Three fast iSCSI questions
Using Ubuntu Server:
1) Can I have a partition mounted in the OS and shared via iSCSI at the same time, or does the partition have to be unmounted to share it with iSCSI
2) If it can be mounted while sharing, does this cause any problems to do so? Is it okay to export paths on the partition with NFS or Samba while iSCSI is sharing the partition?
3) Can I share only a folder on a partition instead of the whole partition?
Thanks!
1) Can I have a partition mounted in the OS and shared via iSCSI at the same time, or does the partition have to be unmounted to share it with iSCSI
2) If it can be mounted while sharing, does this cause any problems to do so? Is it okay to export paths on the partition with NFS or Samba while iSCSI is sharing the partition?
3) Can I share only a folder on a partition instead of the whole partition?
Thanks!
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
Frank Contrepois
or you need to use a cluster filesystem
ASKER
What is a cluster file system?
So can I export the same partition as an NFS share as read only and as an iSCSI LUN as read/write without the risk of corruption? Or vice versa? You said ALL systems, so I want to be clear...
And what's the difference between like /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1? I iSCSI shared SDB1 and the initiator got nothing, but shared regular SDB and got the partition as it should be. The opposite was the case with NFS... if I mount regular SDB on the server then I get nothing, if I mount SDB1 on the server I get the file system.
So can I export the same partition as an NFS share as read only and as an iSCSI LUN as read/write without the risk of corruption? Or vice versa? You said ALL systems, so I want to be clear...
And what's the difference between like /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1? I iSCSI shared SDB1 and the initiator got nothing, but shared regular SDB and got the partition as it should be. The opposite was the case with NFS... if I mount regular SDB on the server then I get nothing, if I mount SDB1 on the server I get the file system.
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Gotcha. So what about:
So can I export the same partition as an NFS share as read only and as an iSCSI LUN as read/write without the risk of corruption? Or vice versa? You said ALL systems, so I want to be clear..
and what is a cluster fs?
Thanks!
So can I export the same partition as an NFS share as read only and as an iSCSI LUN as read/write without the risk of corruption? Or vice versa? You said ALL systems, so I want to be clear..
and what is a cluster fs?
Thanks!
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
So what do you recommend to run on OpenSUSE/Ubuntu/Debian Linux as a CFS?
If you are looking for a freebie, I am not aware of one that will work for OpenSUSE/Ubuntu/Debian. All the good ones, like GPFS, GFS, CXFS, etc, require specific hardware/software configurations and cost $$$.
You need to just do CIFS/NFS sharing. If you want to go to OpenSolaris, and have only a few TB, then Nexenta has a turnkey add-on that is free for < 4TB, and pricing is reasonable if > 4TB
You need to just do CIFS/NFS sharing. If you want to go to OpenSolaris, and have only a few TB, then Nexenta has a turnkey add-on that is free for < 4TB, and pricing is reasonable if > 4TB
ASKER
How do you feel about OpenFiler vs these solutions?
SOLUTION
membership
This solution is only available to members.
To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.
ASKER
Can you send me a SAN/storage configuration guide for Nexenta?
http://www.nexenta.com/corp/solutions
There is also nexenta.org. The .com site is for the commercial version that has support and more features. The org is open-source. One of the big things is that there is a hardware compatibility document. If the RAID, motherboard, system, etc, is not on the list, then the software will not install. This is for everybody's protection. The nexenta.org flavor is more flexible. The nexenta.com version has a full turnkey image that installs on bare metal, or as a virtual machine if you are an ESX/ESXi shop.
There is also nexenta.org. The .com site is for the commercial version that has support and more features. The org is open-source. One of the big things is that there is a hardware compatibility document. If the RAID, motherboard, system, etc, is not on the list, then the software will not install. This is for everybody's protection. The nexenta.org flavor is more flexible. The nexenta.com version has a full turnkey image that installs on bare metal, or as a virtual machine if you are an ESX/ESXi shop.