StarWind iSCSI SAN Version 8.0 Beta-2
Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 11:47 am
@@@ beta-3 is out @@@
This topic is dedicated for StarWind iSCSI SAN Version 8.0 Beta-2
Improvements over first beta release:
A lot of small fixes and updates, several new features.
Log-structured File System container: fixes and performance improvements.
Flash cache: fix for the issue when non-default path has been used for L2 cache storage device.
Core: VAAI support for single-node devices and devices with synchronous replication. WRITE SAME, EXTENDED COPY, ATS commands are supported.
Scale-out cluster: organize your servers to SAN cluster and create multi-node devices across the cluster easily.
Asynchronous replication: asynchronous mode added to replication engine. Asynchronous replication can be used to replicate data to remote site. Information on snapshots that are stored on the primary storage is replicated too. Replication channel bandwidth doesn’t affect the performance of primary storage which is replicated. State of the primary storage can be easily restored from replica.
Other features of StarWind iSCSI SAN Version 8.0 Beta:
New Log-structured File System container:
LSFS container implements thin-provisioning, snapshots and optional online deduplication features. Synchronous replication for high availability can be configured for a LSFS device. Snapshots are replicated too.
LSFS device is flash-friendly. It eliminates multiple rewrites of same data blocks.
LSFS provides high performance for random write access patterns, eliminating I/O blender effect in virtualized environments.
Flash cache:
L2 cache can be used with LSFS or flat storage devices for acceleration.
Management console:
User interface has been reworked to provide super simple and clean user experience.
Default storage pool path can be set up for the server. This path will be used for all new devices.
New simple device creation wizard allows create virtual device with target in three steps.
High availability device can be created from any existing device by adding replication partner through replication manager.
Network settings for replication can be changed on fly without rebuilding replication partners.
Installation notes
Installation: Previous versions can be updated by installing this version over the existing installation.
Warning: Mirror, IBV and Deduplication devices of version 6.x and earlier versions have limited support in v8.0! Data from existing Mirror, IBV and Deduplication devices must be migrated to new ImageFile or LSFS devices after installation.
Use replication manager to add synchronous replication functionality for your device. Use LSFS virtual device type when thin-provisioning and snapshots features are needed.
Please, take the following steps to update the existing HA devices:
1. To prevent data loss, disconnect clients from HA (if it is possible).
2. Update StarWind service on the first HA node. Wait until the service starts. At this step the HA node is unable to synchronize its HA devices and is not accepting the client connections. Client requests are processed by the second HA node. The next step will disconnect the existing client connections.
3. Update the StarWind service on the second HA node. Wait until the service starts.
4. Start synchronization on the first HA node. The second node changes its state to “ready” and starts processing client connections. Now, you can safely connect to the HA device.
5. Wait for synchronization to finish. Now the first HA node can process the client connections too.
Download link:
http://starwindsoftware.com/tmplink/StarWindBeta.exe
License:
http://starwindsoftware.com/tmplink/sw8 ... tatest.swk
http://www.starwindsoftware.com/tmplink ... tatest.swk
This topic is dedicated for StarWind iSCSI SAN Version 8.0 Beta-2
Improvements over first beta release:
A lot of small fixes and updates, several new features.
Log-structured File System container: fixes and performance improvements.
Flash cache: fix for the issue when non-default path has been used for L2 cache storage device.
Core: VAAI support for single-node devices and devices with synchronous replication. WRITE SAME, EXTENDED COPY, ATS commands are supported.
Scale-out cluster: organize your servers to SAN cluster and create multi-node devices across the cluster easily.
Asynchronous replication: asynchronous mode added to replication engine. Asynchronous replication can be used to replicate data to remote site. Information on snapshots that are stored on the primary storage is replicated too. Replication channel bandwidth doesn’t affect the performance of primary storage which is replicated. State of the primary storage can be easily restored from replica.
Other features of StarWind iSCSI SAN Version 8.0 Beta:
New Log-structured File System container:
LSFS container implements thin-provisioning, snapshots and optional online deduplication features. Synchronous replication for high availability can be configured for a LSFS device. Snapshots are replicated too.
LSFS device is flash-friendly. It eliminates multiple rewrites of same data blocks.
LSFS provides high performance for random write access patterns, eliminating I/O blender effect in virtualized environments.
Flash cache:
L2 cache can be used with LSFS or flat storage devices for acceleration.
Management console:
User interface has been reworked to provide super simple and clean user experience.
Default storage pool path can be set up for the server. This path will be used for all new devices.
New simple device creation wizard allows create virtual device with target in three steps.
High availability device can be created from any existing device by adding replication partner through replication manager.
Network settings for replication can be changed on fly without rebuilding replication partners.
Installation notes
Installation: Previous versions can be updated by installing this version over the existing installation.
Warning: Mirror, IBV and Deduplication devices of version 6.x and earlier versions have limited support in v8.0! Data from existing Mirror, IBV and Deduplication devices must be migrated to new ImageFile or LSFS devices after installation.
Use replication manager to add synchronous replication functionality for your device. Use LSFS virtual device type when thin-provisioning and snapshots features are needed.
Please, take the following steps to update the existing HA devices:
1. To prevent data loss, disconnect clients from HA (if it is possible).
2. Update StarWind service on the first HA node. Wait until the service starts. At this step the HA node is unable to synchronize its HA devices and is not accepting the client connections. Client requests are processed by the second HA node. The next step will disconnect the existing client connections.
3. Update the StarWind service on the second HA node. Wait until the service starts.
4. Start synchronization on the first HA node. The second node changes its state to “ready” and starts processing client connections. Now, you can safely connect to the HA device.
5. Wait for synchronization to finish. Now the first HA node can process the client connections too.
Download link:
http://starwindsoftware.com/tmplink/StarWindBeta.exe
License:
http://starwindsoftware.com/tmplink/sw8 ... tatest.swk
http://www.starwindsoftware.com/tmplink ... tatest.swk