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Hogwilde1
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-11-2009 09:03 PM

Initial configuration

I'm new to ESX 3.5 and I am in the process of setting up a small setup for testing.

I'm looking for some input on the best way to setup a configuration or links to some good documentation.

I have the following to work with:

HP AIO1200r (2TB) 4 NICs for ISCSC target to store VM's

2 HP DL360 G5's each with 1 quad core processor, 12 GB RAM, 72 GB hard drives, 2 nics (should add nics later)

HP Procurve 1800 24 port switch uplinked to the network

What is the best way to setup the virtual switches for the ISCSI storage?

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3 Replies
ascari
Expert
Expert
‎03-12-2009 03:21 AM

Hi, if you have only two nic in this moment you can:

1) thinking at fault tolerance, configure one vSwitch with your two nics and create a SC port group and vmkernel for iscsi port group. Finally on same vSwitch create VM port group.

2) if you have not problem without fault tolerance, best way is: one vSwitch with SC and Iscsi port group binding on first nic, and a second vSwitch with VM port group.

You can add your future nics in a second moment and configure your vswitch with teaming benefit in second case.

You can also use chap authentication for iscsi.

Remember to enable iscsi protocol in your firewalled SC.

Bye Alberto

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Hogwilde1
Contributor
Contributor
‎03-12-2009 05:55 AM

Thanks Alberto,

I have not worked with VLAN's before but I was thinking I would team the nics on the AIO1200 into 2 teams.

1 team connect to VLAN 1 (production network 192.168..)

1 team connected to VLAN 2 (ISCSC 192.168.**.)

1 nic on each DL360 to each VLAN

Then add one nic to each VLAN on the DL360's when I purchase the additional nics.

Do you think the ISCSI connection would be fast enough in this configuration or do I need to have both

teams on the AIO1200 all for ISCSI?

Your thoughts are appreciated Smiley Happy

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ascari
Expert
Expert
‎03-12-2009 09:11 AM

Clear, depending for I/O on your iscsi storage, but i think that you can start with a single nic for vswitch and add the second nic's asap. If you want configure iscsi kernel port on second vswitch, you need to add a second SC on the same switch. The reason is that iscsi daemon working with SC.

Bye

A