StarWind Virtual SAN:
Configuration Guide for VMware vSphere [ESXi], VSAN Deployed as a Controller Virtual Machine (CVM) using Web UI

Configuring Networks

Configure network interfaces on each node to make sure that Synchronization and iSCSI/StarWind heartbeat interfaces are in different subnets and connected physically according to the network diagram above. All actions below should be applied to each ESXi server.
NOTE: Virtual Machine Port Group should be created for both iSCSI/ StarWind Heartbeat and the Synchronization vSwitches. VMKernel port should be created only for iSCSI traffic. Static IP addresses should be assigned to VMKernel ports.
NOTE: It is recommended to set MTU to 9000 on vSwitches and VMKernel ports for iSCSI and Synchronization traffic. Additionally, vMotion can be enabled on VMKernel ports.

1. Using the VMware ESXi web console, create two standard vSwitches: one for the iSCSI/ StarWind Heartbeat channel (vSwitch1) and the other one for the Synchronization channel (vSwitch2).

2. Create a VMKernel port for the iSCSI/ StarWind Heartbeat channel.

3. Add a Virtual Machine Port Groups on the vSwitch for iSCSI traffic (vSwtich1) and on the vSwitch for Synchronization traffic (vSwitch2).

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for any other links intended for Synchronization and iSCSI/Heartbeat traffic on ESXi hosts.

Deploying StarWind Virtual SAN for vSphere

1. Download zip archive that contains StarWind Virtual SAN for vSphere: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-virtual-san#download

2. Extract the virtual machine files.

3. Deploy the control virtual machine to the VMware vSphere. Right-click on the Datacenter, cluster, or node menu and select the “Deploy OVF Template…” option from a drop-down menu.

4. In the first step of the wizard, point to the location of the OVF template. Select the VM files and click Next.

5. Specify the VM name and target location.

6. Select a compute resource intended to run the StarWind vSAN CVM

7. Review the template details. Click Next.

8. In the second step of the wizard, specify the virtual machine provisioning type, VM Storage Policy, and select the direct-attached storage for the appliance system drive. Click Next.

9. Select the destination network for each network adapter assigned to the VM.

The default naming for virtual switches:

• the Management virtual switch is “Management vSwitch”,
• the iSCSI virtual switch is “Data/iSCSI vSwitch”,
• the Synchronization virtual switch is “Replication/Sync vSwitch “.

Specify corresponding network connections according to your virtual network naming. Click Next.

10. Specify the hostname, static IPv4 address, gateway, DNS, and additional network settings for Management and iSCSI/Data network interfaces:

NOTE: To manage the StarWind appliances via the StarWind vCenter plugin, the static IPv4 address must be assigned.

NOTE: if a DHCP server is available on the given network, you can skip setting the additional parameters for that interface.

11. Review the deployment summary information and click to start the VM creation.

12. Repeat the VM deployment on each other ESXi hosts.

NOTE: In some cases, it’s recommended to reserve memory for StarWind VSAN VM.

NOTE: When using StarWind with the synchronous replication feature inside of a Virtual Machine, it is recommended not to make backups and/or snapshots of the Virtual Machine with the StarWind VSAN service installed, as this could pause the StarWind Virtual Machine. Pausing the Virtual Machines while the StarWind VSAN service is under load may lead to split-brain issues in synchronous replication devices, thus to data corruption.

Initial Configuration Wizard

1. Start StarWind Virtual SAN CVM.

2. Launch VM console to see the VM boot process and get the IPv4 address of the Management network interface.
NOTE: in case VM has no IPv4 address obtained from a DHCP server, use the Text-based User Interface (TUI) to set up a Management network.

3. Using the web browser, open a new tab and enter the VM IPv4 address to open StarWind VSAN Web Interface. Click “Advanced” and then “Continue to…”

4. StarWind VSAN web UI welcomes you, and the “Initial Configuration” wizard will guide you through the deployment process.

5. In the following step, upload the license file.

6. Read and accept the End User License Agreement to proceed.

7. Review or edit the Network settings and click Next.
NOTE: Static network settings are recommended for the configuration.

8. Specify the hostname for the virtual machine and click Next.

9. Create an administrator account. Click Next.

10. Review your settings selection before setting up StarWind VSAN.

11. Please standby until the Initial Configuration Wizard configures StarWind VSAN for you.

12. The appliance is set and ready. Click on the Done button to install the StarWind vCenter Plugin right now or uncheck the checkbox to skip this step and proceed to the Login page.

13. Repeat the initial configuration on other StarWind CVMs that will be used to create 2-node or 3-node HA shared storage.

Add Appliance

To create 2-way or 3-way synchronously replicated highly available storage, add partner appliances that use the same license key.

1. Add StarWind appliance(s) in the web console, on the Appliances page.
NOTE: The newly added appliance will be linked to already connected partners.

2. Provide credentials of partner appliance.

3. Wait for connection and validation of settings.

4. Review the summary and click “Add appliance”.

Configure HA networking

1. Launch the “Configure HA Networking” wizard.

2. Select appliances for network configuration.
NOTE: the number of appliances to select is limited by your license, so can be either two or three appliances at a time.

