Host Configuration

Checking iSCSI Software on a Host

For Windows Server 2008 to 2019, the iSCSI initiator is built into the operating system. For versions earlier than Windows Server 2008, download and install the iSCSI initiator installation package that matches the OS version.

Figure 5-10 iSCSI initiator properties

Configuring IP Addresses on a Host

The network port configuration methods differ with the OS version.

To configure an IP address for a host running Windows Server 2008, perform the following operations:

1. Choose Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections. Right-click the desired network port and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.
2. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4. In the dialog box that is displayed, configure an IPv4 address.
   Figure 5-11 shows an example.

   Figure 5-11 IPv4 address configuration
   

   Select Use the following IP address and configure the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.

To configure an IP address for a host running Windows Server 2012 to 2019, perform the following operations:

1. Choose Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Change adapter settings. Right-click the desired network port and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.
2. Double-click Internet Protocol Version 4. In the displayed Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) Properties window, configure an IPv4 address.
   Figure 5-12 shows an example.

   Figure 5-12 IP address configuration
   

   Select Use the following IP address and configure the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway.

Configuring Initiators on a Host

To configure initiators on a host, perform the following steps:

1. Ping IP addresses of the host and storage system respectively to verify the network connectivity between them.
2. Enter a name for the initiator.

   On the iSCSI Initiator Properties page, click the Configuration tab and specify an initiator name.

   Figure 5-13 Specifying an initiator name
   

   In the preceding example, the default name is iqn.1991-05.com.microsoft:win-hatofhe6bf6. Generally, you do not need to change the default name. If you want to change the initiator name, ensure that the new name is globally unique.

   An iSCSI initiator name must comply with the following format:

   iqn.domaindate.reverse.domain.name:optional name

   An iSCSI initiator name contains only lower-case letters, digits, hyphens (-), periods (.), and colons (:).

3. Discover the target.

   On the Discovery tab page, click Discover Portal. In the dialog box that is displayed, enter the IP address of the storage system.

   Figure 5-14 Configuring the target IP address
   

   Retain the default iSCSI port 3260.

4. Set up connections.

   On the Target tab page, select the newly discovered target and click Connect. Verify that the connection status of the target is connected.

   According to the iSCSI protocol, a host can send NOP Out heartbeat packets to check link connectivity between an initiator and a target. By default, this function is disabled for Windows Server. To enable this function, locate the parameter HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E97B-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\<Instance Number>\Parameters\EnableNOPOut in the registry, change its value to 1, and restart the host for the modification to take effect.