Network setup confirmation

[asmith3006]

Hello,

I'm putting together a test lab of Starwind and having a couple of issues working out the "best" network setup.

I have 2 servers which I want to use as a starwind (free) server and then run windows File Share Clustered Services on top of this on the same 2 physical boxes.

I have 6 NICs (1Gbe each) in each server. They are configured so that Server 1 is .12 and server 2 is .13:

LAN: 2x NIC in Failover 172.25.10.X
iSCSI1: 172.25.130.X
iSCSI2: 172.25.131.X
iSCSI3: 172.25.132.X
iSCSI4: 172.25.133.X

My plan was to use:
LAN for client to access share
iSCSI 1 + 2 for Windows to access iSCSI disk presented by Virtual SAN and also the Heartbeat for Starwind
iSCSI 3 + 4 for Starwind to communicate iSCSI replication on

So my first question is, is this the "best" way to use the network adaptors I have at my disposal? Is the setup I've proposed possible with the Free version?

Thanks for any and all help.

[Michael (staff)]

Hello,

That should work on a Free version. You can create then a file share on a top of these 2 servers.

AS for the network setup, it would be better to use ISCSI1 for ISCSI disk connection and StarWind Heartbeat and ISCSI 2 + 3 +4 for StarWind Synchronization.
Additionally, connect local targets with loopback ip address (127.0.0.1) and set it as active with MPIO Fail Over Only policy.
You can find a step by step guide here: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwi ... -v-cluster

[Alexey Sergeev]

Hello,

I have similar setup with 2 servers which I'm planning to use for my SOFS cluster.

Although you mentioned this step-by-step guide https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwi ... -v-cluster
I've found another one in your knowledge base for "dedicated SAN scenario": https://www.starwindsoftware.com/comput ... th-hyper-v

There is a little difference when we connecting witness targets to the nodes. In the hyper-converged model you advise "DO NOT connect a partner witness target", but only local target.
While in the "separate SAN guide" you connecting both targets (local and mirrored) using 3 multiple paths.
Which is more correct?

Also I'd like to verify MPIO configuration. Should I choose localhost as active path for ALL targets or only for those which are LOCAL to it?

[Michael (staff)]

Hello!
The document I have mentioned above is correct. It is recommended to connect Witness drive only by loopback.
As for the MPIO, just check each device and set the local path (127.0.0.1) as Active (MS iSCSI Initiator->Targets->Devices->MPIO->Details)