HP 3PAR SUSE Linux Enterprise Implementation Guide

5 Configuring a Host with iSCSI
Setting Up the Switch and iSCSI Initiator
Connect the Linux host iSCSI initiator port(s) and the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage iSCSI target ports
to the switch(es).
If you are using VLANs, make sure that the switch ports which connect to the HP 3PAR StoreServ
Storage iSCSI target ports and iSCSI initiator ports reside in the same VLANs and/or that you can
route the iSCSI traffic between the iSCSI initiator ports and the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage iSCSI
target ports. Once the iSCSI initiator and HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage iSCSI target ports are
configured and connected to the switch, you can use the ping command on the iSCSI initiator
host to make sure it sees the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage iSCSI target ports.
NOTE: Setting up the switch for VLAN and routing configuration is beyond the scope of this
document. Consult your switch manufacturer's guide for instructions about setting up VLANs and
routing.
The procedures in this chapter assume that you have completed the following tasks:
• Set up and configuration of the host Network Interface Card (NIC) or converged network
adapter (CNA) as Initiator port that will be used by the iSCSI Initiator software to connect to
the HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage iSCSI target ports.
• Installation of the iSCSI initiator software package.
Configuring SUSE 10 & SUSE 11 for iSCSI
This section discusses the necessary tasks for setting up iSCSI for SUSE.
Installing iSCSI on SUSE
Install the iSCSI initiator software package if it has not been installed. The software package can
be installed from the respective Service Pack distribution CDs of your SUSE OS using the RPM tool.
Setting Up iSCSI for SUSE
iSCSI timers and session parameters are specified in the /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf file.
You can adjust the iSCSI timers for better SAN performance. iSCSI timers and session parameters
are specified in /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf file.
The replacement_timeout iSCSI timeout parameter prevents I/O errors from propagating to
the application by controlling how long the iSCSI layer should wait for a timed-out path/session
to reestablish itself before failing any commands on it. The default replacement_timeout value
is 120 seconds.
To adjust replacement_timeout, complete the following steps:
1. Open /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf and edit the following line:
node.session.timeo.replacement_timeout = [replacement_timeout]
2. Set this parameter to 10 seconds for a faster failover.
node.session.timeo.replacement_timeout = 10
Setting Up the Switch and iSCSI Initiator 37