FSPM for Windows Features

Oracle FS Path Manager (FSPM) is defined as optional software installed on a storage area network (SAN) host to manage multiple paths to the Oracle FS System.

FSPM performs the following primary functions:

Routes I/O to the Oracle FS System or Pillar Axiom LUNs using the best available data paths.
Shares traffic among the available paths if some paths fail to ensure that access to the LUNs is not interrupted.
Automatically configures host information changes and updates the configuration in Oracle FS System Manager (GUI). This enables the GUI to report information about FSPM running on the host, such as the number of working paths, and, in some environments, to configure features such as load balancing. This function is only available if the host has a control path connection to the Pilot.

Each FSPM release provides different features, and the features provided for each platform can vary. The following table describes the specific features of this product.

Table 1 FSPM for Windows features
Feature	Benefit
Automatic data path failover	Automatically switches to the best available path after a path failure or fail back.
Automatic recognition of SAN hosts by the Oracle FS System Services.	Sends a description of the host to each Pilot management controller on connected Oracle FS Systems, enabling the Oracle FS System Services to create a host definition. This definition provides information including the WWNs for each host FC port, iSCSI Initiator Names associated with the hosts, and the version of FSPM running on the host.
Call‑Home log collection	When an Oracle FS administrator uses Oracle FS System Manager (GUI) to collect system information, the Oracle FS System can be instructed to send a request to each connected FSPM host. The FSPM host collects diagnostic information and sends the information to the Oracle FS System, where the information is bundled with any other requested information. The Oracle FS System can transmit this information to Oracle Customer Support The information collected from each FSPM host includes Log files from the FSPM components Configuration and status information from the operating system System and error logs from the operating system No customer data is transmitted. Note: For more information on Call-Home, refer to the Oracle Flash Storage System Administrator’s Guide.
Support for upgrades	Upgrades from earlier versions of FSPM are supported.
LUN access	Access to the Oracle FS System or Pillar Axiom system LUNs using both iSCSI and FC is supported.
FC HBAs	All FC HBAs that meet the following HBA driver requirements are supported: Storport miniport driver. Digitally signed by the Microsoft Windows Hardware Compatibility Publisher; these drivers can be referred to as "WHQL signed" or "WHQL certified" or "Windows certified". Dated after January 1, 2008. FC HBAs with speeds ranging between 2 - 16 Gb/s are supported.
iSCSI hardware and software	iSCSI adapters and Microsoft iSCSI Initiator are supported.
Configuration at the host	Ability to configure FSPM at the host system is supported.
Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) Converged Network Adapters (CNAs)	FCoE CNAs on the host are supported and managed as an FC connection.
Oracle Fabric Interconnect	Oracle Fabric Interconnect and associated Oracle Virtual Networking host software provide Ethernet and FC emulation over InfiniBand.
Boot from SAN	Boot from SAN is supported for both iSCSI and FC.
Clustering	Both FC and iSCSI clusters are supported.
Load balancing	I/⁠O can be balanced across the best available paths. Both static and round-robin load balancing are supported. Round-robin is the default value.
Hyper-V	Supported by FSPM running in the hardware operating system or with iSCSI software Initiators or Oracle Virtual Networking in guest VMs. Hyper-V Virtual Fibre Channel is not supported