how to configure shared ISCSI SAN storage on Windows 2008

I have an iSCSI SAN storage and I have 2 Windows 2008 servers that have the
iSCSI initiator software installed. I have given access to both servers so
they can both access the array.

For now, I've just had them access it one at a time. (i.e. connect server 1
to the array, then disconnect and then connect server 2 to it).

I have the Failover Clustering feature installed on both servers.

When I run the Validation Wizard it fais and it says that "no disks were
found on which to perform cluster validation tests". At this point both of
the servers were disconnected from the array. I even tried to connect one of
the servers to the array but it's telling me the same thing.

I've read thru Microsoft documentation but I cannot find any clear direction
on how to set this up.

Am I supposed to have the disks dsconnected? Or connected only on 1 host?
At what point do I connect both hosts to it?

Hey, you may want to read an article I wrote which shows step by step
how to set up a Server 2008 Cluster with iscsi.
http://www.shudnow.net/2008/03/13/ex...-iscsi-part-1/

You would essentially have one node up, connect it to the shared storage
(I like to write a text file to the shared storage), shut it down, bring
up the second server, connect the shared storage to it (verify shared
storage), modify the text file, shut it down, bring up the old node, and
finally verify that you can still see the shared storage and the
modification of the file.

Once everything is well, you can begin the cluster install.

But again,

--
Elan Shudnow
http://www.shudnow.net



"Gilbert" <> wrote in message
news:A7B2E8C3-7F56-4A72-9349-:

> I have an iSCSI SAN storage and I have 2 Windows 2008 servers that have the
> iSCSI initiator software installed. I have given access to both servers so
> they can both access the array.
>
> For now, I've just had them access it one at a time. (i.e. connect server 1
> to the array, then disconnect and then connect server 2 to it).
>
> I have the Failover Clustering feature installed on both servers.
>
> When I run the Validation Wizard it fais and it says that "no disks were
> found on which to perform cluster validation tests". At this point both of
> the servers were disconnected from the array. I even tried to connect one of
> the servers to the array but it's telling me the same thing.
>
> I've read thru Microsoft documentation but I cannot find any clear direction
> on how to set this up.
>
> Am I supposed to have the disks dsconnected? Or connected only on 1 host?
> At what point do I connect both hosts to it?

Regarding Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 you should create and
present your LUNs to both servers at the same time before creating the
cluster. Once presented, you can validate in disk management from each
node respectively that you can see the storage, Windows will not automount
them as older versions like Windows 2000 did. Now that you know each node
can see the storage, from node 1 online/initialize each disk from disk
management and format with NTFS, assign a drive letter, do nothing on Node
2. Run the validation wizard to include storage tests specifying both
nodes for test. Storage tests will ensure that your iSCSI target software
is supported.

[Lots of documentation here]
http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/arc...0/8483427.aspx

Dave Guenthner [MSFT]
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

Ok, I got the validation tests to pass by having 1 node online and the other
node offline but both connected to the iSCSI target at the same time.

Now when I go to create a new cluster, I get to the point where it says:
"Create access point for cluster". The only network that shows up is the
172.16.0.x network. The manual says "this ip will probably not be what the
clients use to access the server, it's just to administer the cluster".

I'm a little confused by that. Here's what my NICs look like:

NIC 1 - Public network 172.16.0.x
ip 172.16.0.63
subnet 255.255.252.0
gateway 172.16.0.1

NIC 2 - Private cluster heartbeat - 192.168.50.x
192.168.50.2
255.255.255.0
no gateway configured

NIC 3 -iSCSI
172.30.7.x

NIC 4 -iSCSI
172.30.7.x

1. Am I supposed to see more than 1 network listed when I run thru the
Cluster Wizard?
2. What IP address should I use for the "access point" ? Something in my
Public network 172.16.0.x or the private cluster 192.168.50.x ?
3. What IP and hostname will the clients connect to? (I was thinking if I
had Server3 and Server4, the clients would connect to a name like Server2
which would be the cluster name...is that right?)



"Dave Guenthner [MSFT]" wrote:

> Regarding Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 you should create and
> present your LUNs to both servers at the same time before creating the
> cluster. Once presented, you can validate in disk management from each
> node respectively that you can see the storage, Windows will not automount
> them as older versions like Windows 2000 did. Now that you know each node
> can see the storage, from node 1 online/initialize each disk from disk
> management and format with NTFS, assign a drive letter, do nothing on Node
> 2. Run the validation wizard to include storage tests specifying both
> nodes for test. Storage tests will ensure that your iSCSI target software
> is supported.
>
> [Lots of documentation here]
> http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/arc...0/8483427.aspx
>
> Dave Guenthner [MSFT]
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
>
>

The cluster install is smart enough to know which is the Public IP
Subnet and then provides you with the ability to create an IP address on
that subnet. The reason it states that the ip will not be what clients
connect to is because if you were to install something such as Exchange,
it creates a cluster group which contains the Exchange disk resources,
the network name, network ip, etc... The clients would be connecting to
that, not the IP you are specifying during the install.

