Dell PowerVault NX1950 User manual

Dell PowerVault NX1950

configuration guide for

VMware® ESX Server software

January 2008

Dell | Global Solutions Engineering

www.dell.com/vmware

Dell Inc. 1

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.....................................................................................................3

2. Architectural Setup.........................................................................................4

3. iSCSI Connectivity Support............................................................................4

4. PowerVault NX1950 storage setup and configuration....................................5

5. iSCSI Software Initiator Configuration on ESX Server ...................................6

6. iSCSI Target and Virtual Disk Configuration on NX1950................................8

6.1 Create iSCSI Target ................................................................................8

6.2 Create Virtual Disks.................................................................................9

7. Configure iSCSI storage on ESX Server......................................................10

8. References...................................................................................................10

Dell Inc. 2

1. Introduction

Dell™ PowerVault™ NX1950 is a unified network storage solution that simultaneously stores

both file and application data while supporting a wide range of operating environments and

communication protocols, including the iSCSI standard. The PowerVault NX1950 can be

deployed as an integrated solution (Basic and High Availability configuration) packaged with a

Dell PowerVault MD3000 Storage Array or as a Gateway connecting directly to existing Dell|EMC

SAN.

This document provides instructions to setup an NX1950 Integrated Basic Configuration to

provide iSCSI storage for usage with VMware ESX Server software. The PowerVault NX1950

integrated basic storage solution consists of single-node configuration running Microsoft®

Windows® Unified Data Storage Server (WUDSS) 2003 operating system and is pre-configured

from Dell with a PowerVault MD3000 Storage Array. Note that Dell supports only NX1950

integrated basic configuration with VMware ESX Server software storage using only the iSCSI

protocol and not NFS. Dell does not support NX1950 integrated High Availability configuration

with VMware ESX Server running on target hosts.

The Microsoft iSCSI software target functionality included as part of WUDSS uses the Windows

TCP/IP network stack on NX1950 to provide block storage services to ESX server. The Microsoft

iSCSI software target creates storage devices as iSCSI virtual disks, which are files in the virtual

hard disk (VHD) format. These iSCSI virtual disks are assigned to specific iSCSI targets. Only the

iSCSI virtual disks assigned to an iSCSI target (exported to the iSCSI target) are available to the

iSCSI initiator running as part of VMware ESX server or inside a virtual machine. This storage

can be used by ESX server to create VMFS datastores or used directly by virtual machines as

block storage. This document covers NX1950 deployment instructions using the iSCSI initiator

within VMware ESX Server and not a virtual machine. For instructions on using an iSCSI initiator

inside a virtual machine, refer to your specific initiator and guest operating system documentation.

Dell Inc. 3

2. ArchitecturalSetup

The following figure illustrates a typical setup for using NX1950 in an ESX Server farm. As a best

practice, Dell recommends using dedicated Gigabit Ethernet network to handle iSCSI storage

traffic.

Figure 1: Typical NX1950 storage solution architecture for VMware ESX Server

3. iSCSIConnectivitySupport

The following table lists the VMware ESX Server software and iSCSI initiators supported with

PowerVault NX1950.

Operating System Host Bus Adapter

VMware ESX Server 3.0.1 iSCSI software initiator with ESX Server

VMware ESX Server 3.0.2 iSCSI software initiator with ESX Server

Dell Inc. 4

4. PowerVaultNX1950storagesetupandconfiguration

For information on storage configuration on NX1950, refer to NX1950 Deployment Guide at

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/stor-sys/pvnx1950/en/dg/dg_en.pdf

Select interface for storage requests: On the NX1950 server, open the Microsoft iSCSI

Software Target console and select the appropriate network to service storage requests.

1. Open the Microsoft iSCSI Target Software from Start->Administrative Tools->Microsoft

iSCSI Software Target

2. Right click on Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and click on Properties

3. Select the appropriate network interface to service storage requests.

Figure 2: Network selection to serve storage requests

Note: Teaming of network ports that serve iSCSI storage requests on the NX1950 target system

is not supported.

