Sharing devices with dev_disk and vdisk_blockio in ESOS

[Joseph Huber]

Hello!  I am new to ESOS and fibre channel.  I have set up a point-to-point network between an ESOS server and an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS workstation.  I am using Qlogic QLE2672-E dual-port cards in both computers.  My goal is to directly share several SATA SDD drives from ESOS to the Ubuntu computer.

I have managed to get things up and running over 1 port with a 16 Gbit connection.  I have a few questions for fine tuning...

1) It seems that I can setup the SATA devices in ESOS as either dev_disk or vdisk_blockio.  Testing with KdiskMark from the Ubuntu computer indicates that dev_disk appears to give faster transfer speed.  vdisk_blockio gives me the option to set a name for the device, which comes over to the workstation and is helpful to identify the disks.  dev_disk uses the [0:0:0:0] format, which is ok, but not as nice as getting a name for the disk.  Is there any way to change the device name that dev_disk uses?.  Is there a better choice between dev_disk and vdisk_blockio for what I am trying to do?

2) What is the best way to utilize the second port of the QLE2672 to maximize throughput?

Should I just split up the disks between the two Targets(ports)?  Should I use dm-multipath on the Ubuntu machine?  If using dm-multipath on the Ubuntu side, I am not sure what to do on the ESOS side.

3) Is it possible to put the boot disk for the Ubuntu computer in the ESOS server and boot the Ubuntu computer from the ESOS server?  Internet search seems to indicate that this is possible, but so far I have only found sketchy details.  Is there a guide for doing this with linux/ESOS?

4) I bought the Qlogic cards used.  The cooling fans are in pretty rough shape...noisy.  I lubricated them, and they are getting better.  They take an AD4512HB-G73 fan, but not in the common square frame mount config, but rather with a special 3-screw mount that attaches to the heat sink, that I haven't been able to find.  Just curious if anybody familiar with these cards knows of a source for the fans.

Thanks!

[Marc Smith]

On Sun, Jan 25, 2026 at 8:48 AM Joseph Huber <jhube...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hello! I am new to ESOS and fibre channel. I have set up a point-to-point network between an ESOS server and an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS workstation. I am using Qlogic QLE2672-E dual-port cards in both computers. My goal is to directly share several SATA SDD drives from ESOS to the Ubuntu computer.
>
> I have managed to get things up and running over 1 port with a 16 Gbit connection. I have a few questions for fine tuning...
>
> 1) It seems that I can setup the SATA devices in ESOS as either dev_disk or vdisk_blockio. Testing with KdiskMark from the Ubuntu computer indicates that dev_disk appears to give faster transfer speed. vdisk_blockio gives me the option to set a name for the device, which comes over to the workstation and is helpful to identify the disks. dev_disk uses the [0:0:0:0] format, which is ok, but not as nice as getting a name for the disk. Is there any way to change the device name that dev_disk uses?. Is there a better choice between dev_disk and vdisk_blockio for what I am trying to do?

In general I'd recommend vdisk_blockio since it gives your exported
volume (LUN) more features. Using dev_disk exposes your SCSI device
more or less as-is so this may not work for some initiators.

>
> 2) What is the best way to utilize the second port of the QLE2672 to maximize throughput?
> Should I just split up the disks between the two Targets(ports)? Should I use dm-multipath on the Ubuntu machine? If using dm-multipath on the Ubuntu side, I am not sure what to do on the ESOS side.

On the ESOS side, expose your LUN on all target interfaces; on the
intiatior (Ubuntu) side you dm-multipath for MPIO and configure it for
round-robin so it's sending I/O across all paths; zone initiator ports
to target ports (if using FC switch).

>
> 3) Is it possible to put the boot disk for the Ubuntu computer in the ESOS server and boot the Ubuntu computer from the ESOS server? Internet search seems to indicate that this is possible, but so far I have only found sketchy details. Is there a guide for doing this with linux/ESOS?

You could -- on the ESOS side this is just a LUN exposed (LUN 0
probably is what you'd need for the initaitors); then all the work on
configuring this is really up to your initaitor (Ubuntu) machine -- in
general you'd go into the QLogic option ROM setup and configure
boot-from-SAN there.

>
> 4) I bought the Qlogic cards used. The cooling fans are in pretty rough shape...noisy. I lubricated them, and they are getting better. They take an AD4512HB-G73 fan, but not in the common square frame mount config, but rather with a special 3-screw mount that attaches to the heat sink, that I haven't been able to find. Just curious if anybody familiar with these cards knows of a source for the fans.

Sorry, I'm not much help here!


--Marc

>
> Thanks!
>
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[Joseph Huber]

Marc,

Thank you for these tips!  I will give them a try.