Adding iSCSI NIC to AIO or Storage Server

[Sam_Lees]

I am trying to find out if you can increase the iSCSI bandwidth of the AiO600 or a DL380G5 Storage Server with the iSCSI Target software applied.

Assuming you are running a Windows environments and presenting block level storage frome either the AIO or iSCSI enabled DL380G5 SS.

Would you use a standard NIC (NC360T) or a TOE NIC (NC380T) ? Are there any other implications, such as, is the iSCSI target software pack linked to a particular port or does it license the whole device?

The outcome of this question is that I would liek to team several iSCSI ports on the AiO or SS to meet customers specifications of 2Gb or 4Gb of bandwidth to the iSCSI SAN.

Kind Regards
Sam

[Keith_112 · Accepted solution]

Hi Sam,

The Microsoft iSCSI Target supports Multipathing I/O in the form of "Multiple Connections per Session" or MCS. The Microsoft iSCSI Initiator supports two types of multipathing, MCS, and Microsoft MPIO (multiple sessions). Of course, the common supported mechanism between the Target and the Initiator is MCS, so that is what you will want to use. If you look at the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator User Guide, you will find a section that describes these two types of multipathing, and how to configure them.

It is important to note that iSCSI multipathing depends on creating completely separate subnets for each new NIC port that is introduced. This means that for every NIC you put into the Target system, there should be an associated NIC installed on the Initiator system. This allows for completely independent paths end-to-end. Please note that Microsoft does NOT recommend or support NIC teaming (i.e. Fast Etherchannel, or FEC) with iSCSI traffic, although there is nothing preventing you from doing this.

Finally, a standard NIC card should work just fine. The TOE card will provide benefit only if the processor on the Target system is heavily utilized, which is not common for most storage servers.