Dell Inc. 5

5. iSCSISoftwareInitiatorConfigurationonESXServer

This section lists the steps required to configure the software initiator on the VMware ESX Server.

Connect to the ESX server/VirtualCenter using VI Client, and follow the below steps:

1. Select Configuration->Storage Adapters on the ESX server

2. Select iSCSI software adapter and click on Properties. The iSCSI initiator Properties

window appears.

Figure 3: iSCSI software initiator tab on VI client

3. Under the general tab select Configure tab. Select the Enabled checkbox and click OK.

Select Close.

Figure 4: iSCSI software initiator properties window

4. Select iSCSI software adapter under storage. You should now see your iSCSI Target

name listed.

Dell Inc. 6

Figure 5: iSCSI software initiator after initial configuration

5. Select Properties under storage adapters. Select Dynamic Discovery. Select Add.

Provide the IP address of the bridge configured on NX1950 and click OK.

Figure 6: iSCSI software initiator properties window

6. Click Close.

Dell Inc. 7

6. iSCSITargetandVirtualDiskConfigurationonNX1950

6.1 CreateiSCSITarget

Follow the below steps to create an iSCSI target on the NX1950. Open the Microsoft iSCSI

Target Software from Start->Administrative Tools->Microsoft iSCSI Software Target

1. Right click iSCSI Targets and select Create iSCSI target. Welcome to create iSCSI

Target screen appears. Select Next.

2. Create iSCSI Target: Provide a name and description for the iSCSI and select Next.

Figure 7: iSCSI target creation wizard

3. Identify iSCSI Initiator: Select the iSCSI initiator IQN name from the ESX Server host.

Select Next to continue.

Figure 8: iSCSI initiator selection wizard

4. Select Finish to complete the target creation.

Dell Inc. 8

6.2 CreateVirtualDisks

1. Right click newly created iSCSI target and select Create Virtual Disk for iSCSI Target.

The create virtual disk wizard appears next.

2. Create virtual disk: The virtual disk is created as a file residing on a formatted storage

volume (preferably formatted as an NTFS file system volume). On the create virtual disk

wizard, browse to this partition and specify a name for the virtual disk. Select Next.

Figure 9: Create virtual disk wizard

3. Specify the size (in MB) of the virtual disk and click Next.

4. Provide a description for the virtual disk and click Next.

5. Specify the iSCSI target that you want to attach the virtual disk to. Select the newly

created iSCSI target name and click Add. Click OK and then click Next and then Finish to

complete creation of virtual disk.

6. The iSCSI target should now appear under iSCSI targets and the virtual disk should show

with status as idle.

Dell Inc. 9

7. ConfigureiSCSIstorageonESXServer

Connect to the ESX Server/VirtualCenter using VI Client and follow the steps below.

1. Go to the configuration tab and select Storage Adapters. Select the iSCSI Software

Adapter and click Rescan. The newly created iSCSI target and LUN should be visible

from the ESX server. The status of the virtual disk as shown on NX1950 Microsoft iSCSI

target software should now show as “In Use.”

Figure 10: iSCSI target and LUNs as visible through VI client

2. Go to the configuration tab and select Storage. Click on Add Storage, select Disk/Lun

and click Next. Select the newly added storage and click Next.

3. Select the newly created iSCSI LUN and click Next.

4. Review the disk layout and click Next.

5. Provide a name for the VMFS datastore and click Next.

6. Select the appropriate block size and capacity for the VMFS datastore and click Next.

7. Review the disk layout and click Finish to create the VMFS datastore. The new datastore

is now ready to be used for storing virtual machine images.

8. References

1. Dell PowerVault NX1950 support documents:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/software/PVNX1950/

2. Drivers download page for NX1950:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WX64&osl=EN&catid=-

1&impid=-1&servicetag=&SystemID=PWV_NX_1950&hidos=WNET&hidlang=en

3. VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3 Documentation:

http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pubs.html

4. Dell|VMware alliance home page: www.dell.com/vmware

5. Microsoft Widows Unified Storage Data Storage Server:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/storage/wudss.mspx

Dell Inc. 10

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