NOTE:
You must be using DSS V6 up14 or newer.
top ↑1. Hardware configuration
Example configuration of Multipath I/O on Open-E Data Storage Software V6 with VMware ESX 4.0 and VM-Windows 2008
Hardware Requirements:
To run the Multipath I/O on DSS V6 with VMware ESX 4.0 and Windows 2008 server running as virtual machine, a minimum of two network cards in both systems are required. In this example the DSS V6 system and ESX4 use three NICs.
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top ↑2. Configure the DSS V6
Data Storage Software (DSS)
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- In order to verify proper NICs settings, go to menu: "STATUS" tab, "network" and Interfaces.
- Two NICs to be used for MPIO has IP address: 192.168.2.220 , 192.168.3.220.
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- Next, please go to menu: "CONFIGURATION tab, "volume manager" and Vol. groups.
- Select vg00 volume group and in Volume manager, create two Block-IO or File-IO iSCSI volumes.
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- In menu: "CONFIGURATION" tab, "iSCSI target manager", Targets, please uncheck the Target Default Name and enter target name: iqn.2009-01:dss233.esx
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- Then the second one: iqn.2009-01:dss233.win2008
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- In menu "CONFIGURATION" tab, "iSCSI target manager", Targets, select first alias: target0 and click on the button.
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- Then select the second alias: target1 and click on the button.
top ↑3. Using ESX4 CLI
VMware ESX 4.0
[root@esx ~]# nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
PermitRootLogin yes
<Ctrl-o>
<Ctrl-x>
Enabling Jumbo Frames
[root@esx ~]# esxcfg-vswitch -m 9000 vSwitch0
Fixing "iSCSI MPIO throughtput limited to 1G" Setting the Round Robin params:
esxcli nmp roundrobin setconfig --type "iops" --iops 1 --device <device UID>
Listing devices:
esxcli nmp device list
Example commands for fixing "iSCSI MPIO throughtput limited to 1G" issue:
Setting the Round Robin params for the first device:
esxcli nmp roundrobin setconfig --type "iops" --iops 1 --device `esxcli nmp device list | grep ^eui | head -n 1 `
Setting the Round Robin params for the second device:
esxcli nmp roundrobin setconfig --type "iops" --iops 1 --device `esxcli nmp device list | grep ^eui |head -n 2 | tail -n 1`
Entering the settings into ESX start script:
[root@esx ~]# nano /etc/rc.local
# Fixing iSCSI MPIO throughtput limited to 1G.
esxcli nmp device list | grep ^eui |
while read device ; do
esxcli nmp roundrobin setconfig --type "iops" --iops 1 --device ${device}
done
<Ctrl-o>
<Ctrl-x>
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- Now, in order to fix: "iSCSI Round Robin limited to 1G" problem, please use following CLI command first:
esxcli nmp device list
Entering the settings into ESX start Using ESX4 CLI script:
# Fixing iSCSI MPIO throughtput limited to 1G.
esxcli nmp device list | grep ^eui |
while read device ; do
esxcli nmp roundrobin setconfig --type "iops" --iops 1 --device ${device}
done
<Ctrl-o>
<Ctrl-x>
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In order to check the settings, please run the list command:
esxcli nmp device list
- Now, the iops parameter is changed to 1
top ↑4. Configure MPIO on ESX 4.0
VMware ESX 4.0
Step 1
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Navigate in the ESX 4.0 host Configuration tab and select Networking. Click on "Add Networking..." , select Vmkernel and then on "Next >" button.
Step 2
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Please select one network adapter dedicated for the first Vmkernel. In this example: vmnic2
Step 3
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- Please enter the Network Label for the first Vmkernel: iSCSI_2 And click on the "Next >" button.
Step 4
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- Please enter the IP Address and Subnet Mask 192.168.3.7 255.255.255.0 And click on the "Next >" button.
Step 5
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Now, click on the "Finish" button. Next, in the Warning prompt about default gateway, click on "No"
Now repeat steps 1 to 5 for the second Vmkernel. This time use: vmnic3 for the network adapter, iSCSI_3 for the Network Label, 192.168.3.7 for IP Address and 255.255.255.0 for the Network Subnet.
Step 6
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Now, there are 2 vmkernel ports with dedicated network adapter.
"iSCSI_2" -- "vmnic2"
"iSCSI_3" -- "vmnic3"
Next, please select "Storage Adapters".
Step 7
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In "Storage Adapters" menu, please select "iSCSI Software Adapter" and click on "Properties" button.
Step 8
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In the iSCSI Initiator Properties, make sure the status is "Enabled". If not, then click on "Configure..." button and enable it. Next, click on the "Dynamic Discovery" tab.
Step 9
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In the "Dynamic Discovery" tab click the "Add..." button and enter the IP address of the iSCSI target for the first path. In this example: 192.168.2.220. Then click the "Add..." button and enter the IP address of the iSCSI Target for the second path: 192.168.3.220
Step 10
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Next, click on "Close" button.
Step 11
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Now, click on the "Yes" button in order to start adapter rescan.
Step 12
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There is an option to run one more adapter to rescan now click on the "Rescan" button.
Step 13
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Now, in the Storage Adapters menu, locate the first iSCSI LUN and right-mouse click on it. From pull-down menu select: "Manage Paths".
Step 14
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Next, in Path selection pull-down menu please select: "Round Robin".
Step 15
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Next, in the "Storage" menu, click on the "Add Storage" button and follow the next steps to add new LUN.
Step 16
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Once the virtual machine is installed and running the network chart will like this screenshot.
top ↑5. Multipath I/O on DSS V6 with ESX4
Data Storage Software (DSS)
Step 17
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- Verify the performance with "Iometer" running on.