3. Configure the “Data” network. Select interfaces to carry storage traffic, configure them with static IP addresses in unique networks, and specify subnet masks:

• assign and configure at least one interface on each node
• for redundant configuration, select two interfaces on each node
• ensure interfaces are connected to client hosts directly or through redundant switches

4. Assign MTU value to all selected network adapters, e.g. 1500 or 9000. Ensure the switches have the same MTU value set.

5. Click Next to validate Data network settings.

6. Configure the “Replication” network. Select interfaces to carry storage traffic, configure them with static IP addresses in unique networks, and specify subnet masks:

• assign and configure at least one interface on each node
• for redundant configuration, select two interfaces on each node
• ensure interfaces are connected to client hosts directly or through redundant switches

7. Assign MTU value to all selected network adapters, e.g. 1500 or 9000. Ensure the switches have the same MTU value set.

8. Click Next to validate the Replication network settings completion.

9. Review the summary and click Configure.

Add physical disks

Attach storage to StarWind Virtual SAN Controller VM:

• the physical hosts have all the drives connected through an HBA or RAID controller
• HBA or RAID controller will be added via a DirectPath I/O passthrough device to a StarWind CVM.  Follow the instructions from the VMware on how to add a RAID controller as a PCI device to StarWind VM:
  https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/8.0/vsphere-esxi-host-client/GUID-2B6D43A6-9598-47C4-A2E7-5924E3367BB6.html
• StarWind CVM is installed on each server that is used to configure highly available storage.
• it is recommended to install StarWind CVM on a separate storage device available to the hypervisor host (e.g. SSD, HDD, etc.).
• for VMware vSphere environments, the disks can be added to StarWind VM as RDM. The link to VMware documentation is below:
  https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/com.vmware.vsphere.vm_admin.doc/GUID-4236E44E-E11F-4EDD-8CC0-12BA664BB811.html

NOTE: In order to make RDM and VMDK disks available for StarWind devices in StarWind CVM Version 20231016 (build 15260), please follow the steps below.

• stop service

  sudo systemctl stop starwind-san-and-nas-console

  1	sudo systemctl stop starwind-san-and-nas-console

• get VMDK/RDM/ device letter using lsblk command

  lsblk |grep -v sda # sda - is excluded system drive.

  1	lsblk |grep -v sda # sda - is excluded system drive.

• edit config file

  sudo nano /opt/starwind/starwind-san-and-nas-console/appsettings.json

  1	sudo nano /opt/starwind/starwind-san-and-nas-console/appsettings.json

• add lines to the file, previously setting the disk letters to config (e.g. sdb, sdc)

  "HardwareRaidImulation": {"PhysicalDisks": [ "sdb", "sdc" ] },

  1	"HardwareRaidImulation": {"PhysicalDisks": [ "sdb", "sdc" ] },

• start service

  sudo systemctl start starwind-san-and-nas-console

  1	sudo systemctl start starwind-san-and-nas-console

Create Storage Pool

1. Click the “Add” button to create a storage pool.

2. Select two storage nodes to create a storage pool on them simultaneously.

3. Select physical disks to include in the storage pool name and click the “Next” button.
NOTE: Select identical type and number of disks on each storage node to create identical storage pools.

4. Select one of the preconfigured storage profiles or create a redundancy layout for the new storage pool manually according to your redundancy, capacity, and performance requirements.

Hardware RAID, Linux Software RAID, and ZFS storage pools are supported and integrated into the StarWind CVM web interface. To make easier the storage pool configuration, the preconfigured storage profiles are provided to configure the recommended pool type and layout according to the direct-attached storage:

• hardware RAID – configures Hardware RAID’s virtual disk as a storage pool. It is available only if a hardware RAID controller is passed through to the CVM
• high performance – creates Linux Software RAID-10 to maximize storage performance while maintaining redundancy
• high capacity – creates Linux Software RAID-5 to maximize storage capacity while maintaining
  redundancy
• better redundancy – creates ZFS Stripped RAID-Z2 (RAID 60)) to maximize redundancy while maintaining high storage capacity
• manual – allows users to configure any storage pool type and layout with attached storage

5. Review “Summary” and click the “Create” button to create the pools on storage servers simultaneously.

Create Volume

1. To create volumes, click the “Add” button.

2. Select two identical storage pools to create a volume simultaneously.

3. Specify volume name and capacity.

4. Select the Standard volume type.

5. Review “Summary” and click the “Create” button to create the pool.

Create HA LUN

The LUN availability for StarWind LUN can be Standalone and High availability (2-way or 3-way replication) and is narrowed by your license.

1. To create a virtual disk, click the Add button.

2. Select the protocol.

3. Choose the “High availability” LUN availability type.

4. Select the appliances that will host the LUN. Partner appliances must have identical hardware configurations, including CPU, RAM, storage, and networking.

5. Select a volume to store the LUN data. Selected volumes must have identical storage configurations.

6. Select the “Heartbeat” failover strategy.
NOTE:  To use the Node witness or the File share witness failover strategies, the appliances should have these features licensed.

7. Specify the HA LUN settings, e.g. name, size, and block size. Click Next.

8. Review “Summary” and click the “Create” button to create the LUN.