iSCSI storage with UCS

[Kassim Ismail]

Hi All,

Can i ask a question with regards to connecting iSCSI storage to use with UCS. We are looking at using Nimble storage which is iSCSI based & want to understand best practise recommendations on how to connect it to UCS to get the best level of performance & reliability/ resilience etc.

Another question is more around how VMware deals with loss of connectivity to one path (where dual connections are setup, from storage to fabrics), would it re-route traffic to running path?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Kassim

[padramas · Accepted solution]

Hello Kassim,

Currently Nimble iSCSI storage is certified with UCS 2.0.3 firmware version.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/unified_computing/ucs/interoperability/matrix/r_hcl_B_rel2.03.pdf

The following guide can serve as reference.

Cisco Desktop Virtualization Solution with Nimble Storage Reference Architecture

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/solutions/collateral/ns340/ns517/ns224/ns836/ns978/guide_c07-719522.pdf

In above setup, ESXi software iSCSi multipathing with PSP Round Robin algorithm is implemented to take to care of load balancing IO and failover with dual paths.

HTH

Padma

[Kassim Ismail]

Hi Padma,

Thanks for the reply & links. Much appreciated.

i will look at the PDF & post in here if i have any questions.

Kassim

[Kassim Ismail]

Hi Padma,

the reference architecture shows connecting the nimble direct to the FI's, how would that change if we want to connect to a pair of Nexus 7k's?

[padramas]

Hello Kassim,

You will be good if you have individual links from each FI to upstream switch N7K dedicated for iSCSI traffic.

iSCSI MPIO do not prefer load balancing at layer 2.

Again, the guide may not directly apply to your deployment requirements but it has good info regarding UCS + iSCSI + Nimble + ESXi scenario.

Padma

[Kassim Ismail]

Thanks for the further info.