configuring ha shared storage for scale-out file servers ... · pdf filestorage for scale-out...

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StarWind Virtual SAN®

Configuring HA Shared Storage

for Scale-Out File Servers in

Windows Server 2012R2 DECEMBER 2017

TECHNICAL PAPER

TECHNICAL PAPER 2

StarWind® Virtual SAN

Configuring HA Shared Storage for Scale-Out File Servers

in Windows Server 2012R2

Trademarks

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trademarks of StarWind Software. “StarWind LSFS” is a trademark of StarWind Software which may be

registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are owned by their respective owners.

Changes

The material in this document is for information only and is subject to change without notice. While

reasonable efforts have been made in the preparation of this document to assure its accuracy,

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the use of the information contained herein. StarWind Software reserves the right to make changes in

the product design without reservation and without notification to its users.

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About StarWind

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technology from its earliest days. Now the company is among the leading vendors of software and

hardware hyperconverged solutions. The company’s core product is the years-proven StarWind

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infrastructure. Having earned a reputation of reliability, StarWind created a hardware product line and

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TECHNICAL PAPER 3




Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 4

Pre-Configuring the Servers ........................................................................................................... 5

Installing File Server Role ....................................................................................................... 7

Enabling Multipath Support .................................................................................................. 8

Downloading, Installing, and Registering the Software ................................................... 9

Configuring Shared Storage ................................................................................................ 16

Discovering Target Portals ................................................................................................... 27

Connecting Targets ............................................................................................................... 30

Multipath Configuration ....................................................................................................... 35

Creating a Cluster ........................................................................................................................... 38

Adding Witness and Cluster Shared Volumes ......................................................................... 43

Configuring the Scale-Out File Server Role............................................................................... 45

Sharing a Folder .............................................................................................................................. 50

Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 57

Contacts ............................................................................................................................................ 58

TECHNICAL PAPER 4




Introduction

This technical paper covers the Highly Available Shared Storage configuration for

Scale-Out File Servers in Windows Server 2012 R2. It describes how to configure

StarWind Virtual SAN, create CSV(s), and build the Scale-out File Server (SoFS) which

allows keeping server application data on file shares over SMB protocol and makes

files continuously accessible for end users. Providing VSAN reliability, this architecture

is designed to ensure file share availability and accessibility for clustered nodes and

VMs in the cluster.

StarWind Virtual SAN® is a hardware-less storage solution that creates a fault-tolerant

and high-performing storage pool built for virtualization workloads by mirroring

existing server’s storage and RAM between the participating storage cluster nodes. The

mirrored storage resource, in this case, is treated just like local storage. StarWind

Virtual SAN ensures the simple configuration of highly available shared storage for

SoFS and delivers the excellent performance and advanced data protection features.

This guide is intended for experienced Windows Server users, or system

administrators. It provides detailed instructions on how to configure HA Shared

Storage for Scale-Out File Server in Windows Server 2012 R2 with StarWind Virtual

SAN as a storage provider.

A full set of up-to-date technical documentation can always be found here, or by

pressing the Help button in the StarWind Management Console.

For any technical inquiries, please, visit our online community, Frequently Asked

Questions page, or use the support form to contact our technical support department.

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TECHNICAL PAPER 5




Pre-Configuring the Servers

The reference network diagram of the configuration described further in this guide is provided

below.

NOTE: Additional network connections may be necessary, depending on the cluster setup

and applications requirements. For any technical help with configuring the additional networks,

please, do not hesitate to contact StarWind support department via online community forum,

or via support form (depends on your support plan).

1. Make sure that you have a domain controller and you have added the servers we are

configuring to the domain.

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TECHNICAL PAPER 6




2. Install Failover Clustering, Multipath I/O features, and the Hyper-V role on both

servers. That can be done through Server Manager (Add Roles and Features menu

item).

3. Configure network interfaces on each node to make sure that Synchronization and

iSCSI/StarWind heartbeat interfaces are in different subnets and connected according to

the network diagram above.

In this document, 172.16.10.x subnet is used for iSCSI/StarWind heartbeat traffic, while

172.16.20.x subnet is used for the Synchronization traffic.

