HyperV and Starwind

[Zenden]

Is anyone using Starwind as a SAN for a HyperV cluster? If so, how is it holding up for you?

 

I currently have a cluster setup with three hosts but the SAN is pretty aged now and I am fairly certain it will die within the next year. I dont have enough in my budget to purchase a proper SAN (I have begged the Head for some more and am also looking into Leasing Options) so I am looking at a plausable PLan B.

 

IBM Server - x3650 M4 with 6x 1TB 6GBPS SAS Drives (for storage), 2x 148GB 6GBPS SAS Drives (For OS) and a redundant PSU. I am hoping to purchase this, add starwind into the equation and have it function as cluster storage for my hyperV hosts.

 

The idea is to get it running for the next year or two, by which point i may be able to afford a proper san and could then turn this IBM into another Host for the cluster

 

Anyone got any comments/experience?

[NISMO1968]

Take a look at Native SAN for Hyper-V from referenced StarWind. In case of using it you don't need any external SAN at all (pretty much the same

concept you'd find in Xen, KVM and ESX with VSA add-on). You can do the same with DataCore's SANsym.... (long and clumsy name) but they are waaaay more expensive

 

-nismo

[steve]

You could try the free Microsoft iSCSI software: Download: iSCSI Software Target - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

[NISMO1968]

Microsoft iSCSI target does not support HA so it's always single point of failure. You can put it into failover cluster but it requres external shared storage (SAS or FC). Resulting setup is VERY expensive and very slow. Here's an example:

 

Microsoft iSCSI Target Cluster – Building Walkthrough « TechOnTip Weblog

 

(check how long I/O path is, and you can actually REMOVE microsoft keeping switched fabric SAS only)

 

Comparing free StarWind and MS, StarWind has caching and dedupe and MS has none:

 

StarWind iSCSI vs. Microsoft iSCSI - Part 1

 

-nismo

 

You could try the free Microsoft iSCSI software: Download: iSCSI Software Target - Microsoft Download Center - Download Details

[Zenden]

Thanks for all the info guys. I have been sent a quote for the Starwind CDP version (as i will be using one Storage server rather than having the Storage highly available) and it is coming out at a relatively reasonable 600ish quid. This is to use it with my five node Failover Cluster. This would of course leave the storage/Starwind server as the one point of failure but i do have a strong backup schedule and plan in place (and our current setup has the san as one point of failure anyway).

 

I have tried the microsoft iscsi target and it just doesnt seem sturdy enough for me to trust it but the starwind software looks very good indeed. Looking at around 3000 for a storage server (6TB of storage space) and 600 for the software. comes out at half the cost of your average off the shelf san!

 

can anyone see any problem with this that i havent thought of?

[NISMO1968]

You may take a look at OpenIndiana + Napp-It if you can afford to waste a machine for SAN/NAS unit.

 

-nismo

 

Thanks for all the info guys. I have been sent a quote for the Starwind CDP version (as i will be using one Storage server rather than having the Storage highly available) and it is coming out at a relatively reasonable 600ish quid. This is to use it with my five node Failover Cluster. This would of course leave the storage/Starwind server as the one point of failure but i do have a strong backup schedule and plan in place (and our current setup has the san as one point of failure anyway).

 

I have tried the microsoft iscsi target and it just doesnt seem sturdy enough for me to trust it but the starwind software looks very good indeed. Looking at around 3000 for a storage server (6TB of storage space) and 600 for the software. comes out at half the cost of your average off the shelf san!

 

can anyone see any problem with this that i havent thought of?