StarWind Free Products StarWind iSCSI SAN System Requirements
StarWind iSCSI SAN System Requirements
CPU: Intel Xeon E5620 (or higher), or equivalent AMD Opteron
It is recommended to use Intel Xeon E5620 or equivalent as minimal CPU for StarWind iSCSI SAN servers. To achieve maximum performance from storage solution we recommend you to use Intel Xeon X5650 or equivalent AMD Opteron CPU. Please note that we recommend using CPU with higher amount of cores per socket, even if each of cores has lower frequency than model with lower amount of cores.The minimum recommended CPU is Intel Xeon E5620 or equivalent. Intel Xeon X5660 or equivalent can be used in order to maximize the performance.
*Important notice: A multi-core CPU with low frequency cores is preferred compared to one with higher core frequency but less cores/socket. E.g. having a 6 core Intel Xeon 5660 with 2.8 GHz per core is better than having a 4 core Intel Xeon 5667 with 3.02 GHz per core.
RAM: 4GB Minimum
4GB is a minimal RAM amount to be installed in the Server running StarWind iSCSI SAN. If implementing StarWind High-Speed caching, an appropriate RAM amount should be installed additionally. The cache-dedicated RAM amount should be equal or higher than one reserved for iSCSI targets caching.*Important notice: Always reserve 4 GB RAM for Windows internal processes and StarWind iSCSI SAN engine.
Network: 1GbE minimum
Minimal recommended bandwidth is 1GbE. In case of intensive workload one should either implement NIC teaming or scale to 10GbE infrastructure. It is highly recommended to use 9K Jumbo frames capable network equipment for both 1 and 10GbE in order to maximize the SAN environment performance.The HA synchronization channel has a prerequisite of both NIC and switch (if used) fault tolerance measures.
Use of STP (Shielded twisted pair) CAT6 (or higher) cable is a prerequisite for the synchronization channel for either crossover or server-switch connections.
Use of STP cables is recommended for all 1GbE links within the Storage Area Network in order to avoid any possible electronic interference from power lines or wireless connections; Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) is also supported.
Maximum synchronization channel latency should not exceed:
HA SANs are located in different buildings/datacenters – 5ms
HA SANs are located in one building/datacenter – 2ms
Link latency higher than 5ms may lead to HA performance degradation.
HDD: SATA, SAS or SSD drive-based RAID array
The RAID array type depends on your required storage performance. A SAS/SSD based RAID10 should be used in order to get the maximum storage performance with minimal ST. In case of higher security level requirement for storing critical data, RAID 5/RAID6 may be used. Please consult your hardware vendor for more detailed information on available RAID arrays and their performance.*Please note that using software based RAID arrays in iSCSI SAN environment is not recommended.
Recommended Operating System: Windows Server 2008 R2
StarWind Software recommends using latest Server-class Windows Operating Systems. StarWind supports all Windows Operating Systems from Windows Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 family, including Server Core editions and free Microsoft Hyper-V Server. Please note that if you are planning to use Windows Server Core or Hyper-V Server you will not be able to install StarWind Management Console locally on server because of GUI limitations set by OS. In this case StarWind Management console should be installed on any other server/PC/notebook running any Windows version above Windows XP. Please note that for remote management 3261 port should be open on both machines.*Important notice: Windows Server 2003 R2 family is supported however since it is currently in the EOL state an update to the latest server OS version is strongly recommended.
Warning: The existing HA devices cannot be upgraded to version 5.8 without bringing the storage offline for a short time.
Please, take the following steps to update the existing HA devices:
1. To prevent data loss, disconnect clients from HA (if it is possible).
2. Update StarWind service on the first HA node. Wait until the service starts. At this step the HA node is unable to synchronize its HA devices and is not accepting the client connections. Client requests are processed by the second HA node. The next step will disconnect the existing client connections.
3. Update the StarWind service on the second HA node. Wait until the service starts.
4. Start synchronization on the first HA node. The second node changes its state to "ready" and starts processing client connections. Now, you can safely connect to the HA device.
5. Wait for synchronization to finish. Now the first HA node can process the client connections too.
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