--
Elan Shudnow
http://www.shudnow.net



"Gilbert" <> wrote in message
news:B8B39BEF-90A7-462A-99A4-:

> Ok, I got the validation tests to pass by having 1 node online and the other
> node offline but both connected to the iSCSI target at the same time.
>
> Now when I go to create a new cluster, I get to the point where it says:
> "Create access point for cluster". The only network that shows up is the
> 172.16.0.x network. The manual says "this ip will probably not be what the
> clients use to access the server, it's just to administer the cluster".
>
> I'm a little confused by that. Here's what my NICs look like:
>
> NIC 1 - Public network 172.16.0.x
> ip 172.16.0.63
> subnet 255.255.252.0
> gateway 172.16.0.1
>
> NIC 2 - Private cluster heartbeat - 192.168.50.x
> 192.168.50.2
> 255.255.255.0
> no gateway configured
>
> NIC 3 -iSCSI
> 172.30.7.x
>
> NIC 4 -iSCSI
> 172.30.7.x
>
> 1. Am I supposed to see more than 1 network listed when I run thru the
> Cluster Wizard?
> 2. What IP address should I use for the "access point" ? Something in my
> Public network 172.16.0.x or the private cluster 192.168.50.x ?
> 3. What IP and hostname will the clients connect to? (I was thinking if I
> had Server3 and Server4, the clients would connect to a name like Server2
> which would be the cluster name...is that right?)
>
>
>
> "Dave Guenthner [MSFT]" wrote:
>
>
> > Regarding Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 you should create and
> > present your LUNs to both servers at the same time before creating the
> > cluster. Once presented, you can validate in disk management from each
> > node respectively that you can see the storage, Windows will not automount
> > them as older versions like Windows 2000 did. Now that you know each node
> > can see the storage, from node 1 online/initialize each disk from disk
> > management and format with NTFS, assign a drive letter, do nothing on Node
> > 2. Run the validation wizard to include storage tests specifying both
> > nodes for test. Storage tests will ensure that your iSCSI target software
> > is supported.
> >
> > [Lots of documentation here]
> > http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/arc...0/8483427.aspx
> >
> > Dave Guenthner [MSFT]
> > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> >
> >

That's exactly what I'm doing this for, Exchange 2007.

I have 2 Mailbox servers: Mail 3 and Mail 4. I was hoping that clients
would connect to something like Mail2.

"Elan Shudnow" wrote:

> The cluster install is smart enough to know which is the Public IP
> Subnet and then provides you with the ability to create an IP address on
> that subnet. The reason it states that the ip will not be what clients
> connect to is because if you were to install something such as Exchange,
> it creates a cluster group which contains the Exchange disk resources,
> the network name, network ip, etc... The clients would be connecting to
> that, not the IP you are specifying during the install.
>
> --
> Elan Shudnow
> http://www.shudnow.net
>
>
>
> "Gilbert" <> wrote in message
> news:B8B39BEF-90A7-462A-99A4-:
>
> > Ok, I got the validation tests to pass by having 1 node online and the other
> > node offline but both connected to the iSCSI target at the same time.
> >
> > Now when I go to create a new cluster, I get to the point where it says:
> > "Create access point for cluster". The only network that shows up is the
> > 172.16.0.x network. The manual says "this ip will probably not be what the
> > clients use to access the server, it's just to administer the cluster".
> >
> > I'm a little confused by that. Here's what my NICs look like:
> >
> > NIC 1 - Public network 172.16.0.x
> > ip 172.16.0.63
> > subnet 255.255.252.0
> > gateway 172.16.0.1
> >
> > NIC 2 - Private cluster heartbeat - 192.168.50.x
> > 192.168.50.2
> > 255.255.255.0
> > no gateway configured
> >
> > NIC 3 -iSCSI
> > 172.30.7.x
> >
> > NIC 4 -iSCSI
> > 172.30.7.x
> >
> > 1. Am I supposed to see more than 1 network listed when I run thru the
> > Cluster Wizard?
> > 2. What IP address should I use for the "access point" ? Something in my
> > Public network 172.16.0.x or the private cluster 192.168.50.x ?
> > 3. What IP and hostname will the clients connect to? (I was thinking if I
> > had Server3 and Server4, the clients would connect to a name like Server2
> > which would be the cluster name...is that right?)
> >
> >
> >
> > "Dave Guenthner [MSFT]" wrote:
> >
> >
> > > Regarding Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 you should create and
> > > present your LUNs to both servers at the same time before creating the
> > > cluster. Once presented, you can validate in disk management from each
> > > node respectively that you can see the storage, Windows will not automount
> > > them as older versions like Windows 2000 did. Now that you know each node
> > > can see the storage, from node 1 online/initialize each disk from disk
> > > management and format with NTFS, assign a drive letter, do nothing on Node
> > > 2. Run the validation wizard to include storage tests specifying both
> > > nodes for test. Storage tests will ensure that your iSCSI target software
> > > is supported.
> > >
> > > [Lots of documentation here]
> > > http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/arc...0/8483427.aspx
> > >
> > > Dave Guenthner [MSFT]
> > > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> > >
> > >
>
>

