How to make shared datastore?

[IvarHome]

Hi, RecoverPoint want shared datastore.

[GayathriS]

Hi

What is question/issue can you elaborate more ?

regards

Gayathri

[IvarHome]

Issue is that Dell EMC Recoverpoint makes pre-test and denies to install, shows: "Could not find a shared datastore on the ESXi cluster - vRPA Cluster." in repository candidate search.

[GayathriS]

I am not an expert with recover point however while reaserching got below blog which can help you please take a look:

https://www.dell.com/community/RecoverPoint/Issues-with-Recoverpoint-for-VM-s-deployment/td-p/705023...

regards

Gayathri

[IRIX201110141]

If you need a "shared" Datastore to bypass the Installer just use

1. Small Linux VM which offer a little NFS Share

2. Windows Laptop/PC/VM with Starwind iSCSI

3. One of your dozen QNAPs

Btw. i never heard that Recovery Point comes as a free or community version.  Veeam comes with a new "freebie" as VeeamB&R standard for up to 10 VMs.

Regards,

Joerg

[IvarHome]

I have already Qnap, iSCSI targets and ESXI iSCSI initiators. The strange fact is that VMWare shows instructions how to make shared datastore. You just mount datastore and there must be some additional option to add more hosts or something. But I nevers seen this option. I had all versions of vCenter to the 6.7 appliance, but never seen option to add more hosts to datastores. I have Qnap iSCSI target initiated by both ESXI-s, simultaneously active, but still I can make datastore only to one ESXi at a time............Yes EMC RecoverPoint is now free. I successfully once installed it with only one ESXi in cluster, but now I try to install it with two ESXi-s. I have already Veeam too, but Veeam Replication is not synchronous or asynchronous replication at all. We talk about low-level block based replication without sheduling and without snapshots.

[cyberpaul]

Hi, it is probably neccessary to enable multiple simlutaneous iSCSI connections on the QNAP. I'm not very familiar with QNAP but typically this setting is performed on per-LUN bases and you have to say "Yes, I'm using clustered filesystem like VMFS" and "Yes, I want to allow simultaneous iSCSI connections from multiple hosts to this LUN".

Once this is done, when you attach the iSCSI volume to the second host, the host will detect existing VMFS automatically and the datastore should appear in its inventory.

With some NASes you have to create a host group first in order to enable simultaneous iSCSI connections.

[IvarHome]

In Qnap there was already set "cluster option", and I have also no problem to make the LUN access from both ESXi initiators. So, both ESXi iSCSI initiators are active to the same LUN. But datastore I anyway cant make visible in both ESXi-s. When I make datastore in one ESXi, then other ESXi dont show any datastore and I cant make it available on second ESXi. But I experimented with NFS. And WOW, both ESXi see the same NFS datasore, no problems. iSCSI I experimented with Qnap and NFS shared datastore I made with Windows2016 server NFS server role. Runs in dedicated VLAN and subnet with dedicated vmkernel adapters and in Windows2016 with second adapter.