iSCSI over two network card?

[biokovo]

Hi.

Is it ok to create iSCSI connection over two different network card?

I have a few servers with 2 4-port 1Gb ethernet card, and I mean to use one port of each card to get redundancy.

Is there any problem that can be happen using two different network card in active mode

Another thing I am worried about is iSCSI VLAN. Does it affect performance to put iSCSI traffic in VLAN?

Thanks on any advice.

Ante

[a_p_]

Is there any problem that can be happen using two different network card in active mode

No, it's actually a good practice to use different physical network adapters for redundancy purposes. I always do this if possible.

Another thing I am worried about is iSCSI VLAN. Does it affect performance to put iSCSI traffic in VLAN?

It's a best practice to have iSCSI in a separate (non-routed) VLAN/IP subnet.This minimizes broadcast traffic in the iSCSI subnet, and also increases data security.

André

[biokovo]

Thanks Andre.

Is there some important parameters I should configure on both network card to avoid some problems?

I know routing is not good and iSCSI traffic should be separated, but is it better to have one switch only for iSCSI, or creating VLAN on the same switch is not a big problem?

[a_p_]

Although it's good to have separate switches for iSCSI, it actually depends on the size of your environment (I/O requirements) and the current switches you have in place (port buffer size, Jumbo Frame support, flow control capable, ...), whether it is ok to simply use a dedicated VLAN on them. I've configured both in my customer's environments, and didn't have any issues with VMware's software iSCSI so far.

Assuming you are talking about software iSCSI, there's nothing special you need to configure on the network adapters themselves. It's basically configuring the IP addresses on the VMkernel port groups, setting the failover policies, and - if you are going to use Jumbo Frams - setting the MTU on the vSwitch as well as on the port groups.

André

[biokovo]

One more question, please.

Can I connect hosts directly to storage controllers ports?

I know that redundancy is not like with switch, but is there any other reason? I have only two hosts and will use 4 ports for iSCSI (two on each host), and storage is with two controllers and two ports per controller.

Ante

[a_p_]

This may basically work. However, make sure you check with the storage vendor to ensure the configuration is supported. Major storage vendor offer administration and/or best practice guides to do this.

André

[biokovo · Accepted solution]

Thanks Andre.

Regards,

Ante