Configuring COMSTAR (Task Map)

Task	Description	For Instructions
Identify the COMSTAR software and hardware requirements.	Identify the software and hardware requirements for setting up an iSCSI storage network with COMSTAR.	COMSTAR Software and Hardware Requirements
Determine the iSCSI target discovery method.	Determine the iSCSI target discovery method best suited for your environment.	Configuring Dynamic or Static Target Discovery
Enable the STMF service.	Enable the STMF service, which provides persistent target information.
Create SCSI logical units and make them available.	Create SCSI logical units (LUNs) and make them available to all hosts or specific hosts for iSCSI or iSER configurations.	How to Create an iSCSI LUN
Configure the iSCSI target.	Configure the iSCSI target for the iSCSI storage component.	How to Create the iSCSI Target
Configure the iSCSI initiator.	Configure the system or systems that initiate SCSI requests to the iSCSI target.	How to Configure an iSCSI Initiator
Access the iSCSI disks.	You can access your iSCSI disks with the `format` utility. You can also enable the iSCSI disks to be available automatically after the system is rebooted.	How to Access iSCSI Disks
Restrict LUN access to selected Systems.	You might want to restrict LUN access to specific systems in the network.	How to Restrict LUN Access to Selected Systems
Configure Fibre Channel devices.	Configure FC devices with COMSTAR if you have a FC storage array in your environment.	Configuring Fibre Channel Devices With COMSTAR
Configure FCoE devices.	Configure Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) devices with COMSTAR. FCoE functionality is provided through Ethernet interfaces. FCoE ports are logical entities associated with Ethernet interfaces.	Configuring FCoE Devices With COMSTAR
Configure SRP devices.	Configure SRP devices with COMSTAR. The SRP (SCSI RDMA Protocol) accelerates the SCSI protocol by mapping the SCSI data transfer phases to Infiniband (IB) Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) operations.	Configuring SRP Devices With COMSTAR
(Optional) Set up authentication in your Oracle Solaris iSCSI configuration.	Decide whether you want to use authentication in your Oracle Solaris iSCSI configuration:
	Consider using unidirectional CHAP or bidirectional CHAP.	How to Configure CHAP Authentication for Your iSCSI Initiator
		How to Configure CHAP Authentication for Your iSCSI Target
	Consider using a third-party RADIUS server to simplify CHAP management.	How to Configure a RADIUS Server for Your iSCSI Target
Monitor your iSCSI configuration.	Monitor your iSCSI configuration by using the `iscsiadm` command.	How to Display iSCSI Configuration Information
(Optional) Modify your iSCSI configuration.	You might want to modify your iSCSI target parameters such as the header and data digest parameters.	How to Modify iSCSI Initiator and Target Parameters

Configuring COMSTAR

Configuring your iSCSI targets and initiators with COMSTAR involves the following tasks:

Identifying hardware and software requirements
Configuring your IP network
Connecting and setting up the iSCSI target device
Configuring the initiators
Configuring the iSCSI target discovery method
Creating file systems on your iSCSI disks
(Optional) Configuring iSCSI authentication between the iSCSI initiator and the iSCSI target
Monitoring your iSCSI configuration

The iSCSI configuration information is stored in the /etc/iscsi directory, but it requires no manual administration.

COMSTAR Terminology

Review the following terminology before configuring iSCSI targets and initiators.

Term	Description
discovery	The process that presents the initiator with a list of available targets.
discovery method	The way in which the iSCSI targets can be found. Three methods are currently available: Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) – Potential targets are discovered by interacting with one or more iSNS servers. SendTargets – Potential targets are discovered by using a `discovery-address.` Static – Static target addressing is configured.
initiator	The driver that initiates SCSI requests to the iSCSI target.
initiator group	A set of initiators. When an initiator group is associated with a LUN, only initiators from that group may access the LUN.
`iqn` or `eui` address format	An `iqn` (iSCSI qualified name) address is the unique identifier for a device in an iSCSI network using the form `iqn.date.authority:uniqueid`. An iSCSI initiator or target is assigned an IQN name automatically when the iSCSI initiator or target is initialized. An `eui` (extended unique identifier) address consists of 16 hexadecimal digits, and identifies a class of GUIDs that is used in both the SCSI and InfiniBand standards. SRP devices use the `eui` address format.
logical unit	A uniquely numbered component in a storage system. Also referred to as a LUN. When a LUN is associated with one or more SCSI targets, the target can be accessed by one or more SCSI initiators.
target device	The iSCSI storage component.
target group	A set of targets. A LUN can be made available to all targets in one target group.
target portal group	A list of IP addresses that determines which interfaces a specific iSCSI target will listen to. A TPG contains IP addresses and TCP port numbers

Configuring Dynamic or Static Target Discovery

Determine whether you want to configure one of the dynamic device discovery methods or use static iSCSI initiator targets to perform device discovery.

Dynamic device discovery – Two dynamic device discovery methods are available:
- SendTargets – If an iSCSI node exposes a large number of targets, such as an iSCSI to Fibre-Channel bridge, you can supply the iSCSI node IP address/port combination and allow the iSCSI initiator to use the SendTargets features to perform the device discovery.
- iSNS – The Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) allows the iSCSI initiator to discover the targets to which it has access using as little configuration information as possible. It also provides state change notification to notify the iSCSI initiator when changes in the operational state of storage nodes occur. To use the iSNS discovery method, you can supply the iSNS server address/port combination and allow the iSCSI initiator to query the iSNS servers that you specified to perform the device discovery. The default port for the iSNS server is 3205. For more information about iSNS, see RFC 4171:
  
  http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc4171.txt
  
  The iSNS discovery service provides an administrative model to discover all targets on a network.
  
  For more information about setting up iSNS support in Oracle Solaris, see Chapter 15, Configuring and Managing the Oracle Solaris Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS).
Static device discovery – If an iSCSI node has few targets or if you want to restrict the targets that the initiator attempts to access, you can statically configure the target-name by using the following static target address naming convention:

target,target-address[:port-number]

You can determine the static target address from the array's management tool.

Note - Do not configure an iSCSI target to be discovered by both static and dynamic device discovery methods. The consequence of using redundant discovery methods might be slow performance when the initiator is communicating with the iSCSI target device.

Skip Navigation Links
Exit Print View
	Oracle Solaris Administration: Devices and File Systems Oracle Solaris 11 Information Library