Server Hyperconverged Host. Removed Server and storage controller hardware NetApp All E Series arrays Cannot be used for SANsymphony Multi-Path Array (SMPA) configurations. X-IO ISE2 Use controller firmware versions 2.8.3 or later when used as storage for SANsymphony Shared Multipath Arrays (SMPA). The information regarding SMPA issues for both of these arrays is already documented in the ‘Shared Multi Port Array (SMPA) Tested Configurations’ document available at: http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1485

February 2018 Added ISCSI and Network adaptors Mellanox Technologies – ConnectX-3 Adaptors Hewlett Packard – All Converged Network Adaptors Updated

• Third Party Hardware • Storage Array Controllers

These two sections have been merged into one new section called Server and storage controller hardware.

• ISCSI host bus adaptors • Network interface cards (NICs) • Converged network adaptors (CNA)

These three sections have been merged into one new section called ISCSI and Network adaptors. ISCSI and Network adaptors Intel - All x710 Adaptors

February 2018 Updated Third Party Software – Microsoft Affects the Host and the DataCore Server (Windows 2012 or 2012 R2 only): A regression was introduced in a Windows update from March 2017 that caused a TCP Port 'exhaustion' when one or more Microsoft iSCSI initiators cannot connect to a Target (e.g. because the DataCore Server is not available /shutdown or if there is an network problem preventing IP connections from being made). Symptoms include:


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• including Replication connections to fail • An "Insufficient winsock resources available …” error when the user tries to login to the DataCore

Management Console • The DataCore Server is unavailable for any RDP and/or other network based logins.

A fix is available from Microsoft - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4025335

December 2017 Added Storage arrays and controllers Intel – NVMe storage Updated Fibre Channel host bus adaptors - Emulex and QLogic The information here was duplicated in both the 'Emulex' and 'HP' sections; therefore the Emulex and QLogic sections have both been retitled to cover OEM Vendor equivalents as well. Removed DataCore server hardware settings Turbo Boost (Intel), Processor ‘States’ (aka C-states) and PowerNow Technology (AMD) The information for all of the above settings has been moved to the more appropriate 'Best Practice Guidelines for SANsymphony' from: http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1348 Fibre Channel host bus adaptors Hewlett Packard - SN1000E and FC2142SR, Agilent, ATTO, Brocade and LSI The information for all of the above HBAs has been moved to the more appropriate 'Qualified hardware components' document available from http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1529

October 2017 Added Storage arrays and controllers Smart Array in P2xx, P4xx, P7xx, P8xx and ProLiant Servers Update to Smart Array firmware Version 5.04 to Correct Intermittent Controller Lockup Issues.

June 2017 Added Switches (Fibre Channel and FCoE) - All Switch Manufacturers Registered State Change Notification (RSCN) settings Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptors – Emulex Corporation 16GB HBA Models Third-party Software – Microsoft Corporation The DataCore Server Operating System - Windows 2012 or 2012 R2 A regression was introduced in a Windows update issued in March 2017 that causes TCP Port 'exhaustion'. Please see the entry for more information. Updated Storage Arrays and Controllers – All Storage 512b, 512(e)b and 4Kbyte sector support. Removed Switches (Fibre Channel and FCoE) Registered State Change Notification (RSCN) settings. These duplicate entries have all been removed and a single entry, under 'All Switch Manufacturers', has been added – see 'Added' above. Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptors Emulex Corporation LP1150, Lpe1150 and Lpe111 - These HBAs could not take the DataCore Fibre Channel Driver and are documented as 'Discontinued' by Emulex.


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April 2017 (Re)moved XenServer "If using QLogic QLA405x/406x iSCSI HBAs, use QLogic’s firmware revision 3.01.49 or later …" This has been moved to the 'Known Issues' section in the 'The Host Server – Citrix XenServer Configuration Guide'. See DataCore Answer ID #1561 Converged Network Adaptors QLogic's Dual-Port, 10Gbps Ethernet-to-PCIe Converged Network Adaptor (CNA) For VMware ESX Hosts disable (a) select a LUN to Boot from, and (b) the adaptor BIOS. This has been moved to the 'Known Issues' section in the 'The Host Server - VMware ESXi Configuration Guide'. See DataCore Answer ID #1556 The following issues have all been moved to the 'Known Issues' section in the 'The Host Server - Microsoft Windows Configuration Guide'. See DataCore Answer ID #1560 Third-party Software – Microsoft Corporation Offloaded Data Transfers (ODX) Only supported with or SANsymphony-V 9.0 PSP4 and later. For earlier versions of SANsymphony-V, ODX must be disabled on the Host. Please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200627.aspx Fibre Channel host bus adaptors QLogic - All 2 or 4 GB HBAs Do not use driver versions 9.0.1.12 or 9.0.2.11 as they may cause unexpected disconnections… QLogic - 16GB HBAs Do not use driver version 9.1.17.21 with firmware older than 08.03.00 when connecting to DataCore Server Front-end ports.

