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hermanpeckel2
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Nested ESXi Hosts and iSCSI POC

Folks,

I want to set up a proof of concept for a two host, two NAS model for my workplace. At this stage I have set up nested ESXi hosts using this guide from vCritical - http://www.vcritical.com/2011/07/vmware-vsphere-can-virtualize-itself/

This has all gone swimmingly. I have two virtual hosts inside the main ESXi install with all three hosts on the 192.168.0.x network. I have then added a second NIC to the "server" and separated the iSCSI network (192.168.1.x) and pointed it to a single NAS. This has gone well. The problem is, the nested hosts cannot access the iSCSI network.

It's all a bit above my paygrade, but I can't work out how I can get the nested hosts onto the iSCSI network. I've tried adding second network cards to the virtual machines running the virtual hosts and assigning them to the 192.168.1.x network.

Can anyone help shed some light? Can anyone understand my question or what I'm trying to do? I hope so!

Thanks in advance

HP

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iw123
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Hi There

Can your main host see the iscsi network and connect to your nas?

It should just be a case of creating a VM portgroup on that same vswitch, with appropriate vlan settings if needed, then assigning vnics from your nested esx hosts to that portgroup. On the nested hosts themselves you will need to set up the iscsi software initiator etc as normal.

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers

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iw123
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Hi There

Can your main host see the iscsi network and connect to your nas?

It should just be a case of creating a VM portgroup on that same vswitch, with appropriate vlan settings if needed, then assigning vnics from your nested esx hosts to that portgroup. On the nested hosts themselves you will need to set up the iscsi software initiator etc as normal.

*Please, don't forget the awarding points for "helpful" and/or "correct" answers
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smokeyrd
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Also check your subnet mask. If you havent changed it, chances are you have it set to 255.255.255.0 and it should be at 255.255.252.0 <--someone please double-check me on that...I very rarely deal with doing subnets though i am "confident" that the value is correct to give a range of 192.168.0.1-192.168.1.254

Edit: I missed the bit where you said you assigned to 192.168.1.x. Im leaving this post as a point of interest but it may be of no use to you.

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hermanpeckel2
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@iw123 - thanks for the reply. Yeah, the main host can see the iSCSI network no problems. When I run guest VMs on that host they work fine and they use 192.168.0.x as the VMnetwork and 192.168.1.x as their iSCSI network.

That said, I'm wondering if I NEED to set up a separate iSCSI network for the nested hosts since they will be using the settings from the virtual host. Does that make sense? So

PhysicalHost1 (192.168.0.x - VM Network, 192.168.1.x - iSCSI network)

   - VirtualHost1VM

       - VirtualHost1

   - VirtualHost2VM

       - VirtualHost2

Also, on PhysicalHost1 I am using vSwitch0 for VM Network and vSwitch1 for iSCSI network. I basically did all of this with little or no knowledge of VMware networking, so chances are it's completely wrong. Any pointers much appreciated!!

HP

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admin
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The vSwitch on the physical host to which the nested ESXI VM network is connected must be configured for promiscuous mode.

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hermanpeckel2
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A promiscuous switch. Nothing like it Smiley Happy

Thanks Jim! I had set the switch as promiscuous. Should I but using just the one switch (with VLANs) or two (one for VM network and one for iSCSI)?

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