What is MPIO?

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What is MPIO?

MPIO is a term used in the computer industry and it refers to multipath I/O. It is specifically designed to handle data storage and fetching from various storage devices using multiple paths. This computer storage feature comes as part of Windows Server 2008 and is aimed at improving overall computer performance. With the MPIO feature, the data transfer from the computer’s CPU to other mass storage devices will go through more than one physical path.

One great advantage of having a MPIO is that alternative paths are provided in cases wherein a particular path fails. In cases that involve data transfer between a server and a storage subsystem, one would not have to worry if there are other available storage resources just in case the existing path being used fails. The MPIO provides this storage resource backup by means of cables, switches, adapters, and other physical structures inside the computer.

Many large enterprises welcome the features of MPIO as it provides very much-needed backup in terms of storage device resources. This is especially helpful to organizations that require several redundancies in terms of database storage. Other companies also need to have a computer network capable of handling heavy workloads without any downtime. Some also need server clustering or separate units for recovery servers and all these can only be catered by setting up a system that provides various storage resource alternatives like the MPIO.

With the MPIO in Windows Server 2008, the system could allocate up to 32 different paths between the host OS server and the different storage devices connected to it. This provides a fault tolerant connectivity to any storage device. If one path fails, then other paths are readily available increasing and/or enhancing the computer performance. The system also works automatically resulting to uninterrupted data storage or handling simply because of the MPIO feature.

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