March 2017 Added Network Interface Cards – Intel x710 Family Affects the DataCore Server and the Host when using iSCSI: DataCore have had reports by customers using NICs from the Intel x710 family behaving erratically under load – the symptom being continuous disconnect/reconnect between the Target and Initiator - when used for iSCSI connections to or from a DataCore Server. Reports were based on rebranded Intel NICs (e.g. as provided by HP, Dell etc.) using the most current drivers that were supported by those third parties as of February 2017. Later drivers were available directly from Intel but these could not be applied to the rebranded NICs, so it is still unclear if this erratic behavior has been resolved by later Intel drivers or not. At this time DataCore are recommending to avoid any NICs using Intel's x710 chipset. Updated Storage Arrays and controllers - HP P440AR Affects the DataCore Server: Driver Version 63.12.0.64 appears to give poor performance; use Driver Version '63.12.0.64 (A)' or later. Please contact HP directly for more information. Previously there had been no later driver than '63.12.0.64'

February 2017 Added Storage Arrays and controllers Hewlett Packard – MSA 1040/2040 From HP: “Virtual pool is read-only due to multiple failures and rare race condition”. DataCore recommend applying HP's Storage Controller firmware GL220P008.

October 2016 Added Third-party software Microsoft Corporation Windows 2008 R2 SP1 - Convenience rollup update for Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

September 2016 Updated Storage Arrays and controllers

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Cisco Systems Inc. - Unified Computing Systems (UCS) This entry previously stated: "Storage disks greater than 4TB may only be formatted using ‘4K Sectors’; this is not currently supported by SANsymphony…” Disks that use 4K sectors are now supported in SANsymphony 10.0 PSP5 and greater. The entry has been changed to reflect that.

June 2016 Added Storage Arrays and controllers Hewlett Packard- HP Smart Array P2xx, P4xx, P7xx and P8xx Controllers Configured with One or More Spare Drives and firmware Version 6.40 (or Earlier) May Halt with "Lockup Code = 0xAB" Around 64, 128, or 256 Days. Fibre Channel host bus adaptors - QLogic Affects the DataCore Server – SANsymphony-V 10.0 PSP 4 update 1 or earlier: 16GB QLogic Fibre Channel HBAs using the DataCore fibre channel driver must have their 'Data rate mode' set to 8GB if they are directly connected to other 16 or 32GB HBAs that are also using the DataCore fibre channel driver.

May 2016 Added Storage Arrays and controllers Hewlett Packard P440AR Driver Version 63.12.0.64 appears to give poor performance. Fibre Channel host bus adaptors All QLogic 16GB HBAs Do not use driver version 9.1.17.21 with firmware older than 08.03.00.

March 2016 Updated Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade - All Switches (8GB and 16GB) - DataCore recommend not using FOS v7.4.1. Refer to Brocade DEFECT000578406

February 2016 Added (Other) Third-party Hardware Hewlett Packard - HP Virtual Connect A pause flood detection on VC uplink ports results in poor performance and/or an FCoE outage. Generic parity errors are fixed for the HP VC FlexFabric-20/40 F8 Module.

January 2016 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers General (All) - SANsymphony-V 9.x and 10.x do not, currently, support block sizes on physical disks greater than 512bytes although Advanced Format 512e (also known as '512 emulation') can be used instead. Fusion-io - When used with Dell PowerEdge Servers: please see the section '(Other) Third-party Hardware Dell - Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC)' in this document. NVM Express (NMVe) SSDs - Not supported with SANsymphony-V 9.x, 10.0 and 10.0 (no PSP) update 1. Use SANsymphony-V 10.0 PSP1 Update 1 or later. Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade — All Switches (8Gb and 16GB) - DataCore recommend not using FOS v7.4.1. Please use FOS v7.3.1d. (Other) Third-party Hardware Dell - Dell Remote Access Controller (iDRAC) - Fan Offset settings for PowerEdge servers are lost after a power failure when using firmware versions from 2.15.10.10 up to and including 2.21.21.21.

