SOLVED Connecting FreeNAS to ESXi using X520-DA

[eroji]

I have in FreeNAS and ESXi host each a Intel X520-DA dual port. I followed the steps outlined in this thread to try and configure the iSCSI but I am not getting very far. I did complete all the steps for FreeNAS. On ESXi end, I created the virtual storage adapter, but it's not letting me add the 10GbE NICs. This is the message I'm getting.

The selected physical network adapter is not associated with VMkernel with compliant teaming and failover policy. VMkernel network adapter must have exactly one active uplink and no standby uplinks to be eligible for binding to the iSCSI HBA.

Not sure if I am doing it right.

 

[Darren Myers]

I'm running ESXi 5.5 U2 , the steps i did are below:
In configuration, select networking, select VMkernal selected the NIC (also 10Gb to use) , clicked next, left it all as default , gave it a static address , done.
Then i went to storage adapters, selected my newly added 10Gb, went to network configuration, added said VMkernal, filled out any info there, then went to static discovery, and adding my iSCSI storage.

Above i didnt select any fail over or static teaming in my configuration

 

[eroji]

I actually got it running. Here is what I did.

Tunables (maybe someone can tell me if this is actually needed)
variable: ispfw_load, value: YES, type: loader
variable: ctl_load, value: YES, type:loader
variable: hint.isp.0.role, value: 0 (zero), type: loader
variable: hint.isp.1.role, value: 0 (zero), type: loader
variable: ctladm, value: port -o on -t fc, type: loader

Configure portal (with IP 1.1.1.1 mask 255.255.255.0 instead)
Initiator (ALL,ALL)
Create target
Create extent (type: file and gave it a specific size)
Create associated target
Reboot

On ESXi
Add virtual storage adapter
Add vSwitch with just 1/2 ports for the X520 10GbE
Gave it IP of 1.1.1.2 mask 255.255.255.0
Added the vSwitch to the Storage Adapter
Did a full rescan

The disk showed up after that.

I created a 40GB thin provisioned disk for one of the VM and ran CrystalDiskMark to test and here is what I got. This is with 4 HGST disks in mirrored stripe and a Intel 750 400GB with 20GB allocated as SLOG.

I still want to see if I can add the second port of the X520 to enable multipathing. Also, where do you set sync=always for iSCSI?

 

[Rick Arman]

I actually got it running. Here is what I did.

Tunables (maybe someone can tell me if this is actually needed)
variable: ispfw_load, value: YES, type: loader
variable: ctl_load, value: YES, type:loader
variable: hint.isp.0.role, value: 0 (zero), type: loader
variable: hint.isp.1.role, value: 0 (zero), type: loader
variable: ctladm, value: port -o on -t fc, type: loader

Configure portal (with IP 1.1.1.1 mask 255.255.255.0 instead)
Initiator (ALL,ALL)
Create target
Create extent (type: file and gave it a specific size)
Create associated target
Reboot

On ESXi
Add virtual storage adapter
Add vSwitch with just 1/2 ports for the X520 10GbE
Gave it IP of 1.1.1.2 mask 255.255.255.0
Added the vSwitch to the Storage Adapter
Did a full rescan

The disk showed up after that.

I created a 40GB thin provisioned disk for one of the VM and ran CrystalDiskMark to test and here is what I got. This is with 4 HGST disks in mirrored stripe and a Intel 750 400GB with 20GB allocated as SLOG.

View attachment 7753

I still want to see if I can add the second port of the X520 to enable multipathing. Also, where do you set sync=always for iSCSI?

can you expand the storage capacity past 40GB if you needed more storage? and did you ever get multipathing working?