vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

vSphere Storage
Ports in the iSCSI SAN
A single discoverable entity on the iSCSI SAN, such as an initiator or a target, represents an iSCSI node. Each
node has one or more ports that connect it to the SAN.
iSCSI ports are end-points of an iSCSI session. Each node can be identified in a number of ways.
IP Address Each iSCSI node can have an IP address associated with it so that routing and
switching equipment on your network can establish the connection between
the server and storage. This address is just like the IP address that you assign
to your computer to get access to your company's network or the Internet.
iSCSI Name A worldwide unique name for identifying the node. iSCSI uses the iSCSI
Qualified Name (IQN) and Extended Unique Identifier (EUI).
By default, ESXi generates unique iSCSI names for your iSCSI initiators, for
example, iqn.1998-01.com.vmware:iscsitestox-68158ef2. Usually, you do not
have to change the default value, but if you do, make sure that the new iSCSI
name you enter is worldwide unique.
iSCSI Alias A more manageable name for an iSCSI device or port used instead of the iSCSI
name. iSCSI aliases are not unique and are intended to be just a friendly name
to associate with a port.
iSCSI Naming Conventions
iSCSI uses a special unique name to identify an iSCSI node, either target or initiator. This name is similar to
the WorldWide Name (WWN) associated with Fibre Channel devices and is used as a way to universally
identify the node.
iSCSI names are formatted in two different ways. The most common is the IQN format.
For more details on iSCSI naming requirements and string profiles, see RFC 3721 and RFC 3722 on the IETF
Web site.
iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) Format
The IQN format takes the form iqn.yyyy-mm.naming-authority:unique name, where:
n yyyy-mm is the year and month when the naming authority was established.
n naming-authority is usually reverse syntax of the Internet domain name of the naming authority. For
example, the iscsi.vmware.com naming authority could have the iSCSI qualified name form of iqn.
1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi. The name indicates that the vmware.com domain name was registered in
January of 1998, and iscsi is a subdomain, maintained by vmware.com.
n unique name is any name you want to use, for example, the name of your host. The naming authority must
make sure that any names assigned following the colon are unique, such as:
n iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name1
n iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name2
n iqn.1998-01.com.vmware.iscsi:name999
Enterprise Unique Identifier (EUI) Format
The EUI format takes the form eui.16 hex digits.
For example, eui.0123456789ABCDEF.
72 VMware, Inc.