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Removed Storage Arrays and Controllers The following separate entries have been removed as they are now covered in the 'Storage Arrays and Controllers — NVM Express (NMVe) SSDs' entry. EUROstor — ES-2100 iSCSI, Texas Memory Systems — RAMSAN-70, Virident Systems Inc. — FlashMAX Dell Inc. — NVM Express SSDs

December 2015 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers Micron Technology Inc. - RealSSD A minimum Support Pack version of 145.07.xx with firmware version 218 or higher is required. Dell Inc. – RealSSD (Micron) A minimum Support Pack version of 145.07.xx with firmware version 218 or higher is required. Updated Hewlett Packard – ProLiant Servers May 'Blue Screen' if Configured With an HP Smart Array Controller with Windows Server 2012 and Windows 2012 R2. Gen9 Server The Server May Stop Responding and Will Display Power-On Self-Test (POST) Error Messages on Reboot When Running Smart Array Controllers and/or Host Bus Adaptors

September 2015 Added (Other) Third-Party Hardware Affects the DataCore server SANsymphony-V10.0 PSP2 or later: Fujitsu – Primergy Servers The Fujitsu ServerView Server Control service can prevent the DataCore Executive service from starting up immediately after any reboot of the DataCore Server for up to 20 minutes Updated All Storage Arrays NetApp – E Series (All) This Storage Array cannot be used for SANsymphony-V Multi-Path Array (SMPA) configurations.

August 2015 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers Virident Systems Inc. – General SANsymphony-V is not able to display any the Serial Number information under the Info tab of the SANsymphony-V management console (Other) Third-Party Hardware Fujitsu – Primergy Servers Older version of the ‘Fujitsu Server Agent’ caused a problem with Microsoft’s Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) affecting the DataCore Servers which encounter timeouts and connection problems when trying to open the SANsymphony-V Management Console

June 2015 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers Fusion-io – General - Creating a SANsymphony-V Deduplication Pool using Fusion-io disk devices that are running on ‘old’ drivers may cause the Deduplication Console to become unresponsive.

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May 2015 Removed General Server BIOS settings Intel – Turbo Boost - Previously there were number of specific chipsets listed as examples, these examples have been removed as the information may also apply to later models not necessarily listed here.

February 2015 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers: Dell Inc. MD 38xx FC: This is an ‘Active/Passive’ array and requires both Dell-approved drivers and Multi-Pathing software for Back-End (BE) failover to work correctly. NVM Express SSDs: Use SANsymphony-V 10.0 PSP1 Update 1 or later. Network Interface Cards Hewlett Packard - NC382i Dual Port Multifunction Gigabit Adaptors DataCore are recommending that the latest driver and firmware versions always be used with these Adaptors Updated Network Interface Cards Hewlett Packard - NC375* Gigabit Server Adaptors DataCore are recommending that the latest driver and firmware versions always be used with these Adaptors Storage Arrays and Controllers Fusion-io – General - SANsymphony-V 9.0 PSP4 Update 4 and earlier will not display any Vendor, Product, Serial Number or Unique Identifier Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade, QLogic, Cisco and McData - Added note to state that the RSCN Events Timeout should be the same across all ports that are connected to or from a DataCore Server. Third-party Software Hewlett Packard - Insight Management - HP recommends upgrading to HP Insight Management Agents for Windows Server x64 Editions Version 10.0.0.0 (or later).

January 2015 Added Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade – 16GB Switches Added note about a possible ‘Buffer Credit’ exhaustion issue for some environments with 16GB QLogic HBAs. Third-party Software Adaptec – maxView Storage Manager - Use version v1.07.21229 (15 Dec 2014) or later. Microsoft Corporation Windows 2012 R2 Servers that boot from SAS storage controllers “Fix restart problems after you install update rollup 2919355 in Windows Server 2012 R2”. Removed Third-party Software Microsoft Corporation - Removed note about very old QLogic Driver versions that are no longer available for Download (9.0.1.12 or 9.0.2.11).

2014 and earlier

November Added (Other) Third-party Hardware IBM – System x3550 and x3650 Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) errors may occur when removing or connecting the Ethernet cable into the Ethernet ports. Storage Arrays and Controllers ServeRAID M and MR10 Series SAS Controller Users running the ServeRAID M and MR10 Series SAS Controller device driver v6.702.07.00 for Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2, 2012, 2008 R2, and 2008 releases, might experience an unexpected restart or system hang while under moderate to heavy I/O workload.

