Anything cheaper than starwind?

firehawk · 23 May 2012 at 16:22

So, my trial is running out for this software - for iSCSI on VM environment.

it is around $2000 to buy the licence (without support)

im wondering if there is an alternate/cheaper way of doing what I am doing:

created a cluster environment using WS2008 R2. with this, you need some disks (quorom etc... etc...) and the way I was able to do this was creating some virtual HDD's using the starwind software on a VSAN machine (Virtual machine purely for the SAN)

must be software based....

Thanks!

growse · 23 May 2012 at 17:09

FreeBSD?

OpenFiler?

OpenIndiana?

Linux?

firehawk · 23 May 2012 at 17:20

er no. must be Windows based

growse · 24 May 2012 at 12:09

firehawk said:
er no. must be Windows based

Why?

Windows Storage Server does what you need. Isn't free though, obviously.

Showboat · 24 May 2012 at 12:19

eh, i think it's all free with server 2008 r2 these days, i was playing about with something similar last week and it was there.
iscsi initiator

firehawk · 24 May 2012 at 13:25

yes the iSCSI initiator is what I am using but obviously you need a server to connect to which contains the disks....
... the starwind software im referring to hosts these virtual disks and makes them "available" for the iSCSI initiator to connect to

Zarf · 24 May 2012 at 19:56

I'm curious as to why it has to be Windows based If you're running it in a virtual machine anyway and just want some iSCSI targets for testing against. The skill barrier is pretty low, just install openindiana, drop napp-it on there (think it's a single command to run the online installer script) and then config your targets with the web interface.

firehawk · 24 May 2012 at 20:06

its purely because the whole solution must be Windows based and dont want to dig into anything that requires other resources/training/whatever etc...

PistolPete · 24 May 2012 at 22:16

It is a live or a test system?

If it's test, then Technet is about £200 and has the iSCSI software target software.

firehawk · 24 May 2012 at 22:32

yeh its a test system. iSCSI software target software? is that not the iSCSI initiator? (included in WS2008+)

Kona* · 25 May 2012 at 09:08

firehawk said:
yeh its a test system. iSCSI software target software? is that not the iSCSI initiator? (included in WS2008+)

iSCSI Initiators connect to iSCSI Targets, you will need the iSCSI Target software to present LUN's to the iSCSI Initiators.

Saundie · 25 May 2012 at 09:57

I've never used the Microsoft iSCSI software target - I hadn't even heard of it until I saw this thread, and I assumed that everybody was getting it confused with the initiator. You can read about it here and download it here. I didn't check to see if it supports multipath I/O or any of the good stuff you get with Starwind, though I guess the technet article will cover that.

mrbios · 25 May 2012 at 11:08

nexenta community edition? Run it in permanent eval mode. Dead simple to setup, after install (which is dead easy) it's all web based configuration.

I've probably got the wrong idea as to what you're trying to do though...

Showboat · 25 May 2012 at 11:54

Check here mate, and go to the first part, it will give you step by step everything you need to do. I wouldn't bother with section 3 only 1 and 2.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/momalek/arc...-v-part3-the-active-active-configuration.aspx

Seaniboy · 28 May 2012 at 20:31

I thought Starwind now did a free verion now? Just have to use image based targets as there is no disk bridge

KOOLER · 29 May 2012 at 13:46

Sorry but you provide FALSE information about StarWind pricing and support policy. Single node config starts from $995 and of course support IS included:

http://www.starwindsoftware.com/editions-comparison

For your case you don't need to pay money at all. All required functionality is included into FREE version of StarWind:

http://www.starwindsoftware.com/starwind-free

If for some reason you're looking @ other vendor you may stick with Microsoft target. It has no dedupe or caching but at least it's also free:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=19867

Hope this helped.

firehawk said:
So, my trial is running out for this software - for iSCSI on VM environment.

it is around $2000 to buy the licence (without support)

im wondering if there is an alternate/cheaper way of doing what I am doing:

created a cluster environment using WS2008 R2. with this, you need some disks (quorom etc... etc...) and the way I was able to do this was creating some virtual HDD's using the starwind software on a VSAN machine (Virtual machine purely for the SAN)

must be software based....

Thanks!

KOOLER · 29 May 2012 at 13:47

There's a free version...

Seaniboy said:
I thought Starwind not did a free verion now? Just have to use image based targets as there is no disk bridge

KOOLER · 29 May 2012 at 13:50

Nexenta is a bad choice unless you run pure evaluation. Check their EULA:

http://www.nexenta.com/corp/eula-nexentastor-community-edition

"2.9. Production Use.
The Product may only be used for development or evaluation purposes as described in this EUELA and may not be used in a production environment."

So if you want to run Nexenta in production you'll end your days in jail

mrbios said:
nexenta community edition? Run it in permanent eval mode. Dead simple to setup, after install (which is dead easy) it's all web based configuration.

I've probably got the wrong idea as to what you're trying to do though...

mrbios · 29 May 2012 at 14:43

KOOLER said:
Nexenta is a bad choice unless you run pure evaluation. Check their EULA:

http://www.nexenta.com/corp/eula-nexentastor-community-edition

"2.9. Production Use.
The Product may only be used for development or evaluation purposes as described in this EUELA and may not be used in a production environment."

So if you want to run Nexenta in production you'll end your days in jail

Where in the OP did he state that he was in a production environment?

He states he's using trial software, which suggests to me a LAB, home or self teaching environment. Naturally this may not be the case, but my point still stands.

Also, there's an edit button.

ruffneck · 29 May 2012 at 15:08

I use the Microsoft iSCSI software target on Storage Server 2008 to present a 600GB LUN to our ESXI servers, works a treat for our test, dev and UAT environment.