Topic Last Modified: 2005-11-18

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Win32_Service Microsoft Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine the value of the Started key for the EMC PowerPath Service service. A value of True indicates the EMC PowerPath Service service is running, and a value of False indicates the EMC PowerPath Service service is not running. If the Exchange Server Analyzer finds that the value for the Started key is False, a warning is displayed.

EMC PowerPath is multipath I/O (MPIO) software. Multipathing provides for high availability data access by allowing a host to have up to 32 paths to access an external storage device, which facilitates failover and load balancing. Multipathing is not a feature of the operating system, but is supported through the MPIO Driver Development Kit (DDK), which provides a means for storage vendors to create interoperable multipathing solutions.

When MPIO software is run, Microsoft Windows® detects only a single drive while the MPIO software manages the multiple connections to various storage devices. If the MPIO software is stopped, Windows will detect all of the attached storage drives as independent drives. This will likely lead to storage errors and malfunction.

To start the EMC PowerPath Service service

  1. Open the Services MMC snap-in.

  2. Right-click the EMC PowerPath Service service, and then click Properties.

  3. On the General tab of the EMC PowerPath Service property page, make sure the Start-up type is set to Automatic. If it is not, click Apply, and then click OK.

  4. Right-click the EMC PowerPath Service service, and then click Start.

  5. Close the Services snap-in.

For general information about deploying different storage technologies with Windows, see "Planning to Use Windows Storage Features with SANs" (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=33626).