4. In order to allow iSCSI Initiators to discover all StarWind Virtual SAN interfaces,

StarWind configuration file (StarWind.cfg) should be changed after stopping StarWind

Service on the node where it will be edited.

Locate StarWind Virtual SAN configuration file (the default path is: C:\Program

Files\StarWind Software\StarWind\StarWind.cfg ) and open it with Wordpad as

Administrator.

Find the <iScsiDiscoveryListInterfaces value=”0”/> string and change the value from 0 to 1

(should look as follows: <iScsiDiscoveryListInterfaces value=”1”/>). Save the changes and

exit Wordpad. Once StarWind.cfg is changed and saved, StarWind service can be started.

TECHNICAL PAPER 7




Installing File Server Role

5. Open Server Manager: Start -> Server Manager.

6. Select: Manage -> Add Roles and Features

7. Follow the Wizard's steps to install the selected role.

NOTE: Restart the server after installation is completed.

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Enabling Multipath Support

8. On cluster nodes, open the MPIO manager: Start->Administrative Tools->MPIO;

9. Go to the Discover Multi-Paths tab;

10. Tick the Add support for iSCSI devices checkbox and click Add

11. When prompted to restart the server, click Yes to proceed.

NOTE: Repeat the procedure on the second server.

TECHNICAL PAPER 9




Downloading, Installing, and Registering the Software

12. Download the StarWind setup executable file from our website by following this link:

https://www.starwind.com/registration-starwind-virtual-san

NOTE: The setup file is the same for x86 and x64 systems, as well as for all Virtual SAN

deployment scenarios.

13. Launch the downloaded setup file on the server where you wish to install StarWind

Virtual SAN or one of its components. The setup wizard will appear:

14. Read and accept the License Agreement.

Click Next to continue.

https://www.starwind.com/registration-starwind-virtual-san

TECHNICAL PAPER 10




15. Carefully read the information about new features and improvements. Red text that

indicates warnings for users who update existing software installations.


16. Click Browse to modify the installation path if necessary.


TECHNICAL PAPER 11




17. Select the following components for the minimum setup:

• StarWind Virtual SAN Service

StarWind Service is the core of the software. It can create iSCSI targets as well as share

virtual and physical devices. The service can be managed from StarWind Management

Console on any Windows computer or VSA that is on the same network. Alternatively, the

service can be managed from StarWind Web Console, deployed separately.

• StarWind Management Console

The Management Console is the Graphic User Interface (GUI) part of the software that

controls and monitors all storage-related operations (e.g., allows users to create targets

and devices on StarWind Virtual SAN servers connected to the network).


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18. Specify the Start Menu folder.


19. Enable the checkbox if you want to create a desktop icon.


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20. You will be asked to request a time-limited fully functional evaluation key, a FREE version

key, or a fully-commercial license key sent to you with the purchase of StarWind Virtual

SAN. Select the appropriate option.


21. Click Browse to locate the license file.


TECHNICAL PAPER 14




22. Review the licensing information.

Click Next to apply the license key.

23. Verify the installation settings. Click Back to make any changes, or Install to continue.

TECHNICAL PAPER 15




24. Select the appropriate checkbox to launch the StarWind Management Console

immediately after the setup wizard is closed.

Click Finish to close the wizard.

25. Repeat the installation steps on the partner node.

NOTE: To manage StarWind Virtual SAN installed on a Server Core OS edition, StarWind

Management console must be installed on a different computer running the GUI-enabled

Windows edition.

TECHNICAL PAPER 16




Configuring Shared Storage

26. Launch StarWind Management Console by double-clicking the StarWind tray icon.

NOTE: StarWind Management Console cannot be installed on an operating system without a

GUI. You can install it on Windows Desktop 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and Windows Server 2008 R2, 2012,

2012 R2, 2016 editions including the desktop versions of Windows.

If StarWind Service and Management Console are installed on the same server, the

Management Console will automatically add the local StarWind node to the Console after the

first launch. Then, Management Console automatically connects to it using the default

credentials. To add remote StarWind servers to the console, use the Add Server button on the

control panel.

