In this post, we are going to explore on how easy to manage Starwind Storage by using VMM 2012 R2. The solution offered by VMM allowed us to use SMI-S Standard to perform automatic storage management.
Products :-
- Starwind iSCSI Storage version 8 Beta
- VMM 2012 R2 Preview Edition
- Physical Host running Windows Server 2012 R2 Preview
During testing, I have found the process of register Starwind SMI-S provider is much more easier compare to previous version with the help of GUI (execute command StarWindSMISConfigurator)
Step 1: Register StarWind SMI-S Storage
1st step is connect Starwind SMI-S storage. Make sure you have install the SMI-S Provider and configure using command StarWindSMISConfigurator. To connect use VMM Console, click on Fabric | Storage | Add Resources | Storage Devices.
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A Storage Devices Wizard pop up. Select “SAN and NAS devices discovered and managed by a SMI-S provider.
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Do select Protocol:- SMI-S CIMXML, enter IP Address of the storage and Run As account. (remember to enable authentication on starwind iSCSI by setting enableAuthentication=true) in cimserver_planned.conf , create a local account and enter following command “cimuser –a –u (username) –w (password) . Note:- use the local account that you have created)
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If the wizard successful to connect to provider, it will display all available disk array.
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Select pool to be assigned to VMM and assign Storage Classification
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Review the summary and click Finish to add the Array
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Step 2:- Create LUN
Next step is create a logical unit. Click Create Logical Unit
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Select storage pool, enter the LUN name and the size
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On the classfication, you will be able to view the storage pool and LUN that you have created.
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On Starwind Management Console
On Starwind iSCSI version 8, the GUI has been reworked to simplify user experience.
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Note:- use Starwind Mangement Console and check if LUN has created by VMM
Step 3: Allocate Storage Pool and LUN
VMM allow you to allocate storage pool and logical unit to different Hyper-V host. Let start to assign storage pool and LUN by click on the icon Allocate capacity on the toolbar
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Select your target Hyper-V host group
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- Select Allocate Storage Pool and add the pool
- Select Allocate Logical Unit and add the LUN
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Step 4: Connecting LUN to Hyper-V Host
Once storage pool and LUN has allocated, the next step is connecting LUN to Hyper-V Host.
Go to the Properties of Hyper-V Host, select Storage, Click Add and select “Add iSCSI Array”.
Note:- Make sure iSCSI services on the Hyper-V Host is started before proceed with next step.
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Then enter the iscsi session that you would like to create on the Hyper-V Host. Select entry as highlighted.
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Once you click Create, an iSCSI Target entry is created. To verify, open Hyper-V host iscsi initiator properties.
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From here you will notice that we are using VMM to create an iscsi connection.
As array has been added. the next step is add a disk to Hyper-V host
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Select LUN, format the disk and assign mount point. Example:- Z
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Now you have an additional storage presented to your Hyper-V Server. With SMI-S provider support in Starwind iSCSI SAN, you can perfom operation on VMM Console without using Starwind Management Console and hence simplify administration.