iSCSI on OpenVMS

[The Brit]

Has anyone tried the iSCSI initiator on OpenVMS? I would be interested to hear about your experiences. Our environment is EVA4400, and HP Itanium Blades with Virtual Connect, (VC could be sacrificed if necessary).

OpenVMS version is 8.3-1H1 and TCPIP Services 5.6 eco 5.

Dave.

[Malcolm Wade]

Must admit my experiences, albeit 12 months ago were not overly positive.

I tried to get an AXP system talking to my Dell Equalogic array and all I got was a collection of crash dumps when simply starting the initiator using v8.3 or even FT8.4.

I logged a call with hp and was told it wasn't supported on AXP so that stopped me at that time.

Given that iSCSI uses TCPIP, using it on a Blade with VC should make no difference but I'd be checking the doco and maybe even upgrading to v8.4 first.

Check the doco to make sure you are using a supported iSCSI array too.

Whatever you go; try it on a test system first.

[Robert Atkinson]

Dave - I'd also be interested in how you get on with this.

Rob.

[Ian Miller.]

What storage are you trying to talk to and why not use FC?

[Robert Atkinson]

For me, it's cost.

Equilogix iSCSI is a lot cheaper and gives more functionality than HP EVA.

But, I need the whole setup to perform as well as EVA, so if the iSCSI bridge runs like a dog, then there's no point in even looking at it.

Rob.

[The Brit]

The storage in question is EVA4400. The documentation indicates that for this particular model, we need to purchase an "mpx100b".

As far as motivation is concerned, we are just trying to stay abreast of our options.

Dave.

[Robert Atkinson]

Dave, the MPX100 is a Fiber-to-IP bridge, designed for taking DR traffic across WAN's between EVA's.

I'm rather intrigued in how this could play a direct part in iSCSI configurations?

Rob.

[The Brit]

Check out the link below.

http://h71000.www7.hp.com/doc/iscsipro.pdf

This was where I started.

Dave.

[Robert Atkinson]

Interesting. That document goes some way to demystifying some of the Chinese whispers I'd heard around VMS and iSCSI.

I guess the key phrase in there is "At this time, the only supported iSCSI target is the HP StorageWorks EVA iSCSI Connectivity Option (mpx100). The mpx100 provides iSCSI access to EVA-based storage."

This is intriguing in itself, as the EVA4400 appears to support iSCSI directly, with the need for an MPX. I assume only Windows iSCSI clients are supported though.

The other key statement is "The iSCSI solution supplied in the TDK is intended for users who require inexpensive, low-performance access to their existing Fibre Channel storage area network (SAN). This storage access option is appropriate for nodes that do not currently have access to the SAN because of such variables as the high cost of a Fibre Channel adapter or the node´s proximity to the SAN itself."

In other words, it's something we're playing with in Engineering, but don't rely on it in a critical environment. If it wasn't critical, I wouldn't be running VMS.

Having said that, it is a positive step forward, but I still can't see HP offering a full-blown solution which sees their SAN sales drop because of it.

Rob.

[Robert Atkinson]

Sorry, should have said 'without the need for an MPX'.

Don't you just love the way you can edit and delete posts!

[Jeremy Begg]

Hi,

I'm afraid I can't help you with iSCSI but I wish OpenVMS Engineering would put some effort into it. I'd love to be able to make use of some of the iSCSI devices out there without the expense of F/C infrastructure.

Jeremy Begg