vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

vSphere Storage
Internet SCSI (iSCSI)
Stores virtual machine files on remote iSCSI storage devices. iSCSI packages SCSI storage traffic into the TCP/IP
protocol so that it can travel through standard TCP/IP networks instead of the specialized FC network. With
an iSCSI connection, your host serves as the initiator that communicates with a target, located in remote iSCSI
storage systems.
ESXi offers the following types of iSCSI connections:
Hardware iSCSI Your host connects to storage through a third-party adapter capable of
offloading the iSCSI and network processing. Hardware adapters can be
dependent and independent.
Software iSCSI Your host uses a software-based iSCSI initiator in the VMkernel to connect to
storage. With this type of iSCSI connection, your host needs only a standard
network adapter for network connectivity.
You must configure iSCSI initiators for the host to access and display iSCSI storage devices.
iSCSI Storage depicts different types of iSCSI initiators.
Figure 1-3. iSCSI Storage
iSCSI
HBA
virtual
machine
Host
VMFS
iSCSI array
virtual
machine
software
adapter
ethernet
NIC
LAN LAN
In the left example, the host uses the hardware iSCSI adapter to connect to the iSCSI storage system.
In the right example, the host uses a software iSCSI adapter and an Ethernet NIC to connect to the iSCSI storage.
iSCSI storage devices from the storage system become available to the host. You can access the storage devices
and create VMFS datastores for your storage needs.
For specific information on setting up the iSCSI SAN, see Chapter 10, “Using ESXi with iSCSI SAN,” on
page 71.
16 VMware, Inc.