ISCSI problem between ESXi 4.0 and QNAP 809u ISCSI NAS.

[TraversiRoberto]

Hi all,

i'm experiencing a strange problem mapping different ISCSI targets from the same ESXi host.

I'm aware that QNAP ISCSI NAS is not officially supported but at the moment it is the cheapest around providing so much storage space (12TB in 2 rack unit).

I have two 809u ISCSI NAS, the first has ip 10.101.12.61, the second 10.101.12.62.

The ESXi server has IP 10.101.12.63.

When i connect via ISCSI only the 10.101.12.61 i can see correctly the 8 targets it shares, if i connect only th 10.101.12.62 i can see correclty the 8 targets it shares.

If i connect 10.101.12.61 first and after 10.101.12.62 the ESXi server sees only 8 targets (targets published by 10.101.12.61) and 16 paths (8 from 10.101.12.61 and 8 from 10.101.12.62).

I'm not able to understand if it could be a ESXi problem or a QNAP problem.

I've already contacted both vendors to ask for support but i wasn't able to find a solution for this problem.

Can anyone help? Tnx Roberto.

[DSTAVERT]

Go through the troubleshooting guide. http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1008083

Report back what you find

[TraversiRoberto]

Hello DSTAVERT,

i've already seen that troubleshooting guide, the problem is not related to connectivity, the problem is that from the same Host i can't map at the same time the two storages because the targets provided by the second i try to map finish to be listed in the alternative path to the first storage while they are not.

I'll post you the output of esxcfg-mpath taken with only 10.101.12.61 mapped, with only 10.101.12.62 mapped and with both 10.101.12.61 and .62 mapped.

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only 10.101.12.61 (taken from Host VMBL460C1P01A)

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~ # esxcfg-mpath -L | grep vmhba32

vmhba32:C0:T28:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000400000001000636000000900 vmhba32 0 28 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0104.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T27:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000500000001000286000000900 vmhba32 0 27 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0105.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T26:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000600000001000296000000900 vmhba32 0 26 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0106.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T31:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000100000005200000000000900 vmhba32 0 31 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0101.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T25:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000700000001000C96000000900 vmhba32 0 25 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0107.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T30:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000200000001000E16000000900 vmhba32 0 30 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0102.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T24:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000800000001000CEA200000900 vmhba32 0 24 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0108.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T29:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000300000001000C26000000900 vmhba32 0 29 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P01A-3b41a9a2 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0103.8CE1EB,t,1

~ #

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only 10.101.12.62(taken from Host VMBL460C1P02B)

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1. esxcfg-mpath -L | grep vmhba32

vmhba32:C0:T12:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000400000006000414000000900 vmhba32 0 12 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0204.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T11:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000500000008000414000000900 vmhba32 0 11 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0205.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T9:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000700000000100414000000900 vmhba32 0 9 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0207.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T10:L0 state:active t10.94544500000000000000000060000000E000414000000900 vmhba32 0 10 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0206.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T15:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000100000005100000000000900 vmhba32 0 15 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0201.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T8:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000800000002100414000000900 vmhba32 0 8 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0208.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T14:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000200000002000414000000900 vmhba32 0 14 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0202.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T13:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000300000004000414000000900 vmhba32 0 13 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0203.8D4E7B,t,1

~ #

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both 10.101.12.61 and .62 (taken from Host VMBL460C1P02B)

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~ # esxcfg-mpath -L | grep vmhba32

vmhba32:C0:T12:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000400000006000414000000900 vmhba32 0 12 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0204.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T0:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 0 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0108.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T5:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 5 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0103.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T11:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000500000008000414000000900 vmhba32 0 11 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0205.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T4:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 4 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0104.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T9:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000700000000100414000000900 vmhba32 0 9 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0207.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T10:L0 state:active t10.94544500000000000000000060000000E000414000000900 vmhba32 0 10 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0206.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T15:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000100000005100000000000900 vmhba32 0 15 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0201.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T3:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 3 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0105.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T8:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000800000002100414000000900 vmhba32 0 8 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0208.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T14:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000200000002000414000000900 vmhba32 0 14 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0202.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T2:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 2 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0106.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T7:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 7 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0101.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T13:L0 state:active t10.945445000000000000000000300000004000414000000900 vmhba32 0 13 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0203.8D4E7B,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T1:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 1 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0107.8CE1EB,t,1

vmhba32:C0:T6:L0 state:active (no device) vmhba32 0 6 0 NMP active san iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:VMBL460C1P02B-1d172de7 00023d000001,iqn.2004-04.com.qnap:TS-809:iSCSI.QN809UC1P0102.8CE1EB,t,1

~ #

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Looking at the three output we can find that in the first two as the host points only one IP at a time everything goes fine, in the third one instead the targets published by one IP are considered as an alternative I/O path (no device).

I can't find the reason since every target identifier seems to be different from others.

Regards, Roberto.

[JoshGee]

Roberto,

I'm having exactly the same problem. The issue appears to be in the QNAP Identifier (the number that starts t10.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx). These seem to be identical, at least per QNAP model. I've got two TS-509 Pros exhibiting the same behaviour that your 809's are. The only difference I can see is that my identifier is different.

Like you, my targets have unique names, and they all show up as paths to the same device. I think QNAP has an issue in their iSCSI implementation. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out any way to change this number to make it unique.

Let me know if you make any headway. I'll post here if I figure anything out.

Josh

[TraversiRoberto]

Hello Josh,

thank you for your answer, i made some searches too but i couldn't find how (if possible) to specify the identifier.

Just another question: have you configured the two TS-509 manually or for the second one have you imported the settings from the first one?

Let me explain the answer, for my 4 TS-809U i've configured the first one and then imported the config on the other three changing only the IP address and Hostname after and so i've still this doubt that i could have "triggered" the problem of the same identifier.

Best regards, Roberto.

[JoshGee]

Roberto,

The two TS-509's were configured by hand. I don't think you triggered the problem. I think there is something stuck at a default with no configuration method to override it.

Just for your interest... I've just completed some extensive testing with my TS-509's. The NFS write performance is 69% faster than the iSCSI performance. The read performance is 6% faster. And these figures are after you've exhausted the VMware and the QNAP cache, so it shows the real performance of the QNAPs.

Oh, and at least with NFS, RAID6 outperformed RAID5... which was a surpise. It was marginal, but I'm just happy to not have a decrease. I just wish the QNAPs had RAID10 so I could compare that configuration as well.

I've got a lot more figures if you're interested... but as for me, I'm ditching iSCSI for NFS, at least on these QNAPs.

Josh

[TraversiRoberto]

Hello Josh,

thank you for the explanation.

In our environment the the performance is not so important as the QNAP is used to store backups of virtual machines, moreover the ISCSI configuration allows us to create on a single Raid 5 volume eight targets 1.5TB wide (to override VMWare LUN limitation of about 2TB) while NFS forces us to create different raid volumes to separate NFS targets and thus wasting storage capacity.

I've searched in the QNAP configuration files but i didn't find one of them specifying the common part of the target. I'll try to browse QNAP Forum to search for useful information.

Best regards, Roberto.

[BilHerd]

It would appear that FreeNAS has this issue also, they both have the identifier of "t10.FreeBSD_iSCSI_DISK______10000001________________________" for their first disk.

[J1mbo]

NFS has some advantages over NFS, just be careful with guest partition alignment at a 4K boundary. Without this correct the random write performance will be limited to that of a single physical drive (because the requests would be serviced sychronously in the ESXi kernel).

http://blog.peacon.co.uk

Please award points to any useful answer.