VSAN and ISCSI accelerator

[datanet]

Would like to clarify if installing Starwind VSAN in a hyperconverged scenario (Microsoft Cluster), does the VSAN installer include the iSCSI accelerator/load balancer? There doesn't seem to be clear documentation on this. The VSAN installer shows an option for "Loopback Accelerator Driver" but it's not clear if that is the same as the stand-alone StarWind iSCSI Accelerator/Load Balancer. I have always assumed they are different features and installed both software packages on HCI cluster deployments.

If they are in fact not the same, any reason why the iSCSI accelerator wasn't included as an option in the VSAN installer?

[yaroslav (staff)]

Welcome to StarWind Forum.
iSCSI Accelerator/Load Balancer is installed separately from the VSAN. It re-distributes iSCSI sessions between cores.
Loopback accelerator is the built-in driver that boosts 127.0.0.1 performance by optimizing paths so that the local is used most.

any reason why the iSCSI accelerator wasn't included as an option in the VSAN installer?

That's a great question!
Historically, the iSCSI Load Balancer emerged later than the Loopback Accelerator Driver. For Load Balancer to start doing any good, iSCSI paths to be reconnected. For users that used it before, Load Balancer will not do any good until paths are reconnected. For new users though they will see CPU resource allocation faster.
To sum up, the Load Balancer is not included simply because it came later. I still can file a feature request if needed.
Thanks for your effort!