Managing Logical Ports

Precautions

It is recommended that you create no more than 64 logical ports for each controller. If more than 64 logical ports are created for one controller, the logical ports will fail over to a few available physical ports in the event that a large number of physical ports fail, decreasing service performance.

Procedure

1. Choose System > Hardware > Devices.
2. Click the controller enclosure where the desired Ethernet port resides.
3. Click to switch to the rear view.
4. Select the Ethernet port you want to configure.
5. Click Manage Logical Port.

   The Manage Logical Port page is displayed.

   

   Alternatively, you can choose Services > Network > Logical Ports.

6. View information about logical ports. Table 1 describes the parameters.

   Table 1 Logical port parameters

   Parameter	Description
   Name	Name of a logical port.
   ID	ID of a logical port.
   Owning vStore	Name of the vStore to which a logical port belongs.
   vStore ID	ID of the vStore to which a logical port belongs.
   Running Status	Running status of a logical port.
   Status	Indicates whether a logical port is activated.
   Data Protocol	Data protocol of a logical port.
   IP Address	IP address of a logical port.
   Subnet Mask/Prefix	Subnet mask of a logical port's IPv4 address or prefix length of a logical port's IPv6 address.
   Gateway	Gateway of a logical port's IP address.
   Home Port/Current Port	Home port and current port of a logical port.
   Home Controller/Current Controller	Home controller and current controller of a logical port.
   Failover Group	Failover group of a logical port.

7. Create, modify, delete, or fail back logical ports on the Ethernet port and manage their route information as required.
   • To create a logical port:
     1. Click Create.

        The Create Logical Port page is displayed.

     2. Set the parameters listed in Table 2.

        Table 2 Logical port parameters

        Parameter	Description
        Name	Name of the logical port. The name must meet the following requirements: The name must be unique. The name can contain only letters, digits, underscores (_), hyphens (-), and periods (.). The name contains 1 to 255 characters.
        Role	Role of the logical port. Possible values are: Service: A port of this role is used to access services, such as accessing CIFS shares of file systems. Replication: A port of this role is used for connections of the replication links in remote replication.
        Data Protocol	Data protocol of the logical port. Possible values are NFS, CIFS, NFS + CIFS, iSCSI, and NVMe over RoCE. NOTE: NFS, CIFS, and NFS + CIFS are applicable to file service configuration. iSCSI and NVMe over RoCE are applicable to block service configuration. Some device models do not support file services. For details about device models that support this function, see Product Description published on the technical support website or consult your product provider. This parameter is available only when Role is set to Service.
        Owning vStore	vStore to which the logical port belongs. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Role is set to Service and Data Protocol is set to NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.
        IP Address Type	IP address type of the logical port, which can be IPv4 or IPv6.
        IP Address	IPv4 or IPv6 address of the logical port.
        Subnet Mask	Subnet mask of the logical port's IPv4 address. NOTE: This parameter is available only when IP Address Type is set to IPv4.
        Prefix	Prefix length of the logical port's IPv6 address. NOTE: This parameter is available only when IP Address Type is set to IPv6.
        Gateway	Gateway of the logical port's IP address.
        Port Type	Type of the logical port (including the Ethernet port, bond port, and VLAN port). NOTE: This parameter can be specified only when Data Protocol is set to NFS, CIFS, NFS + CIFS, or iSCSI.
        Home Port	Ethernet port, bond port, or VLAN to which the logical port belongs.
        Activation Status	Determine whether to activate the logical port. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is set to NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.

     3. When Role is set to Service, select Advanced in the upper right corner and set the advanced attributes of the logical port.
        

        If Role is set to Service, you can set advanced attributes only when Data Protocol is set to NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.

        Table 3 describes the parameters.

        Table 3 Advanced logical port parameters

        Parameter	Description
        Failover Group	Name of a failover group. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If a failover group is specified, services on the failed home port will be taken over by an available port in the specified failover group. If no failover group is specified, services on the failed home port will be taken over by an available port in the default failover group. It is recommended that the logical ports of the same vStore use the same failover group. This ensures that the fault domains of the logical ports are the same.
        IP Address Failover	After IP address failover is enabled, services on the failed home port will be taken over by other available ports in the failover group. In the entire process, the IP address used by services remains unchanged. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. Shares of file systems do not support the multipathing mode. They use IP address failover to improve the reliability of links.
        Failback Mode	After the fault of the home port is rectified, services fail back to the home port. Possible values are Automatic and Manual. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If Failback Mode is Manual, ensure that the link to the home port is normal before the failback. You can manually switch services back to the home port only when the link to the home port keeps normal for over five minutes. If Failback Mode is Automatic, ensure that the link to the home port is normal before the failback. Services will automatically fail back to the home port only when the link to the home port keeps normal for over five minutes.
        Listen for DNS Query	With this function enabled, external NEs can access the DNS service provided by the storage system by using the IP address of this logical port. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.
        DNS Zone	Name of a DNS zone. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If the value is blank, the logical port is not used for DNS-based load balancing. One logical port can be associated with only one DNS zone. One DNS zone can be associated with multiple logical ports. A DNS zone can be associated with both IPv4 and IPv6 logical ports. The load balancing effect varies with the distribution of logical ports associated with a DNS zone. To obtain a better load balancing effect, ensure that logical ports associated with a DNS zone are evenly distributed among controllers.

