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Starwind iSCSI SAN – configuration RAID 1 Mirror and connection to ESX 4

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Published: 14.10.09 - 00:59 CET  |  7 Comments  |  1,297 views views  | 

Configuration RAID 1 Mirror and connection to VMware ESX 4.

STARWINDI wanted to test Starwind Entreprise Server – powerful iSCSI SAN software installing on your existing W2000/2003 Servers, which provides you with the possibility to create RAID1 Mirror. So whether you want to test this software this guide might help with the setup. You might also wan to try or use the Free version of Starwind iSCSI SAN which gives you 2 Terra of storage.

Compatible systems: W2k, W2003, W2008, Win XP, Vista. You don’t need a super server for it. Even a Pentium 4 machine with 512Mb of RAM can do the job. All the RAM available will be used of I/O caching.

FYI – You don’t need to buy 2 licenses for doing a 2 Nodes Mirror or remote replication….. One license is enough. See the PDF document here.

So in my tests I Installed a Starwind software inside of a 2 VMs running 2003 Server under  VMware Workstation. I did not have 2 physical systems with Windows in my lab available so I used 2 Virtual Machines ( 2003 Servers) which had been running on my desktop computer under Windows Seven. So I created a RAID 1 mirror between these Two VMs. VM1 IP: 192.168.0.30 and VM2 IP: 192.168.0.31

On the schema there should be my Openfiler  iSCSI NAS too but I took it out to make it simple.

This is my setup:

Starwind Raid 1 mirror iSCSI connection to VMware ESX 4

To make the things works you must install Starwind iSCSI SAN on the “Slave VM” and Starwind iSCSI SAN and Starport Driver on the “Master VM”.

I’ll post a video link at the end of the article for detailed how-to Step-by-Step installation.

Once the Mirror created on the “Master VM” you present it to your ESX server as a new LUN. You configure your ESX  4 server to seek the Mirror as a new iSCSI target.

You must add a new iSCSI target. Open your Virtual Infrastructure client and Go to: Configuration > Storage Adapters > Properties

Just watch the video at the end of the article to see those steps.

Software mirror (RAID1) and iSCSI replication enable volume/site failover and recovery for uninterrupted storage operations and 24/7 business continuity. Mirroring protects data and keeps applications operational in the event of disk failure.

Data sheet for connection ESX/ESXi.

Starwind Enterprise Server does much more then just a RAID 1 mirror. Here are the functionalities of the Enterprise version:

Here is the detailed video of all the necessary steps to make it work. Enjoy… If you liked this article you might want to subscribe via your Google Reader for free to my RSS Feed.

Click the Image below to see the video in new browser window.

VIDEO - Starwind iSCSI SAN Raid 1 Mirror and Connection to VMware ESX 4

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7 Comments

  1. bj28
    Posted on October 14, 2009 at 3:45 pm

    Hi Vladan,

    thanks for the great informations in your blog.

    I like “software-based” SAN's (Datacore/Starwind) very much, but there is everytime one big problem: The write-cache

    Storage vendors normaly use Mirrored Write-Cache/Dual-Controller or you can use BBWC (with very tiny RAM) to protect the write cache.

    But the “software-based” SAN's use the server RAM for write-cache.

    This creates high risk for potential/guaranteed data loss (faulty RAM or powerloss (can occurs even with a UPS))

    Datacore not only mirrors the data volumes. Even the write-cache is mirrored when you have 2 servers (Synchronous Mirroring). So you should not activate write-caching in a Datacore-Environment if you have a single server (because it's not protected).

    I can't find any informations how Starwind deals with write-cache protection (or supports write-cache mirroring).

    I think everyone should consider this, or live with the (huge) write-performance penalty when not enabling write-cache.

    Bj
    Greetings from Germany

    Reply
  2. NiTRo
    Posted on October 14, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    Bj,
    you right but you could also use servers with “protected” memory (it's like RAID 1 for RAM if you don't know), you got twice less memory but no SPOF :)

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  3. Vladan
    Posted on October 14, 2009 at 11:05 pm

    Thanks bj28 for pointing this out. Maybee someone from Starwind could respond to this? I'm sure the post was seen…. -:)

    Nitro: That's right, with memory prices down this might be an option too….

    Thanks
    Vladan

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  4. bj28
    Posted on October 15, 2009 at 4:23 pm

    @NiTRo

    Thanks for pointing this out. With, for example, a DL380 G6 you can use Mirrored memory mode or even better Lockstep Mode to minimize the risk and build a very reliable/powerful software-based SAN.

    But you've still the SPOF/risk. If the hole server goes down(OS failure, HW failure, etc.) the actual write-cache content isn't saved (or synced to the second node(Starwind?)) and therefore there is the risk of potential data loss.

    Reply
  5. ConstantinV
    Posted on October 16, 2009 at 4:50 am

    Hello! For now I can say, that in StarWind 5.1 we will implement mirrored cache.

    Reply
  6. girtscipulus
    Posted on October 19, 2009 at 4:23 am

    Great post, Vladan!
    Constantin, as I heard in version 5 there will be active-active HA? If yes, then the question about Business Continuity for SMB will be solved.

    Reply
  7. Vladan
    Posted on October 19, 2009 at 8:40 am

    Thanks girtscipulus,

    Me too I'm waiting for the version 5 as it should also simplify the installation process with including the Starport Driver in it…!!!

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