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CX4-120 using iscsi ports - can i setup SHARED STORAGE between 2 esx vsphere 4.1 hosts
hello
using the cx4-120 iscsi ports,
1. can i configure a shared storage using navishere to create a storage group and include on it my 2 esx server, with 1 lun of 500 gigas.
in order to use vmotion between host using vcenter.?
2. can configured a shared storage to share a lun between 2 windows 2003 phisical hosts, with microsoft cluster configured?
thank you.
mc.
christopher_ime
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November 7th, 2010 22:00
Maynor,
No, you do not need FLARE 30. Shared storage is a common use case and this has been long supported in Navisphere Manager (FLARE 29 and lower) and Unisphere (FLARE 30). Just configure your storage group(s) in either of the scenarios listed above.
christopher_ime
2K Posts
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November 7th, 2010 18:00
Maynor,
Absolutely and the two examples you mention: ESX cluster (for vMotion, DRS, HA, etc) and MS Clusters are two very common use cases. iSCSI or FC connectivity the method is the same. The Navisphere Manager (or Unisphere if running FLARE 30) interface lets you present a LUN to more than one host (shared storage) as follows:
First let me mention the following relevant rules in Navisphere Manager/Unisphere:
1) You can add the same LUN to more than one Storage Group
2) You can not add a host to more than one Storage Group
Keeping the rules above in mind, there are two strategies to accomplish this:
One Storage Group:
===============
1) Create one Storage Group call it for example: ESX_Cluster
2) Add all of your registered ESX servers to the Storage Group ("Add Host")
3) Add all of your LUNs that need to be shared to this Storage Group
Multiple Storage Groups:
=================
1) Create a unique Storage Group for each registered host (or group hosts that have the same requirements)
2) Since you can add a LUN to more than one storage group as mentioned above, to each storage group add the shared LUN
Why might you opt for the "Multiple Storage Groups" scenario? This has more flexibility allowing you to present the same subset of shared storage to a host in the cluster, but you can also present a unique LUN only visible to that host for whatever reason.
However, if you never need to present a unique LUN to only one (or a subset) of the hosts in the cluster, then for manageability sake creating the one storage group is the preferred method.
jelucho
295 Posts
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November 7th, 2010 21:00
ok thanks you
1. this means that i am unable to use these feature, if i dont have flare 30.
2. and, what is unsupported feature using iscsi between two same hardware esx 4.1 host.
how about RDM feature used by 2 VM saved on diferent Esx hosts,
any idea
jelucho
295 Posts
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November 7th, 2010 22:00
thanks Christopher
the thing was that i have read a lot of articles saying that, you can not use shared storage with iscsi, only with NFS if you
are going to install a vmware insfrastructure model.
BUT !!!! . here the diference is that i am using an EMC2 storage box, and it can jump that barrier.
thanks for clarifying this.
one thing else, i am going to use conventional, 1 GB nics. for this connections. any problem with this.
mc
christopher_ime
2K Posts
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November 7th, 2010 23:00
Yes, we support shared storage to an ESX 4.1 cluster via iSCSI on a CX4. As for suggesting if 1Gbps interfaces (versus 10Gbps Ethernet or FC 4/8Gbps interfaces) on a CX4-120 are appropriate for your environment, it of course depends. Let me just point you to the following documentation that suggests that many are using it (successfully):
From PowerLink:
1) EMC Host Connectivity Guide for VMWare ESX Server
Home > Support > Technical Documentation and Advisories > Host Connectivity/HBAs > Installation/Configuration
http://powerlink.emc.com/km/live1/en_US/Offering_Technical/Technical_Documentation/300-002-304.pdf
2) White Paper: EMC CLARiiON Integration with VMware ESX—Applied Technology
Home > Support > Technical Documentation and Advisories > Hardware/Platforms Documentation > CLARiiON CX4 Series Systems > CLARiiON CX4-120 > White Papers
http://powerlink.emc.com/km/live1/en_US/Offering_Technical/White_Paper/H1416-emc-clariion-intgtn-vmware-wp.pd
Finally, a great post on optimizing your iSCSI configuration:
3) A “Multivendor Post” to help our mutual iSCSI customers using VMware
http://virtualgeek.typepad.com/virtual_geek/2009/01/a-multivendor-post-to-help-our-mutual-iscsi-customers-using-vmware.html
I hope this helps.