TECHNICAL PAPER 17




27. StarWind Management console will ask you to specify the default storage pool on the

server you’re connecting to for the first time. Please, configure the default storage pool to

use one of the volumes you have prepared earlier. All the devices created through the

Add Device wizard will be stored on it. Should you decide to use an alternative storage

pool for your StarWind virtual disks, please use the Add Device (advanced) menu item.

Press the Yes button to configure the storage pool. Should you require to change the storage

pool destination, press Choose path… and point the browser to the necessary disk.

NOTE: Each array used by StarWind Virtual SAN to store virtual disk images should meet the

following requirements:

• initialized as GPT;

• have a single NTFS-formatted partition;

• have a drive letter assigned.

On the steps below, you can find how to prepare an HA device for Witness drive. Other devices

should be created in the same way.

28. Select either of two StarWind servers to start the device creation and configuration.

29. Press the Add Device (advanced) button on the toolbar.

30. Add Device Wizard will appear. Select Hard Disk Device and click Next.

31. Select the Virtual disk and click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 18




32. Specify the virtual disk name, location, and size and click Next.

33. Choose the type of StarWind device (Thick-provisioned, or LSFS device), specify virtual

block size and click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 19




34. Define the caching policy, specify the cache size, and click Next.

NOTE: It is recommended to assign 1 GB of L1 cache in Write-Back or Write-Through mode per

1 TB storage capacity if necessary.

35. Define the Flash Cache Parameters policy and size if necessary. Choose an SSD

location in the wizard. Click Next to continue.

NOTE: The recommended size of the L2 cache is 10% of the initial StarWind device capacity.

TECHNICAL PAPER 20




36. Specify the target parameters.

Select the Target Name checkbox to enter a custom name of the target. Otherwise, the name

will be generated automatically based on the target alias. Click Next to continue.

37. Click Create to add a new device and assign it to the target. Then, click Close to close the

wizard.

38. Right-click the servers field and click the Add Server button. Add new StarWind Server

which will be used as the partner HA node.

Press OK and Connect buttons to continue.

TECHNICAL PAPER 21




39. Right-click the device you have just created and select Replication Manager.

Replication Manager Window will appear. Press the Add Replica button.

40. Select Synchronous two-way replication and click Next to proceed.

TECHNICAL PAPER 22




41. Specify the partner server IP address.

Default StarWind management port is 3261. If you have configured a different port, make sure to

change the Port Number value parameter accordingly. Click Next.

42. Select Heartbeat Failover Strategy and click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 23




43. Choose Create new Partner Device and click Next.

44. Specify the partner device location or the target name of the device if necessary.

Click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 24




45. Select synchronization and heartbeat channels for the HA device by clicking the Change

network settings button.

46. Specify the interfaces for synchronization and Heartbeat. Click OK. Then click Next.

NOTE: It is recommended configuring Heartbeat and iSCSI channels on the same interfaces to

avoid the split-brain issue. If Synchronization and Heartbeat interfaces are located on the same

network adapter, it is recommended to assign one more Heartbeat interface to a separate

adapter.

TECHNICAL PAPER 25




47. Select Synchronize from existing Device as a partner device initialization mode and

click Next.

48. Press the Create Replica button. Then click Close to close the wizard.

49. The added devices will appear in the StarWind Management Console.

Repeat the steps above to create other virtual disks if necessary.

TECHNICAL PAPER 26




Once all devices are created, the Management console should look as follows.

TECHNICAL PAPER 27




Discovering Target Portals

In this section, we discuss how to discover Target Portals on each StarWind node.

50. Launch Microsoft iSCSI Initiator on the first StarWind node: Start > Administrative Tools >

iSCSI Initiator or iscsicpl from the command line interface. The iSCSI Initiator Properties

window will appear.

51. Navigate to the Discovery tab. Click the Discover Portal button. In Discover Target

Portal dialog box, enter the local IP address - 127.0.0.1.

52. Click the Advanced button, select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator as your Local adapter and

keep Initiator IP as it is set by default. Press OK twice to complete the Target Portal

discovery.

TECHNICAL PAPER 28




53. Click the Discover Portal button once again.

54. In the Discover Target Portal dialog box, enter the iSCSI IP address of the partner node

and click the Advanced button.

