iSCSI Prerequisites and Supported Appliance Configurations

The Appliance Controller's iSCSI feature provides iSCSI network connectivity between a CentOS7-based "iSCSI initiator" system (supported appliance configurations indicated below) and iSCSI-connected QXS Storage Arrays, which are the "iSCSI targets". This feature supports configuring iSCSI-connected QXS storage.

Important Note

The iSCSI feature and functionality is not supported for Artico (R520) systems. Artico (R520) systems are not supported for iSCSI configuration, and are not covered by this material.

    • You must be running 1.4.1.2 or later and 6.0.1.1 or later to use the iSCSI commands.

    • Use 10 GbE or higher-speed NICs on the server nodes exclusively for your iSCSI connections. NICs must be installed in slot 3.

    • Because StorNext networking masks the dual-port 10 GbE NICs, you must use the iSCSI functions in the or the (no longer supported or maintained for Gen 2 system hardware) to configure external networking.

    • If your network switch has port VLAN creation functionality, create a port VLAN for all switch ports connected to the server ports and QXS array ports. The port VLAN provides isolation of iSCSI traffic from the rest of the switch traffic.

    • Make sure the iSCSI initiator ports on the / systems are connected to the same network and switch that the QXS array is connected to.

    • Zone all iSCSI port on the switch, for / and QXS arrays, in their own VLAN to isolate the iSCSI traffic from the rest of the traffic on the switch.

    • A QXS storage array NIC interface only supports a maximum of 10 GbE throughput.

    • For a direct-attached connection of a single QXS storage array to a server node, a 10 GbE NIC interface on the server node is sufficient. On the server node, the operating speed of a NIC interface (regardless of its supported maximum throughput speed) is auto-negotiated down with the direct-attached QXS array NIC interface and set to a 10 GbE throughput speed, same as the QXS array storage interface. Therefore, on a direct-attached connection of a single QXS storage array to a server node, use of a NIC with greater than 10 GbE throughput on the server node does not improve the throughput performance of the iSCSI communication between two server nodes.

    • For a switch-attached connection of multiple iSCSI storage targets to a server node, the higher-speed NIC on a server node does improve the overall capacity of a server node communication with the multiple targets.

The iSCSI feature supports the following hardware configurations.

This applies to Artico (R630)   systems.

  • Artico (R630) with a dedicated dual-port 10GbE (or faster) NIC for iSCSI
  • 10GbE SFP+ for the QXS array controller ports
  • SFPs for the Artico (R630)

    • Note: SFPs are not interchangeable between the server nodes and the QXS arrays. Keep track of which SFPs are used for each component.

  • Optical network cables for connecting the iSCSI-assigned 10GbE (or faster) ports of the server to the ports on the QXS 3-Series RAID Chassis controller

This applies to Xcellis Workflow Director, Xcellis Foundation, or aiWARE for Xcellis Standard and High Performance systems.

10GbE (or faster) switch with 4 ports available for attaching to the following:

  • Single-server system with a dedicated dual-port 10GbE (or faster) NIC for iSCSI
  • QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array
  • SFPs for the QXS array controller ports
  • SFPs for the 10GbE (or faster) NIC cards connecting the server to the QXS array

    • Note: SFPs are not interchangeable between the server nodes and the QXS arrays. Keep track of which SFPs are used for each component.

  • Optical network cables for connecting the iSCSI-assigned 10GbE (or faster) ports of the server and the QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array controller ports cabled to the switch

This applies to dual-server node Xcellis Workflow Director, Xcellis Foundation, or aiWARE for Xcellis Standard and High Performance systems.

10GbE (or faster) switch with 8 ports available for attaching to the following:

  • Dual-server system with a dedicated dual-port 10GbE (or faster) NIC for iSCSI on each server node
  • QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array
  • SFPs for the QXS array controller ports
  • SFPs for the 10GbE (or faster) NIC cards connecting the server to the QXS array

    • OR

  • Optical network cables for connecting the iSCSI-assigned 10GbE (or faster) ports of the server and the QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array controller ports cabled to the switch

    • Note: SFPs are not interchangeable between the server nodes and the QXS arrays. Keep track of which SFPs are used for each component.

This applies to single-server node Xcellis Workflow Director, Xcellis Foundation, or aiWARE for Xcellis Standard and High Performance systems.

  • Single-server system with a dedicated dual-port 10GbE (or faster) NIC for iSCSI
  • QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array
  • SFPs for the QXS array controller ports
  • SFPs for the 10GbE (or faster) NIC cards connecting the server to the QXS array

    • OR

  • Optical network cables for connecting the iSCSI-assigned 10GbE (or faster) ports of the server to the QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array controller ports

    • Note: SFPs are not interchangeable between the server nodes and the QXS arrays. Keep track of which SFPs are used for each component.

This applies to dual-server node Xcellis Workflow Director, Xcellis Foundation, or aiWARE for Xcellis Standard and High Performance systems.

  • Dual-server system with a dedicated dual-port 10GbE (or faster) NIC for iSCSI on each server node
  • QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array
  • SFPs for the QXS array controller ports
  • SFPs for the 10GbE (or faster) NIC cards connecting the server to the QXS array

    • OR

  • Optical network cables for connecting the iSCSI-assigned 10GbE (or faster) ports of the server to the QXS 3-Series / QXS 4-Series array controller ports

    • Note: SFPs are not interchangeable between the server nodes and the QXS arrays. Keep track of which SFPs are used for each component.