My Setup:Guidance

Software-based VM-centric and flash-friendly VM storage + free version

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merryweathertech
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:15 pm

Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:26 pm

Hi - First, Thank You for a fantastic product. Well Done! I am new to SAN and I just wanted to get some guidance on my setup. Here is what I want to accomplish:

2 Node HA SAN - Virtual SAN Free on top of stand-alone Windows 2012 R2 hosts

1 Client - ESXi with a 2008 R2 Guest running MS SQL Server

My main questions are:

1) How can I achieve the best throughput between nodes themselves and client to nodes - I am using 10 GBe and can put as many adapters in these 3 servers as needed; I would like to have two separate targets for data and log files for SQL (different disk speeds in SAN)
2) What does the MPIO/iSCSI configuration and path policy need to be on the 2 StarWind nodes and the ESXi Client (probably my biggest source of confusion)
3) I am confused about the network setup when setting up replicas. Does the management ip/port support iSCSI traffic? Should I be using it for anything other than management?

Thank you for any help you can provide.

Best Regards - Gordon
Vitaliy (Staff)
Staff
Posts: 35
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:55 am

Tue Oct 09, 2018 8:47 pm

Hello Gordon,

Thank you for your feedback and evaluation of the product.

First of all please find the configuration guide for vSphere 6.0 and 6.5:
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resour ... sphere-6-0
https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resour ... sphere-6-5

1) How can I achieve the best throughput between nodes themselves and client to nodes - I am using 10 GBe and can put as many adapters in these 3 servers as needed; I would like to have two separate targets for data and log files for SQL (different disk speeds in SAN)
I would suggest configuring one 10 Gb channel for Sync between Windows 2012 R2 (Storage) nodes and two 10 Gb channels from ESXi to Storage nodes for iSCSI traffic. Diagram looks like triangle.

2) What does the MPIO/iSCSI configuration and path policy need to be on the 2 StarWind nodes and the ESXi Client (probably my biggest source of confusion)
On ESXi you can use Round Robin policy which should squeeze for you more.

3) I am confused about the network setup when setting up replicas. Does the management ip/port support iSCSI traffic? Should I be using it for anything other than management?
Do not use Management for Sync or iSCSI purposes.
merryweathertech
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:15 pm

Wed Oct 10, 2018 2:24 am

Fantastic! Thank you for your responses. I have one other question regarding the PowerShell/Component Library. I am a software developer and I am writing a web based monitoring app that utilizes the StarWindXLib.dll so that I can easily view my nodes/HA Devices and their status graphically. Is this something I could make available for commercial sale, or do you restrict that type of thing for your free product? Thanks again - Gordon
merryweathertech
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:15 pm

Wed Oct 10, 2018 4:03 am

One more thing on the MPIO - do I need to enable MPIO within Windows where StarWind is located? Thanks - Gordon
Oleg(staff)
Staff
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:52 am

Wed Oct 10, 2018 8:50 am

Fantastic! Thank you for your responses. I have one other question regarding the PowerShell/Component Library. I am a software developer and I am writing a web based monitoring app that utilizes the StarWindXLib.dll so that I can easily view my nodes/HA Devices and their status graphically. Is this something I could make available for commercial sale, or do you restrict that type of thing for your free product? Thanks again - Gordon
Please check StarWind License Agreement https://www.starwindsoftware.com/eula:
"VTL Free and VSAN Free are supported only on the open public community forum. Direct support for VTL Free and/or VSAN Free outside public community forums and/or provision of technical support for a charge are strictly prohibited. Nothing herein shall be deemed to obligate StarWind to provide support for VTL Free, VSAN Free or any Updates, upgrades, or fixes thereto."
One more thing on the MPIO - do I need to enable MPIO within Windows where StarWind is located? Thanks - Gordon
You need MPIO only if you plan to use StarWind inside Windows. If you are planning to use StarWind device as datastore for VMware, you do not need to enable MPIO for Windows.
merryweathertech
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:15 pm

Fri Oct 12, 2018 11:49 pm

Thanks for the info. So, if I wanted to sell the web tool, I would need to restrict it to the 'paid' versions of StarWind Virtual SAN, correct? Thanks - Gordon
Oleg(staff)
Staff
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:52 am

Mon Oct 15, 2018 9:34 am

No :) Your web tool should be free in that case.
merryweathertech
Posts: 16
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 9:15 pm

Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:32 pm

I like that. Free it is! :) One quick question on the ESXi multi path - I tried Round Robin for the multi path policy and it seemed slow, but switching to Most Recently Used seemed faster. I read some blog posts that mention Round Robin default iOPS are limited by default, but can be adjusted. Is this something you have experienced or know about? Thanks - Gordon
webguyz
Posts: 23
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2013 12:34 am

Tue Oct 16, 2018 4:10 am

Round Robin defaults to 1000 iops before it switches but your can adjust it down all the way down to 1 to smooth it out

https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2069356

I think you have to use Round Robin when using vmware to get the failover
Oleg(staff)
Staff
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Nov 24, 2017 7:52 am

Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:41 am

You can find the information about iOPS change in our guide:
-Connect to the host using the SSH client. Check the device list using the following command:
esxcli storage nmp device list

-For devices, adjust Round Robin size from 1000 to 1 using the following command:
esxcli storage nmp psp roundrobin deviceconfig set --type=iops --iops=1 --device=1
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