I have a number of ESX hosts that connect via switched fibre channel to a MSA appliance. The MSA appliance has 2 connections to each switch i.e 4 connections in total. What I need to do is drop the number of connections down to 1 per switch. i.e. 2 connections. As there are numerous data stores presented on the MSA all paths potentially are in use. What would be the best way to disconnect 2 of the connections without causing an outage?
* If the path is fixed and I change the preffered path how long does this take to fail over?
* If the path is MRU and I disable the path does this take the same time to failover as above?
* If I just disconnect the cable without doing any of the above how long would that take to recover?
Any other thoughts on how to achive the requirement appreciated.