vSphere Storage Appliance

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  • 1.  multipath iSCSI

    Posted Jul 22, 2010 07:38 PM

    I've read and re-read the config guide, and after a lot of googling, I can't seem to find the right answers.

    I have 2 esx hosts (3.5) in production that will be 4.1 in a matter of days. I have an HP EVA4400 as my back end storage.

    They are currently set up with 1 nic to my normal lan, and 1 nic to the iSCSI lan (a switch that the san is also plugged in to).

    I want to get to having 2 switches, with multiple connections to each host.

    It seems pretty simple (per the config guide) how to create the multiple vswitches and how to bind them all to the iSCSI.

    What I can't find is, do I need to enable LACP or disable STP (or anything else) on the switches?

    Secondarily, there is a 'Hardware Acceloration' column in the storage section of the viclient... mine say Unknown at the moment. Is this bad?

    My second iSCSI controller is on order for my EVA, so can I set this up now, without having to undo it all (vsphere configs, half of the cabling) later?



  • 2.  RE: multipath iSCSI

    Posted Jul 23, 2010 09:46 PM

    You probably know this, but I'll point out that iSCSI multipathing doesn't work on 3.5. I take it you're prepping for going to 4.1?

    What I can't find is, do I need to enable LACP or disable STP (or anything else) on the switches?

    No. The whole point of the iSCSI multipathing is that it takes advantage of storage multipath capability, not those built into Ethernet. So you shouldn't need anything different that what you currently use.

    Secondarily, there is a 'Hardware Acceloration' column in the storage section of the viclient... mine say Unknown

    at the moment. Is this bad?

    No. It should actually have a meaningful value on a 4.1 host, though.

    My second iSCSI controller is on order for my EVA, so can I set this up now, without having to undo it

    all (vsphere configs, half of the cabling) later?

    I'm not real familiar with the EVA. However, I don't see why it would be more configuration than adding discovery information for the second controller. Maybe someone with more experience on HP storage can answer that more completely.

    Andy