Change iSCSI-HW-Initiator to software-initiator on ESX 3.5.2 in an SAN environment ( pic inside )

[Wittbert]

hello guys,

I have some problems with my iSCSI-Hardware-Initiators. Because a faulty HCL I have chosen the wrong HW-Initiators. With this HW-Initiator the failover doesn't work properly.

According to the vmware and san-vendor support I have to change my config from HW-Intitiator to software initiator.

Here is a short overview of my current configuration:

I'm using a IBM DS3300 iSCSI-SAN with to controllers. Each controller has 2 iSCSI ports.Controller A Port1 and controller B Port1 are on a different subnet than controller a port2 and controller b port2. These ports are attached to separate switches for maximum redundancy.

At the moment every ESX-Server has 2 Qlogic HW-Initiator - every one connected to a separate switch.

Now I have to change my configuration to software-initiator.

I think I have to change my vmkernel configuration. On my IBM-SAN I have 2 different subnets ( 192.168.10.0/24 192.168.11.0/24 ).

What configuration settings must I perform to reach all targets on my SAN?

After my understanding I have to do the following:

1: remove the Hardware HBA and replace it with the Intel NICS

2: create 2 new virtual switches

3: create a vmkernel-port and a sc-port on both new vswitches wich are in the same subnet than my SAN

4: enable the iSCSI-Software Initiator an add all iSCSI-IP's of my IBM SAN

5: check if my mapped LUN's are accessible

What about my VMKernel Gateway? I can only set one gateway. Should I use a gateway IP that is reachable from the VMKernel port wich handles the VMotion traffic?

Thanks for the assistance in advance!

Kind regards

Wittbert

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Moved to the ESX forum.

1: remove the Hardware HBA and replace it with the Intel NICS

2: create 2 new virtual switches

Why 2, you really only need one.

2 pNIC -> vSwitchX -> iSCSI Portgroup. Let the vSwitch handle anything you need.

3: create a vmkernel-port and a sc-port on both new vswitches wich are in the same subnet than my SAN

Not necessary.

You do not need a second SC Port or even a third unless your existing SC port can not participate within the iSCSI network. Most people add another but that does increase the network attack surface of the SC.

4: enable the iSCSI-Software Initiator an add all iSCSI-IP's of my IBM SAN

5: check if my mapped LUN's are accessible

What about my VMKernel Gateway? I can only set one gateway. Should I use a gateway IP that is reachable from the VMKernel port wich handles the VMotion traffic?

DO not change the gateway.

Check out http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/34581 for information on NAS/iSCSI networking.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[Wittbert]

Hi!

thanks for the fast answer! I think I didn't understand why I only need 1 new virtual switch.

Hello,

Moved to the ESX forum.

1: remove the Hardware HBA and replace it with the Intel NICS

2: create 2 new virtual switches

Why 2, you really only need one.

2 pNIC -> vSwitchX -> iSCSI Portgroup. Let the vSwitch handle anything you need.

3: create a vmkernel-port and a sc-port on both new vswitches wich are in the same subnet than my SAN

Not necessary.

You do not need a second SC Port or even a third unless your existing SC port can not participate within the iSCSI network. Most people add another but that does increase the network attack surface of the SC.

In my case I need to access iSCSI-Targets in 2 different subnet. After my understanding I need 2 additional VMkernel iSCSI-Portgroups to access them.

If I understand your explanation I have to to the following:

If I want to access iSCSI-Targets on the IP 192.168.10.1 and 192.168.11.1 I have to create 1 new vSwitch and add 2 pNICS. An the new vSwitch I add 2 new VMkernel Ports and give the first an IP in the 192.168.10.x-Network and the second an IP in die 192.168.11.0 network.

Now I can rescan my software initiator and I should see my mapped targets.

In my case the default SC can not access the iSCSI-targets. In this case I create 2 new SC-Groups.

Thanks in advance

Kind regards

Benjamin

[Texiwill]

Hello,

In my case I need to access iSCSI-Targets in 2 different subnet. After my understanding I need 2 additional VMkernel iSCSI-Portgroups to access them.

If I understand your explanation I have to to the following:

If I want to access iSCSI-Targets on the IP 192.168.10.1 and 192.168.11.1 I have to create 1 new vSwitch and add 2 pNICS. An the new vSwitch I add 2 new VMkernel Ports and give the first an IP in the 192.168.10.x-Network and the second an IP in die 192.168.11.0 network.

Now I can rescan my software initiator and I should see my mapped targets.

Yes that should work. However, I did not realize you had two distinct subnets. You can do the above....

What you can do really depends on the number of pNIC you have? Do you have 4 spare pNICs or only 2 to put towards iSCSI? It also depends if you support VLANs or not. Could you let me know the pNIC count you can put to iSCSI and whether VLANs are supported?

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[Wittbert]

Hi!

in my case, I can spare max. 4 pNics for iSCSI. So it should be possible to built 2 vSwitches. To these vswitches I can add 2 pNics. Each vSwitch will be dedicated to one of the iSCSI-Networks.

VLAN-tagging is not possible in this case.

But as you mentioned in your last post the version with 1 new vSwitch and 2 additional VMkernel-Ports should be practicable...

Kind regards

Benjamin

[Texiwill]

Hello,

Since you have 4 pNICs I would go with 2 vSwitches with 2 pNICs each. It will perform better. You could go with 1 vSwitch with 4 pNICs, 2 assigned to one portgroup and 2 assigned to another portgroup and that should also work without major performance or other issues. With 4 pNICS you get quite a bit of capability going forward.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[Wittbert]

Hello Edward,

Alright! I think I'll use 4 pNics. After the project I'll post the result and my experiences...

THANKS!

Kind regards

Benjamin

[Texiwill]

Hello,

I would be interested in the results. Could I use this in examples in my next book as well?

Please remember to mark questions as helpful or correct.

Best regards,

Edward L. Haletky

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Author of the book 'VMWare ESX Server in the Enterprise: Planning and Securing Virtualization Servers', Copyright 2008 Pearson Education.

SearchVMware Blog: http://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/virtualization-pro/

Blue Gears Blogs - http://www.itworld.com/ and http://www.networkworld.com/community/haletky

As well as the Virtualization Wiki at http://www.astroarch.com/wiki/index.php/Virtualization

[Wittbert]

Hello Edward,

no problem! of course you can use this stuff in your next book!

If you need more information just contact me...

Kind regards

Benjamin