Configuring Windows Server 2008 R2 for iSCSI SAN Boot with EqualLogic Storage A Dell EqualLogic Best Practices Technical White Paper Dell Storage Engineering February 2013
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Table of contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Feedback ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Executive summary ......................................................................................
9.2 Installing the EqualLogic Host Integration Tool (HIT) Kit....................................................................................... 35 9.3 Configuring the Microsoft iSCSI initiator .................................................................................................................. 36 9.4 Set Jumbo frames on Network adapters ..................................................................................................................
Acknowledgements This best practice white paper was produced by the following members of the Dell Storage team: Engineering: Nirav Shah Technical Marketing: Guy Westbrook Editing: Margaret Boeneke Additional contributors: Michael Kosacek Feedback We encourage readers of this publication to provide feedback on the quality and usefulness of this information by sending an email to SISfeedback@Dell.com. SISfeedback@Dell.
1 Introduction th This paper demonstrates Dell best practices for implementing iSCSI boot from a SAN for the 11 th generation (11G) and 12 generation (12G) of Dell PowerEdge servers and Dell EqualLogic storage arrays when running Windows 2008 R2. With its unique peer storage architecture, Dell EqualLogic PS Series storage delivers high performance and availability in a flexible environment with low total cost of ownership.
1.1 Objective The goal of this whitepaper is to: • Provide guidelines and best practices for configuring Dell PowerEdge servers and supported network adapters for iSCSI SAN boot from EqualLogic arrays. • Provide a lab tested and validated SAN architecture to support high availability by implementing multi-path I/O and redundant components. • Provide reference architectures for 1Gb and 10Gb Ethernet iSCSI boot from SAN environments with Dell supported network adapters from Qlogic™, Intel™, and Broadcom™.
1.2 Terminology th 11G PowerEdge Servers or 11G– 11 generation of Dell PowerEdge servers th 12G PowerEdge Servers or 12G— 12 generation of Dell PowerEdge servers Arrays – Refers to iSCSI EqualLogic PS Series storage arrays IQN – iSCSI Qualified Name – This is a naming format useful when an end user or service provider wishes to assign iSCSI names for targets and/or initiators. The iSCSI Qualified Name is documented in RFC 3720 (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3720) and RFC 3721 (http://tools.ietf.
2 Process overview To configure iSCSI boot from SAN, there are four major steps which are explained in detail in the following sections. These steps include: 1. Configure EqualLogic storage arrays and prepare the boot volumes in Section 4. 2. Configure the Server and Network adapter(s) on the server to support boot from iSCSI targets in Section 6 and Section 7. 3. Install the OS onto the iSCSI target volume that was prepared for boot in Section 8. 4.
2.1 Before you begin Before you start the configuration process, you should complete the following steps: 1. Use a configuration tracking worksheet similar to the example provided in Appendix A. a. Note the IP address, IQN*, subnet mask, and other details about the Network adapter. Note: The IQN name may also be known as the “initiator name” in the network adapter configuration. See Section 6 for more information. b. Note the EqualLogic group details and volume details as needed. 2.
2.3 Restrictions for Broadcom adapter drivers The Broadcom network drivers included on the Windows 2008 R2 media do not support booting from an iSCSI SAN volume for Broadcom adapters other than Broadcom NetXtreme II 5709c Gigabit Ethernet NIC. When booting from an iSCSI SAN using Broadcom network adapters, a slipstreamed image of Windows 2008 R2 is required. For more information on creating a slipstreamed Windows image, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article KB974072 at http://support.microsoft.
3 Extracting drivers for a Windows 2008 R2 installation Before you begin the installation steps, download and extract the latest network adapter drivers from http://support.dell.com. Copy the extracted drivers to a USB flash drive so that they can be easily accessed during the Windows 2008 R2 installation. Choose the appropriate Intel, QLogic, or Broadcom drivers for your configuration. The following steps provide detail on how to extract the drivers for each specific network adapter. 3.
3.3 Extracting Broadcom NIC drivers (Optional) 1. Download Broadcom NIC drivers from http://support.dell.com. 2. Download the Bcom_LAN_*.exe file for your configuration and double click it to unpack the driver installation files. Select the location for the files. 3. Open command prompt and change directory to the location of the unpacked driver files and open the folder named “Driver_Management_Apps_Installer”. 4. Run this command to extract the drivers: Setup.exe /a 5.
4 Configuring the Dell EqualLogic Storage System This section describes the process of configuring the EqualLogic storage arrays to host the iSCSI boot volumes for a Windows host. Perform the following steps to create a target volume to boot the Windows host from: 1. Log in to Dell EqualLogic PS Series Group Manager by entering the IP address of the group in your web browser. 2. Click on the “Storage Pools” and select the desired pool in which the volume will be created.
Figure 2 5. Configuring the volume size via EqualLogic group manager Select one or more of the following iSCSI access modes for the volume you are going to present the Array Disk to: a. Authenticate using CHAP user name b. Limit access by IP Address c. Limit access to iSCSI Initiator Name Note: If you limit access based on iSCSI initiator name, then the iqn name entered here must match the iqn name of the host server adapter that will be booting from this volume.
