vSphere Storage - ESXi 5.1 - Documentation - VMware

vSphere Storage
Create Network Connections for iSCSI in the vSphere Client
Configure connections for the traffic between the software or dependent hardware iSCSI adapters and the
physical network adapters.
The following tasks discuss the iSCSI network configuration with a vSphere standard switch.
If you use a vSphere distributed switch with multiple uplink ports, for port binding, create a separate
distributed port group per each physical NIC. Then set the team policy so that each distributed port group has
only one active uplink port. For detailed information on vSphere distributed switches, see the vSphere
Networking documentation.
Procedure
1 Create a Single VMkernel Adapter for iSCSI on page 90
You must connect the VMkernel, which runs services for iSCSI storage, to a physical network adapter.
2 Create Additional VMkernel Adapters for iSCSI on page 91
Use this task if you have two or more physical network adapters for iSCSI and you want to connect all
of your NICs to a single vSphere standard switch. In this task, you add NICs and VMkernel adapters to
an existing vSphere standard switch.
3 Change Port Group Policy for iSCSI VMkernel Adapters on page 92
If you use a single vSphere standard switch to connect VMkernel to multiple network adapters, change
the port group policy, so that it is compatible with the iSCSI network requirements.
4 Bind iSCSI Adapters with VMkernel Adapters in the vSphere Client on page 92
Bind an iSCSI adapter with a VMkernel adapter.
Create a Single VMkernel Adapter for iSCSI
You must connect the VMkernel, which runs services for iSCSI storage, to a physical network adapter.
Procedure
1 Log in to the vSphere Client, and select a host from the inventory panel.
2 Click the Configuration tab and click Networking.
3 In the vSphere Standard Switch view, click Add Networking.
4 Select VMkernel and click Next.
5 Select Create a vSphere standard switch to create a new standard switch.
6 Select a NIC to use for iSCSI traffic.
IMPORTANT If you are creating a VMkernel interface for the dependent hardware iSCSI adapter, select the
NIC that corresponds to the iSCSI component. See “Determine Association Between iSCSI and Network
Adapters,” on page 84.
7 Click Next.
8 Enter a network label.
A network label is a friendly name that identifies the VMkernel adapter that you are creating, for example,
iSCSI.
9 Click Next.
10 Specify the IP settings and click Next.
11 Review the information and click Finish.
90 VMware, Inc.