Dell PowerVault NX1950 Quick reference guide

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Dell™ PowerVault™ NX1950 Systems
End-to-End Deployment Guide for iSCSI
Model EMU01

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Model EMU01
February 2008 Rev. A02

Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
PowerVault NX1950 Storage Solution Vs.
PowerVault NX1950 Cluster Solution . . . . . . . . . 8
iSCSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
iSNS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Active/Passive Vs. Active/Active iSCSI . . . . . . . 9
Before Setting Up the PowerVault NX1950
Storage Solution as an iSCSI Software Target . . . . . . 9
Best Practices for Setting Up the iSCSI Storage
Area Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2 Quick Install Steps for Initiator-Target
Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Method 1 (Discovery Using Target Portals) . . . . . . . 17
Pre-Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Configuring the Initiator (Host) . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Configuring iSCSI Connection With the
PowerVault NX1950 Storage Solution . . . . . . . 19
Creating a Virtual Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Configuring iSCSI Connection With the
PowerVault NX1950 Cluster Solution . . . . . . . . 21
Configuring the Initiator-Target Connection
From Initiator (Host) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

4Contents
Method 2 (Discovery Using iSNS Server) . . . . . . . . 24
Pre-Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Configuring Settings From the Initiator
Server/Client . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Setting Up the Target (PowerVault NX1950
Storage Solution and PowerVault NX1950
Cluster Solution) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3 Detailed End-to-End iSCSI Setup . . . . . 27
Setting Up Target IP Addresses in the PowerVault
NX1950 Storage Solution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Setting up Target IP Addresses in the PowerVault
NX1950 Cluster Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the 3.0 iSCSI Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Using the 3.1 iSCSI Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Configuring iSCSI Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Installing Microsoft iSCSI Initiator . . . . . . . . . 28
Configuring the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator . . . . . . 30
Configuring Microsoft iSCSI Software
Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Establishing Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Pre-Requisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Configuring iSCSI LUNs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Multiple Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
iSCSI Snapshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Disconnecting/Cleaning Up iSCSI Devices . . . . . . . 49
From Initiator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
From Target . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Contents 5
4 Configuring Secured iSCSI Connections
Using Challenge-Handshake
Authentication Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
CHAP vs IPSec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
One-Way CHAP Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
iSCSI Target settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
iSCSI Initiator Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Mutual CHAP Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Initiator Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Target Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Initiator Settings Continued . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
A Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Initiator Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
General Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Discovery Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Targets Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Advanced Configuration Details . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Enabling Multi-Path on the Initiator . . . . . . . . 61
Using the Advanced Option . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Verifying the Properties of the Targets
That are Connected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Load Balance Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Installing and Configuring iSNS server . . . . . . . . . 64
Configuring the iSNS Server . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

6Contents
Best Practices for Efficient Storage Management . . . 67
Storage Manager for SANs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
LUN Management for iSCSI Subsystems . . . . . . 67
Related Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Introduction 7
1
Introduction
This document provides information about configuring the
Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) Software Target on the
Dell™ PowerVault™ NX1950 storage system as a block storage device.
iSCSI is a useful and relatively inexpensive way to provide storage for new
applications or to provide a network pool of storage for existing applications.
Dell and its storage partners provide a variety of storage solutions that can be
implemented easily. This document allows administrators and IT managers to
explore iSCSI technology and see actual deployment examples.
iSCSI storage solutions and technology have a place in many IT environments.
The performance of iSCSI storage solutions is adequate for many applications
and iSCSI technology provides the benefits of storage area network technology
for a lower cost than Fibre Channel storage solutions.
The following topics are discussed in the document:
• Quick install steps—Provides instructions about creating an iSCSI Target
and establishing connection with a Microsoft
®
iSCSI Initiator
• End-to-End iSCSI configuration:
– Detailed instructions on installing and configuring the Microsoft
iSCSI Initiator Software and the Microsoft iSCSI software Target
– Configuring the Initiator-Target connections
• Setting up secure iSCSI connections
• Microsoft iSNS Server and other advanced configuration details
NOTE: In this document the iSCSI Initiator is referred to as the Initiator and the
iSCSI Software Target is referred to as the Target.

