Depending on the storage array you’re using with your QLogic HBA, there may be some advanced settings that you should configure. This example is taken from the recommended configuration for using QLE4062C iSCSI HBAs with an EqualLogic SAN. It is assumed that you have already installed SanSurfer iscli.
Recommended Settings:
IP_ARP_Redirect: on
KeepAliveTO: 120
Large_Frames: on » Read more: QLogic SanSurfer iscli – QLE4062C Advanced Settings
This process was done on VMWare ESX 4 servers using iscli 1.2.00.21, updating QLE4062C iSCSI HBAs. It is assumed that iscli is not installed, and that your firmware is not downloaded.
Download iscli from http://driverdownloads.qlogic.com. I picked my adapter, and Linux Red Hat, since the SanSurfer iscli download is not available if you pick VMWare as the OS.
» Read more: QLogic SanSurfer iscli – QLE4062C Update Firmware
I used our EqualLogic iSCSI SAN for well over a year without any effective way to monitor the array’s performance. We have virtualized over 30 servers, including some fairly high-I/O servers like Lotus Domino, and while the virtual platform usually performs very well it was difficult to see what was going on when a slowdown occured. Enter EqualLogic SAN HeadQuarters.
SAN HeadQuarters installs on an application server and logs information received via SNMP from the EqualLogic Group. Firmware 3.3.3 or newer is required to use this software, and 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 are supported. For monitoring from your workstation, a client-only installation allows you to view the logged information without accessing the console of the server where you have installed SAN HeadQuarters. » Read more: Dell EqualLogic SAN HeadQuarters
About a year ago I was faced with the reality that we’ll keep needing more servers, and that after 3 years we have to start paying to renew the warranties. Combined with the fact that our resource utilization on most of our servers was lllllooooowwwww, it became pretty obvious that we needed to make a change (we can believe in! lol). The answer to our problems: Virtualization. Duh.
We already had two standalone VMWare ESX servers running production servers and I couldn’t be happier, so the decision to use VMWare as the platform for a large-scale (ok it’s just large-scale to us) virtualization initiative was a no-brainer. We ordered 4 Dell rack servers with ESX 3 Enterprise, and a 7TB EqualLogic PS400E iSCSI SAN, to be connected using Procurve 2810-48 switches on both the network and iSCSI side with separate switches for each. I set it all up and started migrating physical servers into the virtual environment. Abso-freaking-lutely awesome! » Read more: VMWare VI and iSCSI, a match made in…wait, what?
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