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Updated Third-party Software: All issues regarding the VMware ESX Host Operating system have now been moved to the 'Host Configuration Guide – VMware ESX' FAQ please see: http://datacore.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1556 September Added (Other) Third-party Hardware Hewlett Packard - ProLiant Servers Agentless Management Service (AMS) for Windows Server may consume excessive amounts of system memory. A System ROM Upgrade is required to Prevent Unpredictable system behavior with Intel Xeon 7500-Series or Intel Xeon E7-Series Processors; includes URL to HP’s own advisories. IBM – System x3550 and x3650 Non-Maskable Interrupt (NMI) and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) errors may occur when removing or connecting the Ethernet cable into the Ethernet ports. Updated Network Interface Cards Hewlett Packard: NC375* Gigabit Server Adaptors NC522m Dual Port 10GbE Multifunction BL-c Adaptor NC522SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adaptor NC523SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adaptor No new technical information added as such, but a URL now exists to point to the advisory already mentioned (HP Document ID: c02964542) – users are recommended to re-check to make sure this does not affect their current DataCore Server or Hosts. Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Cisco MDS 9000 and Nexus 5000 Series Updated the URLs to Cisco’s own documentation for the information regarding ‘Unique Area FC IDs for HBAs’ for each of the switch models. August Added Third-party Software Hewlett Packard HP ProLiant Agentless Management Service (AMS) (Other) Third-party Hardware HP c-Class BladeSystem Updated General Removed all references and known issues that are specific to SANsymphony 7. July Updated Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptors LPe1200x Typo with firmware version. Should have said “Use firmware Version 2.01a12 or later …” instead of “Use firmware Version 2.10a12 or later …” Storage Arrays and Controllers Skyera – skyHawk Using firmware versions before v1.0 may cause in an unexpected loss of the array’s own Disk Configuration resulting in failure of Storage Sources using those Physical Disks. Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade Added note about ‘disabling’ RSCN suppression (so as to ‘enable’ RSCN) as this was not clear. Note: The layout for this section has been reordered so that it is clearer with regard to each firmware version’s different ‘known issues’. No new information has been added. Third-party Software Veeam Software “The DataCore’s VSS Hardware Provider cannot be selected by the ‘Resource Owner’ of a Microsoft Cluster when using Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs). …”. There is now an official fix for this issue here http://www.veeam.com/kb1891 please refer to Veeam for more information.


http://www.veeam.com/kb1891

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May Added Storage Arrays and Controllers PureStorage - FlashArray (all Series) These require controller firmware version 3.40 or later to use DataCore’s Backend Failover. Please note that even with the later versions of the controller firmware; DataCore’s Backend Failover will not use any of the Storage Array’s ALUA capabilities. For all versions before 3.40 (or to use the array’s ALUA capabilities regardless) please use Microsoft’s own MPIO. Updated Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptors Emulex LP12004: Removed the previous statement about Hosts having to have firmware version 2.70a5 or later – this was erroneous. However, for any Emulex 1200x Fibre Channel HBA in a DataCore Server that needs to or is already, using the DataCore Driver, use firmware Version 2.10a12 (or later) to avoid a crash during a new Install or an Update from a previous version of SANsymphony-V. Third-party Software Veeam Software Backup Management Suite: Added Veeam’s own Knowledge base article link regarding “Hardware provider is missing in Veeam Backup and Replication user interface” – relevant to the existing issue documented. April Added Storage Arrays and Controllers FusionIO – General Added note about Physical Disk devices not showing any Identification and Usage information in the SANsymphony-V Management Console. Updated DataCore Server Hardware Settings General BIOS Settings Added URL to the ‘Recommended BIOS settings on a DataCore Server’ FAQ. March Added Storage Arrays and Controllers All Storage Arrays Some storage array manufacturers allow ‘failed’ RAID sets to become healthy without actually rebuilding the entire RAID properly (zeroing blocks as well as rebuilding parity). The name of this feature is different for each manufacturer but may be called something like ‘Force RAID Set Healthy’, ‘Mark Disk as Healthy’ or similar. If this feature is used and the Disk Pool catalog is still intact, the SANsymphony-V software will allow the Disk Pool to come online as if there was no RAID failure and only log recoveries will take place. This will lead to data on the mirror partner not being synchronized properly and so create an inconsistent mirrored Virtual Disk. Always rebuild any failed RAID sets so that all the block data is completely destroyed and the RAID set is rebuilt ‘as new’. Third-party Software Veeam Software Backup Management Suite: The DataCore’s VSS Hardware Provider cannot be selected by the ‘Resource Owner’ of a Microsoft Cluster when using Cluster Shared Volumes (CSVs) and so cannot backup its own CSVs using DataCore’s VSS. Cluster Nodes that are not designated ‘Resource Owners’ can however use the DataCore VSS hardware provider as normal to back-up their own CSVs. Updated Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade – All Switches The following was previously only reported for 16GB Switches: “Host Front End (FE) and/or DataCore Mirror (MR) connections may not login after a reboot or after any significant disruption on the fibre channel link. Remote Ports in the DataCore Server UI will show as logged out. Applies to Brocade DEFECT000429695 and fixes were planned in firmware versions: 6.4.3e, 7.0.2d, 7.1.1 and 7.2.” However, it also applies to 8GB switches too and so has been moved to the ‘All Switches’ section. February Added Storage Arrays and Controllers