55. Select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator as a Local adapter, and select the initiator IP address

from the same subnet. Click OK twice to add the Target Portal.

TECHNICAL PAPER 29




56. Target portals are added on the local node.

57. Go through the same steps on the partner node.

58. All target portals are added to the partner node.

TECHNICAL PAPER 30




Connecting Targets

59. Launch Microsoft iSCSI Initiator on the first StarWind node and click on the Targets

tab. The previously created targets should be listed in the Discovered Targets section.

NOTE: If the created targets are not listed, check the firewall settings of the StarWind Server

and the list of networks served by the StarWind Server (go to StarWind Management

Console -> Configuration -> Network).

60. Select a target for the Witness device, discovered from the local server and click

Connect.

61. Enable checkboxes like in the image below and click Advanced.

TECHNICAL PAPER 31




62. Select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator in the Local adapter text field.

Select 127.0.0.1 in the Target portal IP list.

Click OK twice to connect the target.

NOTE: It is recommended to connect Witness device only by loopback (127.0.0.1) address. Do

not connect the target to the Witness device from the partner StarWind node.

63. Select the target for the CSV1 device discovered from the local server and click Connect.

64. Enable checkboxes like in the image below and click Advanced

TECHNICAL PAPER 32





Select 127.0.0.1 in the Target portal IP area.

Click OK twice to connect the target.

66. Select the target for the CSV device discovered from the partner StarWind node and

click Connect.

67. Enable checkboxes, like it is shown in the image below, and click Advanced.


TECHNICAL PAPER 33




69. In Target portal IP, select the IP address for the iSCSI channel on the partner

StarWind Node and Initiator IP address from the same subnet. Click OK twice to

connect the target.

70. Repeat the above actions for all HA device targets. The result should look like in the

picture below.

TECHNICAL PAPER 34




71. Repeat the steps described in this section on partner StarWind node, specifying

corresponding IP addresses for the iSCSI channel. The result should look like in the

screenshot below.

TECHNICAL PAPER 35




Multipath Configuration

NOTE: It is recommended configuring different MPIO policies depending on iSCSI channel

throughput. For 1 Gbps iSCSI channel throughput, it is recommended to set Failover Only MPIO

policy. For 10 Gbps iSCSI channel throughput, it is recommended to set Round Robin or Least

queue depth MPIO policy.

72. With Failover Only MPIO policy, it is recommended to set localhost (127.0.0.1) as the

active path. Select a target located on the local server and click Devices.

TECHNICAL PAPER 36




73. The Devices dialog appears. Click MPIO.

74. Select Fail Over Only load balance policy, and then designate the local path as active.

TECHNICAL PAPER 37




75. You can verify that 127.0.0.1 is the active path by selecting it from the list and clicking

Details.

76. Repeat the same steps for each device on both nodes.

77. Round Robin or Least Queue Depth MPIO policy can be set in Device Details window.

78. Initialize the disks and create partitions on them using the Disk Management snap-in.

The disk devices are required to be initialized and formatted on both nodes in order to

create the cluster.

NOTE: It is recommended to initialize the disks as GPT.

TECHNICAL PAPER 38




Creating a Cluster

NOTE: To avoid issues during cluster validation configuration, it is recommended to install the

latest Microsoft updates on each node.

79. Open Server Manager. Select the Failover Cluster Manager item from the Tools

menu.

80. Click the Create Cluster link in the Actions section of the Failover Cluster Manager.

TECHNICAL PAPER 39




81. Specify the servers which are to be added to the cluster.


82. Validate the configuration by running the cluster validation tests: select “Yes…” and click

Next to continue.

TECHNICAL PAPER 40




83. Specify the cluster name.

NOTE: If the cluster servers get IP addresses over DHCP, the cluster also gets its IP address over

DHCP. If the IP addresses are set statically, you will be prompted to set the cluster IP address

manually.


TECHNICAL PAPER 41




84. Make sure that all the settings are correct. Click Previous to change the settings (if

necessary):

NOTE: If checkbox “Add all eligible storage to the cluster” is enabled, the wizard will add all

disks to the cluster automatically. The device with smallest storage volume will be assigned as

Witness. It is recommended to uncheck it before you click Next and add cluster disks and the

Witness drive manually.

