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Forum Newbie
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Last Login: Monday, November 05, 2007 12:21 PM
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* note - Talking Virtual Machines running on Windows here, for this entry....
As some of you (all of you?) may know, VMware Workstation, VMware Server and the VMware VI3 'Starter' do not provide native access to iSCSI SAN, unless you expose such storage through host (VMware Workstation / Server) OS drives mounted via the Microsoft iSCSI initiator.
Microsoft Server 2008 now supports direct installation to iSCSI SAN, from where it can then be (diskless) booted from. With Lefthand Network's VSA and emBoot's winBoot/i, you can create a virtual machine with no vmdk (that's right), and install Server 2008 direct to a boot lun set up on a VSA. This is quite easier than the process used for Windows 2003, which requires an already-installed OS which is then copied to iSCSI SAN.
"Why bother? I can install Server 2008 to a virtual machine today. Hard drive space is cheap..." Glad you asked.
Including some of the vendors' (mentioned above) rationale for their products, let's briefly look at some advantages of using iSCSI SAN from within a vm PXE boot:
Performance
- iSCSI boot and subsequent post-boot performance using software initiator within VM guest OS is faster than through iSCSI exposed outside of vm (my sources indicate 30% better)
Data integrity
- because of software initiator within vm, backups of vm can be done within vm. External backup outside of vm has no knowledge to quiesce a vm
Lower Risk
- reduced downtime (hard disk failure)
- immediate recoverability
- disaster recovery (faster)
$$ savings
- gain access to iSCSI SAN advantages from lower end VMware products
- better asset utilization - power costs, heat, points of failure are reduced when on iSCSI SAN
- space savings
Manageability
- one-to-one relationship of vm to boot lun / target
- snapshots have direct relationship to vm, thus enabling easier deployment
- multiple OS boot choices at vm startup
Because of constraints, this post will only contain a brief summary of the steps involved. I will elaborate on them later, (as time allows!)
1. Create a 12 gb volume within VSA (I used to do 'proof of concepts' for 2008 on 8 gb luns, but the latest build I have seems to preclude this)
2. Use winBoot/i management console to point to new VSA target. Assign a winBoot/i client to this target.
2.5. Grab some special PXE bootstrap files for Server 2008 from emBoot support. See winBoot/i v2.0 documentation for more information and installation instructions on this. These allow passing of the winBoot/i / VSA iSCSI parameters directly to Server 2008 DVD install in pre-OS.
3. Create a new vm - use the Vista template. Remember - No need to create a hard disk (vmdk). You can delete it.
4. Create an ISO of a Server 2008 installation DVD. Assign the ISO image it to the vm.
5. Extract the 'win2k' drivers for the VMware Accelerated AMD PCNet Adapter, (I extracted them from the network drivers inside the windows.iso file in the VMware Server installation directory) and copy them to a floppy or floppy image. Assign the floppy or floppy image to the vm.
6. Boot the vm. Press F2, change BIOS boot settings to the AMD NIC is first, then CD.
7. Continue booting the vm. Press F8 when prompted, select 'next BBS device'. The winBoot/i / VSA iSCSI connection parameters will be passed - and eventually present the VSA iSCSI boot lun disk as a target drive during the the Server 2008 installation.
8. Accept whatever options you need until presented the disks to which you would install Server 2008. You will need to select 'add drivers', browse to your floppy drive, and select the NIC as described above. Once done, the VSA boot lun will be presented as a disk to install Server 2008 to.
9. Continue installation. Actually once past this point, there is no longer any required intervention whatsoever. Grab a coffee, and when you get back (well, OK, after a loooong coffee break), Server 2008 will be waiting for you, running from VSA iSCSI boot lun.
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Forum Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 5:59 PM
Posts: 30,
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Sure, but it is $395 per server. Is it certified for VMotion, etc?
Regards, Rich
HP ML350 SATA with VSA
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Forum Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Wednesday, July 09, 2008 5:59 PM
Posts: 30,
Visits: 47
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I decided to try this for myself. I found that it worked as advertised. And it isn't $395. For up to 5 VMs, it is $95 per and the "server" is free. If you want a redundant emBoot server, that is an add'l $395. I did get Windows2008 server to boot directly from the VSA with no virtual disk.
As far as VMotion , etc, I haven't tried it yet, but I do have a valid VM... so it would have to work?
Regards, Rich
HP ML350 SATA with VSA
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