     4. Click OK.
   • To modify a logical port:
     1. Click More on the right of the desired logical port, and select Modify.

        The Modify Logical Port page is displayed.

        

        Some device models do not support the NFS protocol. For details about device models that support this function, see Product Description published on the technical support website or consult your product provider.

     2. Set the parameters listed in Table 4.

        Table 4 Logical port parameters

        Parameter	Description
        Name	Name of the logical port. The name must meet the following requirements: The name must be unique. The name can contain only letters, digits, underscores (_), hyphens (-), and periods (.). The name contains 1 to 255 characters.
        IP Address Type	IP address type of the logical port, which can be IPv4 or IPv6.
        IP Address	IPv4 or IPv6 address of the logical port.
        Subnet Mask	Subnet mask of the logical port's IPv4 address. NOTE: This parameter is available only when IP Address Type is set to IPv4.
        Prefix	Prefix length of the logical port's IPv6 address. NOTE: This parameter is available only when IP Address Type is set to IPv6.
        Gateway	Gateway of the logical port's IP address.
        Port Type	Type of the port to which the logical port belongs. The value can be Ethernet port, bond port, or VLAN. NOTE: This parameter is modifiable when Data Protocol is set to NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.
        Home Port	Ethernet port, bond port, or VLAN to which the logical port belongs.
        Failover Group	Name of a failover group. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If a failover group is specified, services on the failed home port will be taken over by an available port in the specified failover group. If no failover group is specified, services on the failed home port will be taken over by an available port in the default failover group.
        IP Address Failover	After IP address failover is enabled, services on the failed home port will be taken over by other available ports in the failover group. In the entire process, the IP address used by services remains unchanged. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. Shares of file systems do not support the multipathing mode. They use IP address failover to improve the reliability of links.
        Failback Mode	After the fault of the home port is rectified, services fail back to the home port. Possible values are Automatic and Manual. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If Failback Mode is Manual, ensure that the link to the home port is normal before the failback. Services will manually fail back to the home port only when the link to the home port keeps normal for over five minutes. If Failback Mode is Automatic, ensure that the link to the home port is normal before the failback. Services will automatically fail back to the home port only when the link to the home port keeps normal for over five minutes.
        Listen for DNS Query	With this function enabled, external NEs can access the DNS service provided by the storage system by using the IP address of this logical port. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS.
        DNS Zone	Name of a DNS zone. NOTE: This parameter is available only when Data Protocol is NFS, CIFS, or NFS + CIFS. If the value is blank, the logical port is not used for DNS-based load balancing. One logical port can be associated with only one DNS zone. One DNS zone can be associated with multiple logical ports. A DNS zone can be associated with both IPv4 and IPv6 logical ports. The load balancing effect varies with the distribution of logical ports associated with a DNS zone. To obtain a better load balancing effect, ensure that logical ports associated with a DNS zone are evenly distributed among controllers.

     3. Click OK.
   • To manage route information:
     1. Select the desired logical port and click Manage Route.

        The Manage Route page is displayed.

        

        You can also click More on the right of the desired logical port and select Manage Route.

     2. Configure the route information for the logical port.
        1. In the IP Address drop-down list, select the IP address of the logical port for which you want to add a route.
        2. Click Add.
        3. Set the parameters listed in Table 5.

           Table 5 Route parameters

           Parameter	Description
           Type	Three types of routes are available: Default route A route through which data is forwarded by default if no preferred route is available. The destination address and mask (IPv4) or prefix (IPv6) of the default route are automatically set to 0. To use this option, you only need to add a gateway. Host route A route to a host. The destination mask (IPv4) or prefix (IPv6) of the host route are automatically set to 255.255.255.255 or 128. To use this option, you only need to add the destination address and gateway. Network segment route A route to a network segment. You must add the destination address, destination mask (IPv4) or prefix (IPv6), and gateway.
           Destination Address	IPv4 address, IPv6 address, or network segment of the destination service network port on the application server or destination logical port on another storage system.
           Subnet Mask/Prefix	Subnet mask of the IPv4 address or prefix of the IPv6 address for the destination service network port on the application server or destination logical port on another storage system.
           Gateway	Gateway where the local logical port's IP address resides. NOTE: The IP address of the gateway must be different from all internal heartbeat IP addresses. Otherwise, routing will fail.

        4. Click . The route information is added to the list.
           

           To delete a route, select it and click .

        5. Click Close.
   • To delete a logical port:

     Select the desired logical port and click Delete.

     Confirm your operation as prompted.

     

     You can also click More on the right of the desired logical port and select Delete.

   • To fail back a logical port:

     After a fault of the home port is rectified, you can fail back services to the home port. Select the desired logical port and click Fail Back.

     

     You can also click More on the right of the desired logical port and select Fail Back.