TECHNICAL PAPER 42




85. The process of cluster creation starts. Upon completion, the system displays a summary

with detailed information.

Click Finish to close the wizard.

TECHNICAL PAPER 43




Adding Witness and Cluster Shared Volumes

Follow these steps to add Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) that are necessary for working with

Hyper-V virtual machines:

86. Open Failover Cluster Manager.

87. Go to Cluster->Storage -> Disks.

88. Click Add Disk in the Actions panel, choose StarWind disks from the list, and click OK.

89. To configure the Witness drive, right-click Cluster->More Actions->Configure Cluster

Quorum Settings, follow the wizard, and use the default quorum configuration.

TECHNICAL PAPER 44




90. Right-click the previously added disk and select Add to Cluster Shared Volumes.

TECHNICAL PAPER 45




Configuring the Scale-Out File Server Role

91. To configure the Scale-Out File Server role, open Failover Cluster Manager.

92. Right-click on the cluster name, then click Configure Role, and click Next to continue.

93. Select the File Server item from the list in High Availability Wizard and click Next to

continue.

TECHNICAL PAPER 46




94. Select Scale-Out File Server for application data and click Next.

95. On the Client Access Point page, in the Name text field, type NETBIOS, the name that

will be used to access a Scale-Out File Server.


TECHNICAL PAPER 47




96. Check whether the specified information is correct. Click Next to proceed, or Previous to

change the settings.

97. Once installation finishes successfully, the Wizard should look as shown in the screenshot

below.

Click Finish to close the Wizard.

TECHNICAL PAPER 48




98. The newly created role should look as shown in the screenshot below.

NOTE: If the role status is Failed and it is unable to Start, please, follow the next steps:

• Open Active Directory Users and Computers;

• Enable Advanced view if it is not enabled;

• Edit the properties of the OU containing the cluster computer object (in our case –

StarWind-Cluster);

• Open the Security tab and click Advanced;

• In the emerged window, press Add (the Permission Entry dialog box opens), click Select

a principal;

• In the appeared window, click Object Types, select Computers, and click OK;

TECHNICAL PAPER 49




• Enter the name of the cluster computer object (in our case – StarWindCluster);

• Go back to the Permission Entry dialog, scroll down, and select Create Computer

Objects.

• Click OK on all opened windows to confirm the changes.

• Open Failover Cluster Manager, right-click the SOFS role, and click Start Role.

TECHNICAL PAPER 50




Sharing a Folder

To share a folder:


100. Expand the cluster and then click Roles.

101. Right-click the file server role and then press Add File Share.

102. On the Select the profile for this share page, click SMB Share – Applications and

then click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 51




103. Select a CSV to host the share. Click Next to proceed.

104. Type in the file share name and click Next.

TECHNICAL PAPER 52




105. Make sure that the Enable Continuous Availability box is checked. Click Next to

proceed.

TECHNICAL PAPER 53




106. Specify the access permissions for your file share.

NOTE:

• If you use Scale-Out File Server for Hyper-V, you must provide all Hyper-V computer

accounts, the SYSTEM account, and all Hyper-V administrators with the full control on the

share and file system.

• If you use Scale-Out File Server on Microsoft SQL Server, the SQL Server service account

must be granted full control on the share and the file system.

TECHNICAL PAPER 54




107. Check whether specified settings are correct. Click Previous to make any changes or click

Create to proceed.

TECHNICAL PAPER 55




108. Check a summary, and click Close to close the Wizard.

TECHNICAL PAPER 56




To manage created shares:


110. Expand the cluster and click Roles.

111. Choose the file share role, select the Shares tab, right-click the created file share, and

select Properties.

TECHNICAL PAPER 57




Conclusion

We have configured a two-node fault-tolerant cluster in Windows Server 2012 R2 with StarWind

Virtual SAN as a backbone for your HA shared storage. Now, you have a continuously available

Scale-Out File Server file share(s) available over SMB protocol that can be used for storing VMs

that leave files open for extended periods of time, or other purposes.

TECHNICAL PAPER 58




Contacts

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