vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

vSphere Storage
4 Configure advanced parameters.
n To configure advanced parameters at the adapter level, under Adapter Details, click the Advanced
Options tab and click Edit.
n Configure advanced parameters at the target level.
a Click the Targets tab and click either Dynamic Discovery or Static Discovery.
b From the list of available targets, select a target to configure and click Advanced Options.
5 Enter any required values for the advanced parameters you want to modify.
iSCSI Session Management
To communicate with each other, iSCSI initiators and targets establish iSCSI sessions. You can review and
manage iSCSI sessions using vSphere CLI.
By default, software iSCSI and dependent hardware iSCSI initiators start one iSCSI session between each
initiator port and each target port. If your iSCSI initiator or target have more than one port, your host can have
multiple sessions established. The default number of sessions for each target equals the number of ports on
the iSCSI adapter times the number of target ports.
Using vSphere CLI, you can display all current sessions to analyze and debug them. To create more paths to
storage systems, you can increase the default number of sessions by duplicating existing sessions between the
iSCSI adapter and target ports.
You can also establish a session to a specific target port. This can be useful if your host connects to a singleport
storage system that, by default, presents only one target port to your initiator, but can redirect additional
sessions to a different target port. Establishing a new session between your iSCSI initiator and another target
port creates an additional path to the storage system.
The following considerations apply to iSCSI session management:
n Some storage systems do not support multiple sessions from the same initiator name or endpoint.
Attempts to create multiple sessions to such targets can result in unpredictable behavior of your iSCSI
environment.
n Storage vendors can provide automatic session managers. Using the automatic session manages to add
or delete sessions, does not guarantee lasting results and can interfere with the storage performance.
Review iSCSI Sessions
Use the vCLI command to display iSCSI sessions between an iSCSI adapter and a storage system.
In the procedure, --server=server_name specifies the target server. The specified target server prompts you
for a user name and password. Other connection options, such as a configuration file or session file, are
supported. For a list of connection options, see Getting Started with vSphere Command-Line Interfaces.
Prerequisites
Install vCLI or deploy the vSphere Management Assistant (vMA) virtual machine. See Getting Started with
vSphere Command-Line Interfaces. For troubleshooting , run esxcli commands in the ESXi Shell.
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