Starwind on VM and ESXi server 4.1

[jaristizabal]

Hello,

I am testing Starwind 5.7 running on a Windows 2003 64 bit VM on ESXi 4.1 server.

This VM exposes shared storage back to other ESXi servers.

After creating the starwind LUN I format it on VMFS and create another Windows 2003 64 bit VM on the datastore. Inside this VM I start a workload, which takes a long time to execute. The ESX server logs indicate that the storage is being disconnected and some resets are being issued from the ESX software initiator.

I'am attaching the ESX logs when the problem occurred.


Is Starwind supported on ESX running as a VM?, is there any preferred configuration on the VM running starwind to improve the IO handling?

Thanks,


Juan.

[anton (staff)]

1) Windows is too heavy to be used in such a scenario. StarWind VSA is Linux based so it's preferred to run StarWind inside virtual machine. So please give a try to StarWind VSA.

2) The whole idea to feed storage to hypervisor from inside virtual machine is morbid. Cluster needs to be up and running as soon as possible so shared storage should be present immediately. Check two-node only Hyper-V configuration for StarWind and KVM project as a sample ones.

[jaristizabal]

Thanks for the reply Anton.

Is the Starwind VSA supported on ESX? or there is any configuration to be followed on the Windows version?

Regards,


Juan.

[Anatoly (staff)]

It is supported for sure!
Here is the direct link to download StarWind Virtual Appliance for ESX

[jaristizabal]

I don't know if this is the best place to ask this question but I downloaded and installed the VSA, and I cannot add disks to the appliance through the management console. I have followed the documentation and from the management console on the configuration tab of the VSA the whole section "Virtual Storage Appliance" is missing, so there is no way to click on storage and add the disk.

Any help is appreciated.


Juan.

[anton (staff)]

You need to connect to remote host initially so you could start managing it. If you did not establish management connection you'll see no "extra" sections in StarWind management console. Also please make sure you have submitted screenshots / logs to support@starwindsoftware.com as "it does not work" leaves too many open questions for support staff. Thanks!

P.S. And please spawn a dedicated thread for every issue you have instead of creating one never ending story. Again it helps to support and other users searching this forum for questions and answers. Thank you for understanding!

[jaristizabal]

Thanks for the information.

I believe I am following strictly the Starwind documentation, but I'll get in touch with support as you suggested.

[anton (staff)]

Could be! So please follow the guide and provide a screenshot of a place where guide and what you see are different. Thank you!

Thanks for the information.

I believe I am following strictly the Starwind documentation, but I'll get in touch with support as you suggested.