Virtual NAS

Hi. I found a couple of good boxes that meet my requirements for creating VMs. I want to eventually create a SQL Server failover cluster from two of the VMs I'll use for labbing for my MCITP: EA. (The SQL Server cluster is a secondary project...not necessarily going for certs on SQL (though I will in the future). From what I read, clustering between two VMs is possible, but what is (can be) used for a Virtual NAS/Shared Storage, without of course buying a real SAN or Storage Array. I was hoping I could use the available space from the host and have the two VMs share that. Will I need separate hardware for this? If so, what's an inexpensive solution?
Just wanted to get feedback here before I did my own digging. Much thanks.
Edit: I found an article that mentioned a free iSCSI SAN application that will emulate a SAN. Anyone using these? Are there any others that you use that are good?
http://starwindsoftware.com/
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=90725
Just wanted to get feedback here before I did my own digging. Much thanks.
Edit: I found an article that mentioned a free iSCSI SAN application that will emulate a SAN. Anyone using these? Are there any others that you use that are good?
http://starwindsoftware.com/
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=90725
Comments
IPSec VPN Design 44%
Mastering VMWare vSphere 5 42.8%
Read this post by RobertKaucher/ He lists the steps and tools necessary to get the failover cluster.
If need to, I can always contact Rob but his post seems pretty straightforward.
I plan on going to SQL Server 2008 in my practice anyway and try to mimic what I have in my current production at work, but with an updated SQL application.
Thanks again!
Lots of YouTube posts and links around:
YouTube - Step by Step How to Make a FreeNAS Box
FreeNAS Server on VMware Workstation with iSCSI Disks for MS Cluster
Setup Microsoft Windows 2008 R2 Failover Cluster in VMware Workstation
70-643 will also have you diving in a little more into how to set up different types of storage as it has a section in 1 chapter about storage. You'll want to go a little deeper into storage than the MS Press book does. For that use Claymoores sticky thread technet articles as they have helped me to understand storage a lot better. I barely understood anything about different methods of storage until reading a few technet articles on it.
Again, not 100% sure, but it looks like its a role you can add in R2.
Create an iSCSI Target
What if my box will have SATA drives in a non-Raid configuration? Will my box have to have real iSCSI disk and a controller? Or is the iSCSI virtual (I was under the impression the iSCSI stuff would be virtual).
iSCSI is just a network port of the SCSI protocol. If I were setting up a lab today I would use Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V with about 5 disks in it. I would create my VMs and if I were intending on doing clustering I would then use the physical host to share the extra disks among the VMs via the iSCSI protocol.
iSCSI is not a type of disk, you are probably confusing it with serial attached SCSI? iSCSI allows you to take physical storage on one machine and share it via an IP network with other machines who will see it as if it were directly attached. So when you add an iSCSI disk it shows up in disk management, you can format it NTFS, etc.
But since the disk commands are all done via a network you can share the same disk among multiple servers which is what allows you to do clustering. So your actual physical disks don't really matter (except for performance).
(EDIT: In truth, I've only dealt with fibrechanel drives in our EMC SANs...only thing I knew about iSCSI was that it was a cheaper alternative...but we've never used it in any of our other environments...definitely something I will read up on though, I can promise you (and me) that.
I definitely get it now as you made it quite plainly. I look forward to setting this up. It's not going to be immediate, as I want to get the MCITP stuff first, but when I get my "guests"/VMs up and running, I'm going to throw SS 2K8R2 on both of my W2K8R2 nodes and get iSCSI up and running via W2K8R2.
I am extremely happy that I don't have to get extra hardware for this. I do plan on using 4 250GB disks, non-RAID so that my VMs don't take a hit (as well as cost, of course...if I need real RAID, I can pick up a controller later). To mitigate against drive failure, I'll be using disk imagining software like Ghost or Acronis' product and schedule regular image backups against the host to a DVD or my external terrabye (and a half) drive. Since it's just a lab, I'm not that worried about it, but I'd hate to do all that setup again. LOL.
I don't think WSS 08 is discontinued. More info is available here:
Windows Storage Server 2008
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV
How Is Windows Storage Server 2008 Sold
Windows Storage Server is an OEM-only product, which means Microsoft partners with OEMs to sell an appliance solution
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV
The reason why it is defunct is because it has been integrated into the main server product as of R2.
(I should say that is what I have been reading, any way.)
Microsoft Unveils Final Windows Storage Server
profile: linkedin.com/in/astorrs
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV
Apparently not as far as I can tell. I think I may have been misled by what I have been reading. I'm not sure what is going on with R2... It seems like they killed Storage Server as a seperate edition of the OS and they are claiming they are integrating the functionality into the main OS but I see no indication that it has actually been done.
That's terribly unusual for MS to pull to do this if there is demand. I'm guessing demand is low, but I doubt it if they were going to spend time doing it in the next release. I'd be more understanding if it was at most 2 service packs away....but not another release.
Oh well, I can definitely deal with the third party stuff....I definitely have time.
I have too much going on on my work laptop as it is. It's only got 2 GB on it, but much of it gets used. I primarily use it to VPN to work and the normal Internet use and of course, studying. The server is more than enough to handle my labbing needs and perhaps some other stuff that I can put on a W7 guest if I need to. My laptop is due for an upgrade though, but I'm fine with it for right now.
Besides, it's kinda hard to do labs and drive.
Running VMs on a laptop will drain the battery really quickly as well.
My VM box has 8GB of RAM. Giving SBS 4 and reserving 1 for the host leaves 3 GB to run everything else i'd need to run.
Which is why I think 16GB should be more than adequate. I plan on hopefully getting away with 2-4 GB a piece depending on what I need installed, etc. W7 isn't getting that much, for example. (most likely 2GB)
8GB should be fine just to get me started. Should be able to create a virtual DC or two. Gotta see.
Try to go with 4-6GB for the servers then.....I wanna have a minimum of 5 machines. It's something I'll have to play with, no doubt.
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV
MCSA 2003, LFCS, LFCE (expired), VCP6-DCV