Again, go through my article. I show step by step on creating a Server
2008 Cluster with iscsi. It seems like everything you're asking is
covered in detail in my article and with screenshots.

--
Elan Shudnow
http://www.shudnow.net



"Gilbert" <> wrote in message
news:925DB84A-4019-42DA-A7D3-:

> That's exactly what I'm doing this for, Exchange 2007.
>
> I have 2 Mailbox servers: Mail 3 and Mail 4. I was hoping that clients
> would connect to something like Mail2.
>
> "Elan Shudnow" wrote:
>
>
> > The cluster install is smart enough to know which is the Public IP
> > Subnet and then provides you with the ability to create an IP address on
> > that subnet. The reason it states that the ip will not be what clients
> > connect to is because if you were to install something such as Exchange,
> > it creates a cluster group which contains the Exchange disk resources,
> > the network name, network ip, etc... The clients would be connecting to
> > that, not the IP you are specifying during the install.
> >
> > --
> > Elan Shudnow
> > http://www.shudnow.net
> >
> >
> >
> > "Gilbert" <> wrote in message
> > news:B8B39BEF-90A7-462A-99A4-:
> >
>
> > > Ok, I got the validation tests to pass by having 1 node online and the other
> > > node offline but both connected to the iSCSI target at the same time.
> > >
> > > Now when I go to create a new cluster, I get to the point where it says:
> > > "Create access point for cluster". The only network that shows up is the
> > > 172.16.0.x network. The manual says "this ip will probably not be what the
> > > clients use to access the server, it's just to administer the cluster".
> > >
> > > I'm a little confused by that. Here's what my NICs look like:
> > >
> > > NIC 1 - Public network 172.16.0.x
> > > ip 172.16.0.63
> > > subnet 255.255.252.0
> > > gateway 172.16.0.1
> > >
> > > NIC 2 - Private cluster heartbeat - 192.168.50.x
> > > 192.168.50.2
> > > 255.255.255.0
> > > no gateway configured
> > >
> > > NIC 3 -iSCSI
> > > 172.30.7.x
> > >
> > > NIC 4 -iSCSI
> > > 172.30.7.x
> > >
> > > 1. Am I supposed to see more than 1 network listed when I run thru the
> > > Cluster Wizard?
> > > 2. What IP address should I use for the "access point" ? Something in my
> > > Public network 172.16.0.x or the private cluster 192.168.50.x ?
> > > 3. What IP and hostname will the clients connect to? (I was thinking if I
> > > had Server3 and Server4, the clients would connect to a name like Server2
> > > which would be the cluster name...is that right?)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > "Dave Guenthner [MSFT]" wrote:
> > >
> > >
>
> > > > Regarding Failover Clustering in Windows Server 2008 you should create and
> > > > present your LUNs to both servers at the same time before creating the
> > > > cluster. Once presented, you can validate in disk management from each
> > > > node respectively that you can see the storage, Windows will not automount
> > > > them as older versions like Windows 2000 did. Now that you know each node
> > > > can see the storage, from node 1 online/initialize each disk from disk
> > > > management and format with NTFS, assign a drive letter, do nothing on Node
> > > > 2. Run the validation wizard to include storage tests specifying both
> > > > nodes for test. Storage tests will ensure that your iSCSI target software
> > > > is supported.
> > > >
> > > > [Lots of documentation here]
> > > > http://blogs.msdn.com/clustering/arc...0/8483427.aspx
> > > >
> > > > Dave Guenthner [MSFT]
> > > > This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
> > > >
> > > >
> >
>
> >