HP LeftHand SAN Solutions Support Document - Application Notes - Best Practices for Enabling Microsoft Windows with SAN/iQ®
Table Of Contents
- Application Notes Best Practices for Enabling Microsoft Windows with SANiQ
- Contents
- 1 Chapter: Enabling LeftHand SAN volumes with the Microsoft™ iSCSI 2.0x Initiator
- 2 Chapter: Finding the iSCSI Initiator Version
- 3 Chapter: LeftHand Networks and Microsoft™ MPIO Support
- 4 Chapter: Expanding a Windows Volume on the SAN
- 5 Chapter: Shrinking a Windows Volume on the SAN
- 6 Chapter: Setting the Windows Disk Partition Offset for Optimal Performance
- 7 Chapter: Ensure That Application Resources on iSCSI Volumes Come Online After a Server Reboot
- 8 Chapter: Microsoft™ iSCSI Initiator Session Timeout Setting
- 9 Chapter: Measuring Performance in a Windows Environment
- Overview
- Using Windows Performance Monitor to Measure SAN Performance
- Setting up Windows Performance Monitor
- Saving a Performance Monitor Log for Analysis
- Monitoring More Than One Server Simultaneously
- Scheduling Performance Data Collection
- Using IOMeter as a SAN Benchmark Tool
- Configuring the ISCSI Volume
- Configuring IOMeter
- Configuring IOMeter Access Specification for each Test
- Running the Test
- Interpreting Results
- Access Specifications to Run
- 10 Chapter: Frequently Asked Questions
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A: Yes. There are boot from SAN solutions available now that leverage the
Microsoft™ iSCSI initiator management capabilities. Emboot, Microsoft™
and LeftHand Networks have recently partnered to provide a boot from SAN
solution for iSCSI. Other vendors will be adding this support, as well. Also,
SAN/iQ 7.0 is now supported in Boot from SAN environments with QLogic
QLE4060 HBA solutions.
Q: Can you upgrade a server running the v1.06 initiator to the v2.0x initiator?
A: If the MS iSCSI Initiator package version 1.06 is installed the 2.0x installer
package will upgrade it. Note that if you uninstall the 2.0 initiator package
then both 1.06 and 2.0 versions of iSCSI initiator package are uninstalled. It
is not possible to rollback to 1.06.
Note: If using SAN/iQ versions prior to 6.6.x or any version of SAN/iQ
when not using the LeftHand DSM for MPIO, do not install the
Microsoft™ DSM during the iSCSI Initiator Setup, as it may adversely
affect volume and data availability. See section 3.
Q: Since the v2.0x initiator supports target portal failover should I still assign
a Virtual IP to the storage cluster?
A: LeftHand Networks recommends only using a Virtual IP Address on the
cluster for high availability fault-tolerant iSCSI discovery. There are known
issues with target portal failover and persistent volumes connected on
the SAN.
Q: If I am currently running AEBS volumes, what do I need to do to convert to
iSCSI volumes and use the new initiator?
A: Converting from AEBS to iSCSI will require some planned downtime as the
volume in question will be taken offline. Customers must disconnect all
volumes using AEBS and reconnect them with the v2.0x iSCSI initiator. Once
all the volumes have been reconfigured it is safe to uninstall the AEBS driver
from the Windows server. NOTE: AEBS is no longer supported with SAN/iQ
6.6 or higher, so all AEBS volumes must be converted to iSCSI prior to
upgrading to 6.6 or beyond.
Microsoft™ Standard DSM
Q: What is a “DSM” in the Microsoft™ MPIO framework?
A: The Microsoft™ MPIO framework is designed to work in conjunction with a
device specific module (DSM) written by the storage vendor. The Microsoft™
MPIO driver development kit includes generic DSM code for vendors to adapt
to their specific hardware device so that usage and performance of the device
can be improved.