gigabit ethernet more hassle than help :)

Software-based VM-centric and flash-friendly VM storage + free version

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galonga
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:02 pm

Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:14 pm

well if you say it's an obsolete method we won't use it.

actually, we deleted the ibv image and created an img one, only to remember we were also having problems formatting this kind of volume

that problem happened with the K6 servers we told you about: we tried with a newer machine (athlon) and worked ok

that's why I think this technology might not be very suitable for old harware (?)
Val (staff)
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Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:41 pm

galonga wrote:well if you say it's an obsolete method we won't use it.

actually, we deleted the ibv image and created an img one, only to remember we were also having problems formatting this kind of volume

that problem happened with the K6 servers we told you about: we tried with a newer machine (athlon) and worked ok

that's why I think this technology might not be very suitable for old harware (?)
You could try this method if you need it.
'obsolete' means that the method is rarely used and it is rather complicated to maintain.

It seems the problem with old machines can be related to some timing conditions in the iSCSI interconnect. It's a subject to investigate for us...
Best regards,
Valeriy
galonga
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:02 pm

Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:16 pm

we deleted the ibv volume because it was corrupting the images and even some ASP files and created an img volume only to find out it does EXACTLY the same thing!

it's unbelievable! the very same images got corrupted in a matter of hours!
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anton (staff)
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Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:47 pm

How many concurrent connections do you have active to the same volume at any moment of time?
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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galonga
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Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:47 pm

no more than 3
Val (staff)
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:45 am

galonga wrote:no more than 3
anton (staff) wrote:How many concurrent connections do you have active to the same volume at any moment of time?
Do you mean more than one iSCSI client mounts the same iSCSI target and write data to it?

If yes - this will defunitely destruct the filesystem in a short time.
iSCSI is not a 'fast SMB' and you need a third-party SAN filesystem to share targets between several clients. (for example, MetaSAN works well)
Best regards,
Valeriy
galonga
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Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:02 pm

Fri Dec 07, 2007 11:40 am

actually no one is writing data: they only read it

that because the data involved is just images, asp files, etc. just web stuff that is just READ, and not altered any way

that's why I find this weird...
Val (staff)
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:00 pm

galonga wrote:actually no one is writing data: they only read it

that because the data involved is just images, asp files, etc. just web stuff that is just READ, and not altered any way

that's why I find this weird...
NTFS changes some information on the disk ever it is only read.

Use the 'readonly' mode to protect a static volume against changes. This should help with the problem with simultaneous access from several clients.
Best regards,
Valeriy
galonga
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:09 pm

the readonly mark is a good idea, but should we need to change an ASP file or insert a new image how would we do it?
Val (staff)
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:16 pm

galonga wrote:the readonly mark is a good idea, but should we need to change an ASP file or insert a new image how would we do it?
If the image is rarely changed, just prepare it and create a readonly target for your clients.
Best regards,
Valeriy
galonga
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:44 pm

actually is changed once a day

but what you said worries me, for that means that it can't be used for a clustered database for example?
Val (staff)
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 2:02 pm

galonga wrote:but what you said worries me, for that means that it can't be used for a clustered database for example?
A third-party SAN manager should be use to control shared access to the iSCSI device.
Some databases can share a disk using SCSI reservations commands.

But the most of standard Windows modules, including NTFS and FAT32 filesystems do not support sharing of disk devices by design.

As I said you could use the MetaSAN iSCSI product from Tiger Technology with our StarWind to create a high-speed shared network.
Best regards,
Valeriy
galonga
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:30 pm

do you think manageengine's opstor 5 is a good option too?
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anton (staff)
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Fri Dec 07, 2007 9:42 pm

It's a management wrapper. It has nothing to do with the disrubuted locks or whatever...
galonga wrote:do you think manageengine's opstor 5 is a good option too?
Regards,
Anton Kolomyeytsev

Chief Technology Officer & Chief Architect, StarWind Software

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galonga
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:02 pm

Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:26 pm

thank you, that's what we thought

what about veritas' CommandCentral Storage?

we are asking that because we already have a good relationship with symantec
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