2 iSCSI units under ESXi not recognised

[euanaj]

   

Can anyone help with this minor issue.

 

I have 2 x 4Tb iSCSI units and 'in turn' I can get them working under ESXi perfectly. The problem is when I try to connect both at the same time I can not see the LUNs on the second unit connected. The issue seems to be with the parameters that the units pass back to the iSCSI initiator; one of the fields that is picked up is the Serial number of the box, however the box returns the model number in the RFC specified field for this not the actual serial number. Therefore ESXi sees this as being the same unit and sets it up as second path not a second drive.

 

Does anyone know if you can telnet/ssh into these boxes and change such values to unique??

 

 

[Dustrega]

Telnet and SSH is not possible unfortunately as these units run a Linux based kernel called Samba. In the initiator you are seeing both devices. I'm also assuming that the host OS you're running is Windows based correct? If so which version? In turn which firmware are you running on your iSCSI devices? Rackmount or standalone?

Message Edited by Dustrega on 03-30-2009 11:40 AM

[euanaj]

   The units are the Buffalo TeraStation Pro II Rackmount 4TB (TS-RI4.0TGL/R5) running 1.01-116 firmware, the host system is VMWare ESXi 3.5 U3 which is a hypervisor so no host OS (ESXi is a linux kernel).

[Dustrega]

Thank you for the information and enlightment, however there isn't a way to telnet to these devices to change any values on the units themselves. Generally, since the initiator is seeing both units but is mapping them as one to 2 different paths I would say that this is an issue with ESXi, however I will need some time to look into the solution. I'll post back if I find anything.

[1parkplace]

   

I am having a similar problem with a very similar setup.

 

We NEED this to happen.  Why can Buffalo not create a new firmware with a modifiable LUN ID?

 

This is a MUST for anyone attempting to use this system with VMWare products without conflict.

 

VMWare does not like LUN ID's to equal 0.

 

Basically, if the answer is no, it renders this product completely useless to me and I will need to find a way to get my money back.

[shanebuss]

   

I have the same issue with the ISCSI unit i just purchased. If i can only have one ESX datastore (aka one LUN) it is a big piece of junk.

 

HOpe i can return this thing, what a JOKE. THe other JOKE is that the ISCSI service doesnt automatically start on reboot, and cant be set to.  What a pain for anyone trying to use this for business

 

 

[vtownsend]

   

I am having this EXACT same issue I am about to pull my hair out over this!

Looking at a Synology device if this can't be fixed.

[alpha]

   

 

Any news on this subject ? We were planning to buy a bunch of these units for backup purposes, but will hold on that !.

Also have a problem with having more than one Logical Volumes – VMware can only access one Logical Volume on the device, as all Volumes are presented with LUN ID 0. I see that the latest firmware is more than one year old (28/08/2008), so I guess the product I End-Of-Line

Maybe generally Buffalo Tech is "End-Of-Line" !

[Colin137]

euanaj,

 

If you're using ESXi's software initiator, it will only connect with a single iSCSI target. Because of the way the iSCSI Terastation works (additional volumes are addressed through another iSCSI target), this will only allow you to set up storage on a single volume. The IQN address of the targets are unique, they show up as something like "iqn.2004-08.jp.buffalo:TS-RIGLBDF-001D73267BDF:volume1". After the reversed domain name, the IQN includes the device's hostname as well as the MAC address, so they're certainly unique.

 

Everyone,

 

We've never claimed that the iSCSI Terastation is compatible with VMware's products. I've personally seen it work fine with ESX version 4.0, but only in a simple setup with the ESX host connecting to a single volume on the Terastation. It does work fine with the Microsoft iSCSI initiator, because that software initiator can handle multiple targets.

 

I'll forward a feature request to have this looked at, but I can't promise anything.

[shanebuss]

   

In hindsight it doesnt really matter.  The performance of the device is not enough to run more than a couple VM's anyway, so it's not like you are going to need more datastores.   It is good for backups/file shares, if you are looking for something IO intensive like ESX, find another product.

 

[Colin137]

 

shanebuss wrote:

In hindsight it doesnt really matter.  The performance of the device is not enough to run more than a couple VM's anyway, so it's not like you are going to need more datastores.   It is good for backups/file shares, if you are looking for something IO intensive like ESX, find another product.

 

 

That's definitely true. A good use for the iSCSI Terastations in an ESX environment would be for offline, reserve, or backup storage. If you want high performance, you'll need to spend quite a bit more.

 

[larsskj]

   

We were bitten by this one as well - and we've just decided not to spend more money on Buffalo products. Guess you're losing a great market opportunity there, though.

[spidermatt67]

   

sorry to kick an old thread, but same story here...just wanted to voice it somewhere

 

[mad006us]

ESXi 4 with Buffalo TeraStation III 8TB

 

LVM activated

Created volumes (max size 2047GB)

Restarted TeraStation (!)

vSphere, Configuration, Storage Adapter, Rescan --> all volumes are available