Enable Remote FlashSystem Port-Group Configuration During PBHA Storage-Template Creation in PowerVC

In PowerVC, a port group is configured during storage-template creation by selecting the required physical storage ports.

For a PBHA storage template, PowerVC currently allows the port group to be configured using physical ports from the primary FlashSystem only. The corresponding ports of the remote FlashSystem are not discovered or available for selection.

This limitation prevents the storage template from representing the complete dual-site PBHA and SAN design.

Architecture and Use Case

Our architecture consists of two IBM FlashSystem 9500 systems deployed across two sites and configured with Policy-Based High Availability (PBHA).

The SAN infrastructure contains two geographically extended and redundant fabrics:

• SAN1 fabric: The SAN1 switch at the first site is connected through an ISL to the SAN1 switch at the second site. Together, they form one logical end-to-end SAN1 fabric.
• SAN2 fabric: The SAN2 switch at the first site is connected through an ISL to the SAN2 switch at the second site. Together, they form one logical end-to-end SAN2 fabric.

Therefore, references to SAN1 or SAN2 represent the corresponding extended fabric across both sites, not an individual switch at only one site. SAN1 and SAN2 remain isolated from each other to provide fabric redundancy.

On each FlashSystem, the host-facing physical ports are allocated to three workload zone groups:

• ZG1: P1 connected to SAN2 and P6 connected to SAN1
• ZG2: P2 connected to SAN1 and P5 connected to SAN2
• ZG3: P3 connected to SAN2 and P4 connected to SAN1
• PBHA: P7 and P8 are dedicated exclusively to the PBHA partnership between the two FlashSystem systems

This port allocation is applied to both node canisters and both FlashSystem systems.

Our objective is to create three PBHA storage templates in PowerVC—one for each zone group. During the creation of each template, its port group must be configured by selecting the corresponding physical ports from both the primary and remote FlashSystem.

For example, during the creation of the ZG1 storage template, the administrator should be able to select:

• The ZG1 ports from the primary FlashSystem connected to the extended SAN1 and SAN2 fabrics.
• The corresponding ZG1 ports from the remote FlashSystem connected to the same extended SAN1 and SAN2 fabrics.

Current Limitation

During PBHA storage-template creation:

• Only the physical ports of the primary FlashSystem are displayed.
• The physical ports of the remote FlashSystem are not discovered or selectable.
• The port group can therefore represent only the primary side of the PBHA configuration.
• The same controlled host connectivity cannot be defined for the remote side.
• The storage template cannot fully align with the existing end-to-end SAN zoning design.

Requested Enhancement

PowerVC should be enhanced to:

1. Discover the host-facing physical ports of the remote FlashSystem associated with the PBHA storage partition.
2. Display the physical ports of both the primary and remote FlashSystem during PBHA storage-template creation.
3. Allow administrators to configure the template’s port group by selecting the required physical ports from both systems.
4. Clearly identify whether each displayed port belongs to the primary or remote FlashSystem.
5. Allow ports from both systems to be associated with the corresponding extended SAN1 and SAN2 fabrics.
6. Validate that the selected ports belong to the correct storage partition, zone group, and SAN fabric.
7. Preserve the configured port-group design during provisioning, planned switchover, PBHA failover, and recovery.
8. Keep the ports dedicated to the PBHA partnership separate from the host-facing workload ports.

Expected Behavior

When creating a PBHA storage template, PowerVC should display two clearly identified sets of selectable physical ports:

• Primary FlashSystem physical ports
• Remote FlashSystem physical ports

The administrator should then be able to select the required ports from both FlashSystem systems and configure them as one port group within the storage template.

This capability would allow us to create the following templates in accordance with the implemented physical design:

• PBHA Template – ZG1
• PBHA Template – ZG2
• PBHA Template – ZG3

Each template would use the required ports from both FlashSystem systems across the two geographically extended SAN fabrics.

Business Value

This enhancement would:

• Align PowerVC storage templates with real dual-site PBHA architectures.
• Support geographically extended SAN fabrics connected through ISLs.
• Preserve workload isolation through dedicated zone groups.
• Maintain consistent storage connectivity following a planned switchover or PBHA failover.
• Reduce manual zoning and storage configuration outside PowerVC.
• Improve provisioning automation and operational consistency.
• Prevent workloads from being exposed to unintended storage ports.
• Reduce operational risk during disaster-recovery operations.

We request that this capability be evaluated and included in the next PowerVC release.