8Introduction
Terms and Definitions
The following sections describe the terms used in this document.
PowerVault NX1950 Storage Solution Vs. PowerVault NX1950 Cluster
Solution
Throughout this document, the term PowerVault NX1950 storage system
refers to the individual storage unit. The term PowerVault NX1950 storage
solution refers to the configuration of the storage unit along with the storage
arrays. The term PowerVault NX1950 cluster solution refers to the
configuration of more than one storage units and the storage arrays.
iSCSI
iSCSI is a standard that carries SCSI commands through Transfer Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)—a protocol that enables transport of
block data over IP networks, without the need for a specialized network
infrastructure, such as Fibre Channel.
In the context of system storage, iSCSI enables any client/machine (Initiator)
on an IP network to contact a remote dedicated server (Target) and perform
block I/O on it just as it would perform on a local hard disk.
iSNS
Microsoft iSCSI Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) is a service that
processes iSNS registrations, deregistrations, and queries through TCP/IP from
iSNS clients and also maintains a database of these registrations (similar to a
DNS server). A common use for Microsoft iSNS Server is to allow iSNS clients
(Initiators and Targets) to register themselves and to query for other registered
iSNS clients. Registrations and queries are transacted remotely over TCP/IP.
You can download and install the iSNS server from the Microsoft Support
website at support.microsoft.com on a separate server that does not have
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator or Target installed.
NOTE: For details about installing and configuring the iSNS server, see "Appendix"
on page 55.

Introduction 9
Active/Passive Vs. Active/Active iSCSI
In a PowerVault NX1950 cluster solution that is configured with a 3.0 iSCSI
Target, only one node that owns the Cluster Resources can create and own
the iSCSI Targets. The iSCSI Target service is operative in only one node at a
time (Active/Passive configuration).
In a PowerVault NX1950 cluster solution that is configured with 3.1 iSCSI
Target, you can create iSCSI highly-available (HA) instances on all nodes of a
cluster and thereby facilitate Active/Active iSCSI Target access. Al nodes of
the cluster can use the iSCSI Target service at the same time.
NOTE: The 3.0 iSCSI Target software enables you to configure an Active/Passive
cluster solution. The 3.1 iSCSI Target software enables you to configure an
Active/Active cluster configuration. You can download the 3.1 iSCSI Target software
from the Dell Support website at support.dell.com.
Before Setting Up the PowerVault NX1950
Storage Solution as an iSCSI Software Target
Before you set up your PowerVault NX1950 storage solution as an iSCSI
Target, read this section completely. You must consider features like Ethernet
settings, security settings for iSCSI Targets, and specific settings for iSCSI
Targets in a PowerVault NX1950 cluster solution.
Best Practices for Setting Up the iSCSI Storage Area Network
Table 1-1 and Table 1-2 provide information about configuring NICs (on
Target) in different models of iSCSI networks.
• You can configure redundant paths on Initiator (hosts). Microsoft
Multipath I/O (MPIO) is supported with Initiator version of 2.06 or later.
• You require two dedicated iSCSI NICs on the target and initiator for
efficient MPIO connection in the PowerVault NX1950 storage solution or
PowerVault NX1950 cluster solution.
• It is good practice to have at least four NICs in a cluster configuration and
at least three NICs in a stand-alone configuration (two NICs dedicated for
iSCSI in different subnets).
• iSCSI NIC teaming is not supported.

10 Introduction
• You can configure Initiators with one or two dedicated NICs for iSCSI,
based on your requirement.
NOTE: Table 1-1 and Table 1-2 provide information about the iSCSI Target NIC
configuration. The optimal connection information is also provided as options.
You can configure the iSCSI NICs according to your network requirements.
Table 1-1. Using a Single PowerVault NX1950 Storage Solution as a Target
Number of NICs Details Refer to Figure
4 NIC-1 and NIC-2 - Teamed NICs for public
network
NIC-3 - iSCSI dedicated traffic (subnet A)
NIC-4 - iSCSI dedicated traffic (subnet B)
Figure 1-1
3- Option 1
NOTE: Use this
configuration if iSCSI
traffic has more
priority than NFS
traffic.
NIC-1 - NIC for public Network
NIC-2 - iSCSI dedicated traffic (subnet A)
NIC-3 - iSCSI dedicated traffic (subnet B)
Figure 1-2
3- Option 2
NOTE: Use this
configuration if NFS
has more priority than
iSCSI traffic.
NIC-1 and NIC-2 - Teamed NICs for public
network
NIC-3 - iSCSI dedicated traffic
Figure 1-3