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Skyera - skyHawk Updated Storage Arrays and Controllers X-IO A typo in the firmware version was corrected; 1.7.19 should have read 1.7.9. Third-party Software Broadcom NetXtreme II BCM57xxx now refers to affecting the Host as well as the DataCore Server. VMware ESX 4.1 and 5.x: Software iSCSI Port Binding is not supported. January Added Storage Arrays and Controllers Hewlett Packard Storage Systems (General) Updated Third-party Software Microsoft Corporation Offloaded Data Transfers (ODX). This is now supported with SANsymphony-V 9.0 PSP 4. December 2013 Added Storage Arrays and Controllers Hewlett Packard SAS Hardware (General) Violin Memory PCIe Flash Memory Cards Removed Storage Arrays and Controllers Xyratex This entry was actually referring to an old (circa 2009) Xyratex Technical Support Bulletin describing a workaround for a specific VMware ESX 3.5 bug (SR# 1133918351) when using specific storage array models (F5402E, F5412E, F6412E, F5404E) with a specific level of array firmware (2.4.x), when the Overload Management (Target Queue Management) feature was enabled on the arrays. This ‘known issue’ would therefore apply only to DataCore Servers running inside VMware ESX 3.5 Virtual Machines; where the ESX Hosts were using those specific Xyratex arrays. Due to the age of the version of ESX being referenced, and the specific set of circumstances that this ‘issue’ would apply to, DataCore feel this issue is now redundant and so it has been removed. All users with these arrays connected to physical DataCore Servers should re-enable the Overload Management (Target Queue Management) feature and refer to Xyratex for instructions on how to do this. Updated Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade 16GB Switches Added a note to say that the ‘fillword issue’ (reported in the 8GB Switch entry), does not apply to 16GB switches. Third-party Software NetXtreme II BCM57xxx Reworded the issue, the technical detail has not changed but is now less ambiguous. November 2013 Updated Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Brocade – 16GB Switches Typographical error corrected: “Applies to Brocade DEFECT00042965 and fixes were planned …” should have said “Applies to Brocade DEFECT000429695 and fixes were planned …”. October 2013 Added

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ISCSI Host Bus Adaptors Mellanox Technologies ConnectX - InfiniBand Adaptor Cards Storage Arrays and Controllers IBM ServeRAID M5100e Series (SSD) and Netgear – ReadyNAS 3100 Updated Storage Arrays and Controllers Virident Systems Inc. FlashMAX Updated the notes to remove the implication that the SSD’s block size was configurable when it has been reported to DataCore that it is not. Switches (Fibre Channel & FCoE) Cisco MD 9000 and Nexus 5000 switches Updated the URLs referred to as the previous URL was pointing to out-of-date documentation. Third-party Software Hewlett Packard Insight Management (WBEM) Updated the notes with the method of setting the DataCore Executive service to use the ‘Automatic (Delayed Start)’ (as a workaround). August 2013 Added Converged Network Adaptors QLogic Dual-Port, 10Gbps Ethernet-to-PCIe CNA when used on VMware ESX Hosts Hewlett-Packard CN1000Q Dual Port CAN Third-party Software Added general entries for Anti-Virus Software on the DataCore Server and iSCSI Software Drivers on the Host (for any Operating System). Updated All issues are now listed based on the type of component (instead of the Vendor). Simplified many of the existing entries to avoid duplication in other DataCore documentation (i.e. Technical Bulletins and Qualified Lists). Fibre Channel Host Bus Adaptors More extensive list of those HBAs that can be used in a DataCore Server but only as Back-End connections to storage arrays using the HBA vendor’s own drivers. Network Interface Cards Emulex Split the Emulex NIC models and their equivalent OEM IBM models into separate entries. Hewlett-Packard firmware versions for some Hewlett-Packard NICs based on updated HP Advisories “… to prevent the loss and recovery of Ethernet connectivity, or adaptor unresponsiveness requiring a reboot to recover, from occurring.” NC375x was previously listed needing to be 4.0.556 is now 4.0.585. NC522x was previously listed needing to be 4.7.17.926 (which was wrong) is now 4.0.585. NC523x was previously listed needing to be 4.8.22 is now 4.9.81 Removed All references to Storage Arrays that do not support SANsymphony-V’s Shared Multi Port Array (SMPA) feature as they now appear in a separate document. July 2013 Added Network Interface Cards Hewlett-Packard HP NC522SFP. Updated HP NC55* SFP. Updated NetApp. Updated Cisco MDS 9000. Removed HP EVA 6400 (included HSV400) as this is now supported with SMPA.

