Multiple servers - 1 NAS/ SAN

Hi, I am triallinge-open iSCSI R3 with the following setup:
Intel McKay Creek (SSR212MC2R) single quad core processor, 4 gig ram, 5 x 300g SAS drives) first two drives are R1, last three are r5.
Have loaded up the demo version of iSCSI R3, set the ips, etc
From the first server (HP DL380) I can open the web interface and have setup four (approx) 50g volumes on the R1 set.

Have loaded MS iSCSI initiator (latest version, downloaded yesterday) on the HP, been through the setup of that and I can see the four volumes in Disk management, have formatted, assigned drive (letters (W, X, Y & Z) and they show as healthy, basic disks. I can copy data to them and read back from them ok.

On a second server (HP DL320, Server2003) on the same lan I have also run the MS iSCSI initiator setup and I can see the four volumes disk management showing as healthy, basic disks, correct size, etc. These ones appear in My Computer as drives E, F, G & H)
Here is the odd thing though - only some of the data I copied to the drives from the DL380 is visible from the DL320. Nothing that I have copied to them from the DL320 is visible from the DL380.

What I was expecting is that the data on the drives would be visible from both servers. (Ultimately there are meant to be five servers sharing data from the SAN)

Am I completely wrong in my understanding of how these things are supposed to work?

Thanks in advance
P

In order to have more connections in the same time to the same Target you would require special SAN file system. iSCSI Target works block based - not file based. Meaning that changes made by one person is not seen by another person working on the same target/volume.

To control this you need so called SAN File System programs. Examples are listed below:

MelioFS:
http://www.sanbolic.com/melio.htm
IBM:
http://www-306.ibm.com/software/tivo...ducts/sanergy/
http://www.ibm.qassociates.co.uk/sto...rage-san-files
yste
m.htm
StorNext:
http://www.adic.com/ibeCCtpItmDspRte...24&item=121889
SGI:
http://www.sgi.com/products/storage/...e_systems.html
PolyServe
http://www.polyserve.com/
DataPlow SFS
http://www.dataplow.com

SAN file system solutions are very expensive so if you are not in a position to aquire one then the easiest way is to share the data on iSCSI Target is to create network share and get clients to connect to the network share and not directly to the target.
In case clients read only from the target and need to access recent data (written from single host only) they can logout and login new session in the initiator. So they will see recent data.

Hi Todd, thanks for the explanation. Went back and set up a number of logical volumes, restricting access to each according to the server IP. Shared some at the server level where necessary. Working now as I was expecting.
I've rearranged the Raid array so now I have 4 x 300s as a single R5, with the last disk as a global hot spare.
TO see what would happen I pulled one disk from the R5. It kept right on going, disk access and data just as before - excellent. However, I could not turn off the alarm. Even after the data was reconstructed onto the spare, and the "failed" disk repaced, the alarm kept sounding.
Is the alarm control part of Open-E, or is that something I need to take up with Intel?
Finally - we will be purchasing the DOM as soon as possible. Once this is installed will it pick up the existing (trial) configuration and data. There are about 20 days of the trial left.
Thanks
Peter

I believe the sound is coming from the hardware as we do not have a switch config for this (check to see if you are using the monitoring options located in Hardware options - CTRL + ALT + W from the Console screen). Usually with some RAID controllers and system BIOS settings the alarms can be set for this. If the RAID has completed building and the alarm is still continuing then could be something else.

Make sure to save your settings in Main. > Misc. when switching out from the Demo-CD to the USB module just as a backup, but you should not have any problems with your data and settings.