Users Guide

Use the HPC iSCSI Provider
Microsoft supports iSCSI storage in its High-Performance Compute Cluster software, HPC Server. iSCSI support allows HPC
nodes to boot from iSCSI volumes, and allows the HPC server to provision those volumes. To enable this support, a vendor-
specific HPC iSCSI Provider is required. This version of the Host Integration Tools includes this provider.
Topics:
• About the HPC iSCSI Provider Installation
• Configure the PS Series Array
• HPC iSCSI Provider Settings
About the HPC iSCSI Provider Installation
The HPC iSCSI Provider is installed automatically with the rest of the Host Integration Tools. If you are building an HPC server,
you should install the HPC server package first, followed by the Host Integration Tools. During installation, the Host Integration
Tools register the iSCSI Provider with the HPC server, enabling the HPC server’s iSCSI provisioning.
If you uninstall and then reinstall the HPC server, you will need to reinstall the Host Integration Tools so it can re-register with
the HPC Server.
Configure the PS Series Array
In order to use the HPC iSCSI Provider, you will need to enable access to the VDS/VSS Control Volume on your PS Series array.
The easiest way to configure access to the VDS/VSS Control Volume is using the Remote Setup Wizard. See Remote Setup
Wizard for instructions.
If access to the VDS/VSS Control Volume is not configured, the HPC iSCSI Provider will report errors such as failed to
create tunnel to group when attempting to set up volumes for HPC nodes.
HPC iSCSI Provider Settings
The HPC iSCSI Provider has settings that can be changed using a graphical tool, EqlHPCSettings.exe. This tool is available
from the Start menu. To launch it, click Start → Programs → EqualLogic → HPC iSCSI Provider Settings. If you installed
the Host Integration Tools in a different directory, specify that installation directory when you launch the tool.
The settings for the HPC iSCSI Provider are described in the following table.
Table 15. HPC iSCSI Provider Settings
Setting Default Value Description
New Volume Size 80,000 MB The size of all volumes created by the iSCSI HPC Provider. All
HPC volumes are created thin-provisioned, so they will not
occupy this much space on the group. Changing this value will
not affect existing volumes already created by HPC.
Pool Name for HPC Volumes default The pool in which to create the volumes. This pool must exist
on the PS Series group in use.
Base Volume Provisioning 10%, 80%, 100% When thin-provisioned volumes are created, they are assigned
a minimum, maximum, and warning level value. The minimum
value is the amount of storage to assign to the volume
immediately. As data is written to the volume, additional
storage will be assigned to it as needed. If the assigned
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