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D-Link DSN-4000 Manual

Dsn-series san arrays vmware esx 3.0.2 & 3.5
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D-Link System, Inc.™
xStack Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays
VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5
Rev. A
1
D-Link Systems, Inc.
Page
December 2, 2009

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Summary of Contents for D-Link DSN-4000

  • Page 1 D-Link System, Inc.™ xStack Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Rev. A D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 2 D-Link Systems, Inc.. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of D-Link Systems, Inc., and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
  • Page 3: Executive Summary

    The xStack Storage Series iSCSI storage arrays from D-Link provide cost-effective, easy-to- deploy shared storage solutions for applications like the VMware Infrastructure 3 server virtualization software. In this document the features and performance of the D-Link xStack Storage™ Series iSCSI storage arrays along with typical server systems are configured, instructions for use with VMware are given, and recommendations are made.
  • Page 4 Our virtualized storage pool eliminates the complexities associated with managing traditional RAID. Best of all, D-Link’s iSCSI storage arrays are affordable. Provision your storage from a single pool of available storage. There is no need to dedicate drive groups or entire arrays to RAID types or manage individual LUNS.
  • Page 5 VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 The D-Link DSN-1100-10 iSCSI SAN The D-Link DSN-2100-10 iSCSI SAN The D-Link DSN-3200-10 & 3400-10 iSCSI SAN The D-Link DSN-5110-10, & 5210-10 & 5410-10 iSCSI SAN Figure 1: The xStack Storage family D-Link Systems, Inc. Page...
  • Page 6 VMotion traffic), and one which is dedicated to virtual machine (VM) traffic. The two NICs carrying iSCSI traffic should be cabled to redundant Ethernet switches. An example for four NICs showing two 2-NIC teams is shown in Figure 3. D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 7 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 2: ESX Two NIC Configuration for iSCSI Figure 3: ESX Four NIC Configuration for iSCSI D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 8 LUN storage. Since the LUN is shared between all ESX server hosts connected to the iSCSI storage array the VMs may be live migrated from one host to another using VMotion. D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 9: Basic Setup

    For testing this basic setup, two Windows Server 2003 R2 VMs with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 running a medium size (1 GB) version of the D-Link DVD Store database test application were created with their 10GB virtual disks stored on the five-disk LUN on one array. The VMs were then cloned three times with the copies’...
  • Page 10 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 4: Basic Setup (typical servers, switch and xStack Storage DSN-3200-10 iSCSI SAN Solution) D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 11 With the introduction of VMware Virtual Infrastructure 3.0, several new storage connectivity options were introduced. This section covers the available storage options and reviews settings specific to each technology. To add a LUN as a datastore, follow these steps. Figure 5: Add Storage D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 12 Figure 6: Disk/LUN Formatting iSCSI/IP SAN Connectivity As a best practice, D-Link recommends separating iSCSI traffic from other IP network traffic by implementing a separate network or VLAN than the one used for VMotion or virtual machine traffic. To enable ISCSI connectivity, the ESX Server requires a special connection type, referred to as a VMkernel port, along with a service console port.
  • Page 13 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 7: Add Network Wizard | VMKernel for TCP/IP and iSCSI D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 14 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 8: VMKernel | Network Access D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 15 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 9: Firewall Properties | Enabling Software iSCSI Client via Port 3260 Figure 10: Initial iSCSI Software Adapter Configuration Screen D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 16 VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 Figure 11: iSCSI Initiator Properties Window D-Link offers iSCSI HBAs for use with iSCSI implementations. For larger deployments, scalability benefits may be realized in storage performance by implementing iSCSI HBAs. Note that this statement is not a requirement or a recommendation, but rather a consideration when designing dense storage solutions.
  • Page 17 This section lists the steps required to configure the software initiator on the VMware ESX 3.5 Server. Connect to the ESX server/VirtualCenter using VI Client, and follow the below steps: 1. Select Configuration->Security Profile on the ESX server. Figure 12: Security Profile Configuration Tab D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 18 3. Check Software iSCSI Client. 4. Select Configuration->Storage Adapters on the ESX server. 5. Select iSCSI software adapter and click on Properties. Figure 14: iSCSI software adapter under Storage Adapters on VI client D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 19 7. Under the general tab select Configure tab. Select the Enabled checkbox and click OK. Select Close. Figure 15: iSCSI software initiator properties window 8. Select iSCSI software adapter under storage. You should now see your iSCSI Target name listed. Figure 16: iSCSI software initiator properties window D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 20 9. Select Properties under storage adapters. Select Dynamic Discovery. Select Add. Provide the IP address of the xStack Storage iSCSI Data Port and click OK. There may be a slight delay before the process completes. Figure 17: iSCSI software initiator properties window 10. Click Close. D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 21 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. D-Link Systems, Inc. Page December 2, 2009...
  • Page 22: Performance Tuning

    Expertise may be required to solve user-specific deployments. Conclusions and Recommendations In conclusion, the D-Link xStack Storage series SAN is an excellent value for the money and offers high end features with a reasonable price tag. Combine it with VMWare ESX (or other virtual) server, and you have the major tools you need to build a state-of-the-art server environment without breaking your budget.
  • Page 23 Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5 The D-Link xStack Storage Series is a good entry level iSCSI solution and is ideal for customers who have file-intensive environments and are looking to deploy virtualization for a small subset of application data.