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June 2013 Updated IBM DS3xxx. Added LSI Corporation Nytro WarpDrive. Added Dell EqualLogic PS4000. Removed SUN Microsystems and all Linux entries as the information is now too old to be considered relevant to current versions of DataCore Software or Vendor’s own requirements. May 2013 Updated HP EVA 6400 (included HSV400). Now included Storage Array Controller firmware levels for all Shared Multi-Port Array (SMPA) entries where applicable. Removed APC Powerchute The issue previously documented was a memory leak caused by older versions of Java and not specific to APC Powershute at all. All references to SANmelody as this is now an ‘End of Life’ product. April 2013 Added Fujitsu HP EVA 6000 Infotrend Virident Systems Inc. Updated 3Ware Brocade FusionIO Hitachi Hewlett-Packard HP NC375* HP NC523SFP QLogic QLE3044 NIC Microsoft Corporation UPS and Windows 2012 ODX February 2013 Added Dell Compellent SC30, SC40 & DS3524 IBM DS3524. January 2013 Added N-Tec ICEBOX-R Areca ARC-188x IBM XIV NetApp E5400 December 2012 Added Hitachi AMS2500

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Promise Technology Inc. VTrak E830 Updated Hewlett-Packard HP Insight Management WBEM APC Powerchute Microsoft Corporation WMI (Win32_Service) November 2012 Updated Cisco MDS 9000 Series October 2012 Added Texas Memory Systems July 2012 Updated VMware ‘vStorage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI)’ for ESX 5.x. Trend Micro OfficeScan June 2012 Updated Hewlett-Packard HP Insight Management WBEM April 2012 Added Hewlett-Packard HP NC523SFP Dual Port 10GbE Server Adaptor EMC Clariion AX4 Updated Hewlett-Packard HP Insight Management WBEM. March 2012 Added Hewlett-Packard HP NC552SFP 10 GB NIC IBM 49y4250 OCe10102-N-X and 49y7950 OCe11102-N-X 10GB NICs Microsoft Corporation Windows 2008 Power Saving Mode BitLocker Drive Encryption Updated Hewlett-Packard HP NC375* (QLE3044), NIC. Allied Telesyn Corrected entry for Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter MC1000 series (the 'mode' stated previously was incorrect)

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January 2012 Added Allied Telesyn Gigabit Ethernet Media Converter MC1000 series Trend Micro OfficeScan APC Powerchute. Updated Microsoft Corporation UPS Services December 2011 Added VMware ESX 5.x Emulex LP1250 HBA Updated Hewlett-Packard HP Insight Management WBEM November 2011 Added Hewlett-Packard HP NC375* (QLE3044), HP NC510* and HP NC512m NICs QLogic - General Note about setting QLogic FC HBAs to ‘Loop Only’ mode in certain cases of Host Ports shown as ‘logged out’. QLogic - HBA QLE220 October 2011 Added Fusion IO Updated Disclaimer (page 2) Brocade Note in Brocade HBAs that only QLogic HBAs can be a Front End port. Emulex HBAs to not use TPRLO. VMware All VMware 'Known issues' that were in Technical Bulletin #5x are now in this document. Removed All references to ‘End of Life’ SANsymphony and SANmelody versions that are no longer supported as of July 31 2011. July 2011 Updated AMD Brocade Emulex Intel Microsoft Corporation

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