D-Link DSN-4000 Manual page 6

xStack Storage DSN-Series SAN Arrays
VMware ESX 3.0.2 & 3.5
VMware and iSCSI
This section will describe the steps needed to attach iSCSI storage to a VMware ESX server host.
Once attached and formatted, the storage can be provided to guest virtual machines as virtual
disks that appear as local storage to the guest. An alternate method, in which the guest is attached
directly to iSCSI storage through a software iSCSI initiator supplied with the guest's operating
system, is not covered in this document.
ESX 3.0.2 Configuration
Connectivity from a host running VMware's ESX server to iSCSI storage is provided through a
built-in software initiator (support for hardware iSCSI initiators will be provided at a later date).
The physical network interface cards (NICs) that connect to the Ethernet network in which the
iSCSI storage is located must be included within a VMware virtual switch that also includes the
ESX Service Console and the VMkernel (which supports VMotion traffic as well as iSCSI
packets). For a two-NIC system it is recommended that the NICs be teamed as shown in Figure 2.
This provides NIC/cable failover and iSCSI traffic load balancing across the NICs to multiple
iSCSI targets with different IP addresses.
Since the VM and iSCSI traffic are mixed in this configuration, CHAP authentication and IPSEC
encryption should be employed in the iSCSI connection. (Alternately, in a two- NIC
configuration the VM and iSCSI traffic can be each placed on their own non-teamed NICs for
total isolation). The network configuration is created in Virtual Center (VC) using the Virtual
Infrastructure Client. The ESX server to be connected is highlighted, then the Configuration tab is
selected, then Networking.
If there are more than two NICs available in the ESX server host, it is recommended that two
virtual switches be created, one which hosts the Service Console and VMkernel (including iSCSI
and 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.
6
D-Link Systems, Inc. Page
December 2, 2009