VMware Cloud Community
Noiden
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Reach datastore on another host?

Hi,

I got two host added to a vCenter, as standalone hosts, no cluster.

Host 1

- Datastore 1

Host 2

- Datastore 2

I wan't to have my ISO-library on Datastore 1 and reach thoose files from Host 2... But I can't find Datastore 1 when I should mount an ISO on a VM on Host 2.

I tried to create a content library in vCenter, but that didn't help.

What to do?

Thanks.

1 Solution

Accepted Solutions
pwilk
Hot Shot
Hot Shot
Jump to solution

Ok, I'll put it this way in that case:

1. Make sure the NAS is reachable through network from both hosts (e.g. ping it)

2. Check if you NAS supports multiple simultaneous connections to a iSCSI share

3. Discover the share on the second host and attach it

This should work for you without any issues.

Cheers,

Paul Wilk

Cheers, Paul Wilk

View solution in original post

8 Replies
daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

This isn't going to work with local datastores. You need shared storage between the two hosts.

pwilk
Hot Shot
Hot Shot
Jump to solution

The only way around would be to create a virtual SAN using StarWind vSAN software and two Windows Server VMs however it is quite pricey resolution.

This way you'd be simulating a SAN storage between the two hosts by constantly copying the content of one datastore to another. It might be useful for you if you want to create a shared repository for .iso files (say - 50GB in size) for the ESXi hosts, but please don't expect it to be super reliable or fast.

Cheers,

Paul Wilk

Cheers, Paul Wilk
Noiden
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Cool.. Thanks for the information.

The datastore I wan't to share is actually an NAS with iSCSI, but it's directly connected to Host 1 at the moment.

But if I connect it to the network instead I can connect both hosts to the iSCSI then? Or do I connect the vCenter to the iSCSI?

Thanks.

Reply
0 Kudos
daphnissov
Immortal
Immortal
Jump to solution

vCenter does not connect to to shared storage, only the managed ESXi hosts do. So you need to mount that datastore to the second host so it's visible to both simultaneously.

pwilk
Hot Shot
Hot Shot
Jump to solution

Ok, I'll put it this way in that case:

1. Make sure the NAS is reachable through network from both hosts (e.g. ping it)

2. Check if you NAS supports multiple simultaneous connections to a iSCSI share

3. Discover the share on the second host and attach it

This should work for you without any issues.

Cheers,

Paul Wilk

Cheers, Paul Wilk
Noiden
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Thanks 😃

Reply
0 Kudos
adgate
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

Connecting the NAS to both hosts will allow both access the datastore simultaneously. However, the idea to use StarWind Virtual SAN seems to be more efficient. From what I see, it brings shared HA storage for the cluster. So, the data is actually mirrored between ESXi nodes. This would allow vMotion and Failover.

Wolken
Enthusiast
Enthusiast
Jump to solution

I did some overview of StarWind vSAN solution and found their free version and the most interesting - StarWind Virtual Storage Appliance based on Linux, which looks like absolutely free.

Going to check it in my lab and looking for production use.

Reply
0 Kudos