Figure 3 iSCSI access window allows you to choose the access type 6. Keep the default Access type set to “read-write”. Note: It is usually not necessary to enable shared storage except when the iqn name of two network adapter ports used for iSCSI boot are different. Example: When using a Qlogic 8262 dual-port network adapter, and configuring redundant boot paths, you will need to add the unique iqn name for each individual port.
5 Preparing Intel Network Adapters for iSCSI boot Note: Intel network adapters are not shipped with iSCSI enabled in the Boot ROM. You must enable iSCSI so that Intel network adapters are detected as a boot device and are listed in the “Boot Sequence”. During the system boot if you do not see the Ctrl+D option to configure the Intel NIC then follow the following the steps in this section to enable iSCSI on the Intel network adapter.
Figure 4 This screen shows the steps to program the flash with “bootimg.flb” file 7. Reboot to apply the new configuration. Boot to the DOS bootable key created previously. 8. Change to the directory containing the Boot Agent (\Preboot\Apps\Bootutil\Dos), and run the following commands: bootutil.exe –all –bootenable=iscsiprimary bootutil.exe –all –bootenable=iscsisecondary These commands enable network adapter ports as iSCSI primary/secondary for legacy BIOS.
Figure 5 19 Running commands to configuring Intel network adapter ports as Primary and Secondary source for iSCSI boot BP1043 | Configuring Windows Server 2008 R2 for iSCSI SAN Boot with EqualLogic Storage
6 Configure Dell PowerEdge servers for iSCSI boot The following sections describe the process for configuring the server BIOS and NICs to support boot from iSCSI targets. 6.1 Preparing 11G PowerEdge servers to use a Network card for iSCSI boot Change the boot sequence settings. 1. Start or Reboot the system and during boot-up (during POST or Power-On Self-Test), press [F2] to enter Setup, select Boot Settings, and then Boot Sequence and press [Enter]. 2.
c. Internal SD Card Port: Off (To prevent a conflict during Windows 2008 install process.) d. Embedded NIC: If using an embedded NIC then enable iSCSI Boot for that particular NIC only. Select “Enabled” option for all the NICs not being used for iSCSI Boot, as shown below. i. Embedded NICx: Enabled ii. Embedded NICx: Enabled with iSCSI Boot 4. These changes are shown in the following figure. After changing, escape out and save.
Note: The USB drive and Virtual CD are detected if they are loaded. Figure 8 Changing Hard-Disk drive sequence in System Bios 6. Under Boot Option Enable/Disable, add a check mark to the network adapter used for iSCSI boot from SAN and also add a check mark to the Optical or Virtual CD drive. When the network adapters are listed in “Hard-Disk Drive Sequence”, also add a check mark for “Hard drive C:”. 7. Exit to “System Setup Main Menu” and save the configuration when prompted.
7 Configure Network Adapters for PowerEdge Servers Once the system is configured, configure the network adapter to connect to an iSCSI volume and later boot from the same. The following steps describe the procedure for Intel, Qlogic, and Broadcom network adapters. Use the sections below that apply to your configuration: • • • • 7.1 For Intel network adapters see Section 7.1 For QLogic converged network adapters, see Section 7.2 For Broadcom network adapters, see Section 7.3 Section 7.
Figure 9 iSCSI boot configuration menu for Intel network adapters 5. Select iSCSI CHAP configuration and press [Enter] to configure CHAP if needed. 6. Save changes and exit. 7. Configure other Intel network adapter ports if available. Enter “S” to make it secondary boot path. Configure the Secondary network adapter as shown above in steps 3 to 6 and exit after saving. Exit by pressing [ESC]. 8.
Figure 10 Intel network adapter logging to EqualLogic volume after configuration 9. Continue to section 8 for steps to install Windows 2008 R2. 7.2 Configuring Qlogic network adapter for iSCSI boot Note: The steps shown below use the iSCSI Boot Firmware Table (iBFT) for boot from SAN. For Qlogic QLE8262 there is an alternate method of boot from SAN using Fast!UTIL from Qlogic.
Figure 11 Qlogic network adapter configuration menu 2. In the Function Configuration menu, change the Protocol type to IBFT for network adapter ports used for iSCSI Boot as shown in Figure 11. 3. Highlight the Function column for the network adapter and press [Enter] to open the Adapter Settings menu for that network adapter port. 4. Enable ROM and select the IP format IPv4. 5.
Figure 12 Initiator settings for Qlogic network adapters 6. Exit the Initiator Settings menu and enter the Target Settings menu. Enter the Target iqn Name, Target IP, Target Port (3260) as shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13 Target Settings for Qlogic network adapter Exit to the Function Configuration menu and enter information for other network adapter ports as needed. 8. Once complete, press [ESC] and select Save changes. Reboot the system when prompted. 9. Continue to Section 8 for steps to install Windows 2008 R2. 7. 7.3 Configuring the Broadcom network adapter for iSCSI boot Use the following steps to configure the Broadcom network adapter for iSCSI boot from SAN. 1. 2. 3. 4.
