Can any please try to look into the below,

   https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/e44f8979-e63d-4140-b254-4b21f551fb48/mpio-advise-required?forum=winserverfiles

   Maybe we should have raised the question on Hyper-V f

   Can any please try to look into the below,

   https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/e44f8979-e63d-4140-b254-4b21f551fb48/mpio-advise-required?forum=winserverfiles

   Maybe we should have raised the question on Hyper-V forum ?

[ ... ]

Responded there. Not actually Hyper-V question IMHO...

  Thanks for input bro.

  Note that PowerPath is optional software from EMC.

  it says on EMC site that unlisenced install is possible but does not work with full features like failover and path optimization.

  We need to know, if that unlicensed version is better than default MPIO or vice versa ?

EMC PowerPath is better then default MPIO stack. Reasons listed above :)

  Microsoft recommends to use vendor specific DSM for MPIO configuration.

  We don't have the license for powerpath MPIO.

  However when we install powerpath, even unlicensed it replaces the MS standard DSM to EMC DSM.

  We wanted to know if the unlicensed powerpath MPIO would be better than MS standard one ?

  Though this is EMC question however we never got the response on EMC forums for any of questions ever (may be we are asking not correctly.) https://community.emc.com/message/865960

  Any input on this would be highly apprec

  Microsoft recommends to use vendor specific DSM for MPIO configuration.

  We don't have the license for powerpath MPIO.

  However when we install powerpath, even unlicensed it replaces the MS standard DSM to EMC DSM.

  We wanted to know if the unlicensed powerpath MPIO would be better than MS standard one ?

  Though this is EMC question however we never got the response on EMC forums for any of questions ever (may be we are asking not correctly.) https://community.emc.com/message/865960

  Any input on this would be highly appreciated.

1) Yes, always use MPIO stack provided by SAN vendor. Reason: SAN vendor and corresponding MPIO stacks DO know quite a lot of housekeeping MSFT default MPIO stack does not. For example: where actual data block resides on a distributed Scale-Out system (MSFT would result extra back end re-route if original request was targeted to a node w/o actual data), what controller to use (EMC likes ALUA idea) and so on.

2) It's a bad idea to use unlicensed software. You can go to jail for doing that.

 

  Thanks for input bro.

  Note that PowerPath is optional software from EMC.

  it says on EMC site that unlisenced install is possible but does not work with full features like failover and path optimization.

  We need to know, if that unlicensed version is better than default MPIO or vice versa ?

Hi Shahid Roofi,

I agree with VR38DETT, in general with vendor's DSM we can use more advanced option, such as centralized management.We recommend using vendor installation software to install the vendors DSM. If the vendor does not have a DSM setup tool, you can alternatively install the vendors DSM by using the DSM Install tab on the MPIO control panel.

The related KB:
Installing and Configuring MPIO
https://technet.microsoft.com/zh-cn/library/ee619752(v=WS.10).aspx

More related thread:
Windows 2008 Cluster with SAN and DAS
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/forums/windowsserver/en-US/2714902f-2480-479c-bb1a-07f3629d17d2/windows-2008-cluster-with-san-and-das

Failover Cluster Network - MPIO
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/pt-BR/3cf4b032-9f15-4589-ba6c-e24ecfc0dce8/failover-cluster-network-mpio?forum=winserverClustering

Best Regards,

  I totally agree with him. But the question was exactly if power path is better or not.

  I said in the question already it is better.

  My question always way, if unlicensed version of PowerPath (which disables some paths or keeps some feature off) is better than using standard Microsoft MPIO.

  This is because EMC is not willing to respond on that. https://community.emc.com/message/865960

Ask EMC for details about how PowerPath works compared to Microsoft's DSM when PowerPath is not licensed.

Or, perform your own tests.  Remember that all OEM DSMs are based on Microsoft's underlying MPIO.  For environments that are not stressing the IO subsystem, you most likely will not notice any difference.  And, unless you really need the added features of the OEM's DSM, you have just made your environment more complicated.  Is EMC going to support an environment where you are running their software in an unlicensed mode?

     Well environment is complicated already, with alerts that directly storage getting lost and redirected cluster IO is performed to access to storage. That is happening with Microsoft standard DSM.

     So the integration and dependability on both end is already there.

     I could find a forum where EMC and EMC professional actual does provide answer to general technical queries to consultants like us.

     Never had a response on their forum where I ever posted a question: https://community.emc.com/message/865960