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ISCSI Multi-Path-IO MPIO Example

This document provides an example of setting up multi-path I/O (MPIO) to an iSCSI target for high performance. It describes connecting an initiator host with two network interfaces to an EqualLogic storage array with three network interfaces using the Microsoft round-robin load balancing mode. The steps shown include adding the target portal, logging in twice from different source IP addresses, and changing the load balancing policy to round-robin for both paths to be active simultaneously.

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200 views

ISCSI Multi-Path-IO MPIO Example

This document provides an example of setting up multi-path I/O (MPIO) to an iSCSI target for high performance. It describes connecting an initiator host with two network interfaces to an EqualLogic storage array with three network interfaces using the Microsoft round-robin load balancing mode. The steps shown include adding the target portal, logging in twice from different source IP addresses, and changing the load balancing policy to round-robin for both paths to be active simultaneously.

Uploaded by

Paing Htoo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example


This is a example of how to create an MPIO connection to an iSCSI target in a high
performance environment. By high performance, we mean that we have an isolated
VLAN for iSCSI traffic, and that only iSCSI traffic will travel on the VLAN. All nonessential protocols (Netbios, client for Microsoft networks, etc.) have been unbound
from our iSCSI interfaces. We will be connecting to a target that supports active-active
using the Microsoft DSM Round-Robin mode.
This document is provided as a convenience only. If you have access to the Microsoft
iSCSI initiator Users Guide version 2.06 or later, you should reference that document,
as it has a much more thorough treatment of this subject. Furthermore, that document
should be regarded as authoritative if there are conflicts with these instructions, unless
those conflicts are specific to the way Alacritech products function.
Before starting, you need to make sure that the target you plan to use supports MPIO,
and that it supports active-active connections. If the target supports MPIO, but does not
support active-active, you can still make an MPIO connection, but the only supported
mode will be failover. There's nothing wrong with failover mode, it gives you network
redundancy, but it does not provide the performance increase that the other MPIO
modes do.
The other thing you should know is whether you target manufacturer has their own
MPIO DSM (Device Specific Module). If they do, it may be preferable to use their DSM
mode instead of using the round-robin mode that we use in this example.
Our target is an EqualLogic PS100 Storage Array with a portal address of
192.168.51.1/22. The target has 3 ethernet interfaces all on this subnet. The target has
already had a volume set up, and has been configured so that our initiator host has
access to it.
The inititator host is running Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, and has the Windows
iSCSI initiator version 2.07, including MPIO, installed. It has an Alacritech SES2002XT
dual port iSCSI Accelerator that we will be using to connect to the target. The iSCSI
interfaces are configured as follows:
C:\Temp>ipconfig
Windows IP Configuration
...
Ethernet adapter 3A_iSCSI:
Connection-specific
IP Address. . . . .
Subnet Mask . . . .
Default Gateway . .

DNS
. .
. .
. .

Suffix
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .

.
.
.
.

:
: 192.168.50.105
: 255.255.252.0
:

Ethernet adapter 3B_iSCSI:


Connection-specific DNS Suffix

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iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.50.125
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.252.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . :

After opening the iSCSI initiator applet, the first thing we do is add the portal address of
the PS100.

Once the portal address has been entered, the available targets are displayed. It is not
obvious which target we want to log on to, so we need to look at the configuration of the
target itself. Since that process is different for each manufacturers target, we wont
cover that here, but by default, we know the highlighted target is the one we want.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

Click "Log On", and check both the box for persistent connections and the box for MultiPath.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

We then select "Advanced" so that we can configure the individual connects. Set "Local
adapter" to "Microsoft iSCSI Initiator", and select one of the two IP addresses on our
iSCSI network as the source IP.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

Next we select the destination address. On most targets we would see several
destination addresses here, one for each ethernet interface, and we would chose one.
The PS100 is different though. Because EqualLogic uses a technology called iSCSI
redirect, we see only one address here. We select that address, and the PS100 will take
care of redirecting the connection to the appropriate interface.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

After hitting "OK" several times, we get back to the target window which now shows as
"connected".

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

Now we simply repeat the login process. The only difference is that this time we select a
different IP source address. Had this been a target that exports all target addresses, we
would also select a different target address, but the iSCSI redirect implementation on
the PS100 makes this unnecessary.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

Now we are back at our target window, and it looks no different than it did after logging
on the first time. Select the target again and hit the "Details" button.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

This opens the target properties pane. Now select the "Devices" tab and highlight one of
the available devices.

AlacritechDocumentation

iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

With a device highlighted, activate the "Advanced" button to bring up the "Device
Details" pane. This pane should show the "Load Balance Policy" as "Fail over only", and
should show one connection as active, and one as standby.

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iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

Change the "Load Balance Policy" to "Round-Robin". All paths should immediately
change to active, and your MPIO connection will now be fully functional. The bandwidth
to target is now equal to the sum of the bandwidth of completely independent paths. In
this example, we have two completely independent paths of one gigabit each, so the
bandwidth to target is two gigabit. Had we more network interfaces available we could
increase the bandwidth even further.

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iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

If we now run the command netstat -nt we see that we have a connection from
192.168.50.105:2817 to 192.168.51.2:3260, and from
192.168.50.125:2819 to 192.168.51.4:3260, and that both connections are
offloaded, indicating that everything is working as it should.

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iSCSI Multi-Path I/O (MPIO) Example

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