Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiator/Targets using iSNS

The Internet Storage Name Server (iSNS) protocol is used for interaction between iSNS servers and iSNS clients (application servers and storage servers) to facilitate the discovery and configuration of iSCSI devices.

In order to make use of this protocol, an iSNS server needs to be installed on the network and both the iSCSI initiator and target ports need to be registered with it. This topic provides the steps to register iSCSI initiator and target ports on storage servers.

To configure iSCSI target ports to point to the iSNS server:
  1. In the SANmelody snap-in, click the iSCSI Manager component in the console tree.

  2. In the left pane, right-click an iSCSI target port and choose Properties from the shortcut menu.

  3. In the properties box, click the iSNS tab.

  4. In the iSNS Client area, choose Enabled from the drop-down menu in the Mode box.
    SANmelody iscsiprops isnsa Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiators/Targets using iSNS

  5. In the iSNS Server area, enter the IP address or DNS name and TCP port for the iSNS server. (The default TCP port is 3205, this should be correct for standard environments.)
    SANmelody iscsiprops isnsb Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiators/Targets using iSNS

  6. Click OK to close the properties box.

  7. Repeat the steps for all target ports.

To configure the iSCSI initiator port to point to the iSNS server:
  1. From the Windows Control Panel, open the iSCSI Initiator.

  2. In the iSCSI Initiator Properties box, click Add… in the iSNS servers area.
    SANmelody isns1 Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiators/Targets using iSNS

  3. In the Add iSNS Server box, enter the IP address or DNS name of the iSNS server and click OK.
    SANmelody isns2 Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiators/Targets using iSNS

  4. Click OK to close the properties box.

 

Automatic Discovery of iSCSI Initiators/Targets using iSNS