Why do I see I/O errors on a RHEL system using devices from an active/passive storage array?

Issue

• I see I/O errors in my system logs from some of the devices on my storage array / SAN
• When I run LVM commands, I get I/O errors against some of the devices from my storage array
• Error message "end_request: I/O error, dev sdb, sector 0" found in messages file
• Error message "Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0" found in messages file

• Additional messages about "sense key: Not Ready" may also be found:

      kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
      kernel: sd 0:0:0:3: Device not ready: <6>: Current: sense key: Not Ready
      kernel:     Add. Sense: Logical unit not ready, manual intervention required
  

• These end_request: I/O error messages are also logged on system console during boot process

• On system with multipath configured, running LVM commands sometime hang or take long time and shows following error messages:

/dev/sde: read failed after 0 of 4096 at 0: Input/output error