Figure 14 MBA Configuration Menu for Broadcom network adapters 5. Choose iSCSI Boot Configuration. Select General Parameters and press [Enter]. 6. Under General Parameters, ensure that all settings match those shown below. You can also see these settings in Figure 15. a. Disable TCP/IP Parameters via DHCP b. Disable iSCSI Parameters via DHCP c. Disable CHAP Authentication d. Change Boot to iSCSI Target to “One Time Disabled” e.
Figure 15 General parameters for a Broadcom network adapter enabled for iSCSI boot 7. Press [ESC] to return to iSCSI Boot Main Menu, select Initiator Parameters, and press [Enter]. 8. Under Initiator Parameters, enter the IP Address, subnet mask, iSCSI Name (optional), and other details as required. Note: The server will auto-generate an IQN name for this host. If the target is set to control access based on IQN name, then add the IQN name to the volume access as shown in Section4, step 5. 9.
Figure 16 1st Target Parameters configuration for a Broadcom network adapter 11. Press [ESC] to return to the Main Menu. Enter the 2nd Target Parameter if needed or ensure that there is no information entered for 2nd Target Parameters. 12. Press [ESC] to return to iSCSI Boot Main Menu. Save the configuration. 13. Repeat the steps in this section for a second network adapter port if redundancy is desired. 14. Exit the Broadcom Utility by pressing [ESC].
Note: iSCSI boot must be enabled on Intel network adapters prior to this configuration. See Section 5 for more information. 1. Start or reboot the system and during System boot press [F2] to enter Setup. 2. Enter the Device Settings menu. Select the network adapter port that is used for iSCSI boot and press [Enter] to configure the network adapter. Figure 17 Device Settings menu lets you make changes to connected network adapters 3. In this menu, you can configure the network adapter settings as desired.
8 Installing Windows on the iSCSI volume Perform the following steps to install the Windows 2008 R2 OS on the iSCSI volume: 1. Insert the Windows Server 2008 R2 media into the system. 2. Turn on or reboot the system. Note: Do not use [F11] with the BIOS Boot Manager. Doing so may prevent Windows Server 2008 R2 from detecting network boot devices that use the inbox drivers. 3. Press any key when prompted to boot from the CD/DVD. 4. The Install Windows dialog box appears.
Figure 18 Selecting location for Windows 2008 R2 installation 14. Select the drive and click Next to start the Windows installation. Note: When redundant network adapter ports are configured for iSCSI boot, the EqualLogic iSCSI volume might appears as two disks. Select the volume that is not listed as “Offline”. 15. The Windows installer copies and expands files and installs features and updates. Once the installation is complete, the server reboots. 16.
9 Post Windows 2008 R2 OS installation steps The following section contains additional steps that should be performed after Windows 2008 R2 SP1 is initially installed on the bootable iSCSI volume. These additional steps complete the configuration of a bootable iSCSI SAN by configuring multi-path I/O and redundancy as well as implementing other best practices and optimization. 9.1 Installing Hotfixes 9.1.
9. Select Launch Remote Setup Wizard and click Finish. 10. When the window for Remote Setup Wizard appears, choose Configure MPIO settings for this computer and click Next. 11. Include only the subnet used for the SAN (iSCSI network) for MPIO, exclude all other the subnets from MPIO. Click Finish. (If any other subnets are added in the future, exclude them from MPIO if they are not a part of the SAN.) Figure 19 Configuring MPIO in Remote Setup Wizard 12. Reboot the system after installation.
3. Optional: If the Volume access is controlled by iSCSI Initiator name, then add the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator name in the Access control record for the volume with EqualLogic Group Manager using the following steps. a. Open iSCSI Initiator and go to the Configuration tab. Record the Initiator Name, which is the Microsoft iSCSI initiator name. b. Open Group Manager for the EqualLogic Arrays where the iSCSI Volume is located. Select the volume and go to the Access tab. c.
10 Recovery from degraded network interface When the host system is booted with a single active link to the boot volume (degraded boot), reestablishing the failed connection does not create redundant connections to the boot volume. To regain the redundant connection you must either reboot the host system or configure the IP address manually in the OS. To reestablish the network interface, use the following steps: Open Control Panel from the Start menu.
11 Conclusions Configuring a Windows 2008 R2 server to boot from an EqualLogic iSCSI SAN has several advantages for management of the server and network. It also provides high reliability for the IT environment.
A Configuration worksheet You can use the following worksheet to capture configuration information for your boot from iSCSI SAN environment. Note: Always use fully-qualified IQN format: .com.:. Example: iqn.1984-04.com.dell:server-name. For more information, see RFC3720 and RFC3721 at http://rfc.net/.
Additional resources Support.dell.com is focused on meeting your needs with proven services and support. DellTechCenter (http://delltechcenter.com) is an IT Community where you can connect with Dell Customers and Dell employees for the purpose of sharing knowledge, best practices, and information about Dell products and your installations. Microsoft MSDN article “Microsoft iSCSI Boot Step-by-Step Guide”: • http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee619733(v=ws.10).
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