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SnapScale/RAINcloudOS 4.1 Administrator’s Guide
5 – Storage Options
iSCSI Configuration on the SnapScale
iSCSI disks are created on the
Storage > iSCSI
page of the Web Management Interface.
Before setting up iSCSI disks on your SnapScale cluster, carefully review the following
information.
Basic Components of an iSCSI Network
iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over intranets and to manage storage over long
distances. A basic iSCSI network has two types of devices:
•
iSCSI initiators, either software or hardware, resident on hosts (usually servers), that
start communications by issuing commands.
•
iSCSI targets, resident on storage devices, that respond to the initiators’ requests for
data.
The interaction between the initiator and target mandates a server-client model where the
initiator and the target communicate with each other using the SCSI command and data set
encapsulated over TCP/IP.
Back up an iSCSI Disk from the Client, not the SnapScale
An iSCSI disk is not accessible from a share and thus cannot be backed up from the SnapScale
cluster. The disk can, however, be backed up from the client machine from which the iSCSI
disk is managed.
NOTE: While some third-party, agent-based backup packages could
technically
back up an iSCSI
disk on the SnapScale cluster, the result would be inconsistent or corrupted backup data if
any clients are connected during the operation. Only the client can maintain the filesystem
embedded on the iSCSI disk in the consistent state that is required for data integrity.
