Thursday, August 20, 2009

The first device usually created is the Image File device. You specify the directory in which you want to create the new virtual disk image file as well as the name for the image file. You can create the target directory manually ahead of time or the software can do it at the time the file is created. You also specify the initial size of the virtual disk and there are options for access security as well as encryption presented later in the image creation process as seen in the next screen shot.

Joseph Ortiz, Senior Analyst

Setting up Snapshots and CDP operations is similar to creating the disk image file. You click on the Add Device icon in the top menu bar and select Snapshot and CDP device from the dialog box. You then specify the appropriate location and file names along with various parameters such as auto creation and the time interval between automatic snapshots as seen in the next screenshot.

The final step is to assign the device name that will be exported over iSCSI to client systems. This is the device name that client systems will see when they scan the server system so the names should be descriptive of the device to make it easier for clients to select the correct device. This is shown in the next screenshot.

There are a wide variety of other options and settings available for the device definitions that control things like functionality and security. It is also possible to increase the size of a virtual disk on the fly if needed as seen in the next screen shot. Simply right click on the device icon in the management console and select Extend Size from the pop-up menu.

Summary

It is evident that the StarWind software offers a very robust and comprehensive set of SAN features and functions at a price of $2,995.95 and that does not require any additional specialized, expensive hardware. This should be affordable for many SMBs. The installation and configuration operations are fairly straightforward and it is possible to have a fully functional IP SAN set up in a small environment within an hour or less.

The scalability and robust support for virtualized environments along with the ability to consolidate storage are major benefits as companies seek ways to maximize the use of their current resources while containing costs as much as possible.

The StarWind Software does not have a user manual per se but it has a good Getting Started Guide available which covers the basic installation and initial configuration tasks. This guide along with over 30 other technical articles and white papers that cover a wide variety of operations and configurations, can be downloaded from the StarWind web site. Of particular interest will be the Best Practices Guide. The software itself provides a comprehensive on-line help function that covers all setup and configuration operations within the software.

Overall this is an excellent package which offers businesses the ability to leverage fully their current IT resources through virtualizing their existing storage with a minimum of expense and difficulty. In short, the product does what it says it does in a simple and effective manner.

Once configuration of all devices to be shared over iSCSI is complete, you need to prepare the client systems to be able to see and access these shared devices.

Replication, which StarWind calls Cloning, is set up in a similar manner. In the first Add Device dialog box, you select a device type of Snapshot and CDP device. Then in the next dialog box that pops up, you select one of the cloning options as seen in the next screen shot.

Recoveries of files and folders can be accomplished by mounting existing image files as new virtual disks and then copying the required files back to their original location.

Client Side Setup using the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator

Client systems that will connect to the shared iSCSI devices on the StarWind server need to have an iSCSI initiator of some type installed on each one of them. You can use the free Microsoft iSCSI initiator for this purpose and given its widespread use, we will look at its setup. This is a free download from Microsoft, which installs quickly and easily.

Once again it is important to note that the MS iSCSI initiator also uses port 3260 for its communications. If you have firewalls on the server and clients, make sure that this port is added to the firewall’s exception list to allow outbound traffic. As with the server, the client side can also change the port number used by the MS iSCSI initiator if desired.

Once the MS iSCSI initiator is installed, bring up the MS initiator Properties box and use the Secret and/or Tunnel buttons to enter the necessary security information needed to connect to the StarWind server. You can see these options in the next screen shot.

Once those options are set, the next step is to select the Discovery tab. This is where you enter the DNS name or IP for the target server hosting the shared storage via the StarWind server software. You can also modify the port used for communications on this screen as seen in the next screen shot.

Once you have your StarWind target server defined, you’ll need to connect to the individual shared devices using the Log On function as seen in the next two screen shots. This is where you also enter any security information needed to connect to those resources. Be sure to click the box marked “Automatically restore this connection when system boots” in the Log On dialog to insure your shared devices will be persistent targets that are available even after system reboots.

The next step is to bind the shared devices selecting the Bound Volumes/Devices tab on the initiator properties dialog box and clicking on the Bind All button as seen in the next screen shot.

The last step in the initiator configuration is to check that the shared devices are showing up as persistent targets under the Persistent Targets tab.

Once the MS iSCSI initiator setup is complete, the shared disk volumes will need to be prepared for use, using the standard system disk utility to initialize and format the remote volume for use by the local system as seen in the next screen shots.

Once done with the disk volume preparations, the remote volume is ready for use and shows up on the Windows Explorer like any other standard drive. You can see this in the next screen shot where the new shared volume on the StarWind server shows up on the local system as the F: drive.