Creating a Virtual iSCSI SAN under ESX!

• Go here and request access to the 30 day eval
  http://www.lefthandnetworks.com/vsa_eval.aspx
• Download the OVF file for easiest import.
• Choose to Import a Virtual Machine into ESX

Important step here. ADD a hard drive to this config with the needed storage space and map it to SCSI 1:0 to ensure the rest works!

Launch the CMC Console, and choose to Configure RAID. Choose RAID (virtual) and it will configure your disk.

Create a management group:

Set a NTP server:

I chose a standard cluster for now.

Name your cluster:

Configure VIP:

Creating a test 30GB Volume:

If you end up waiting here and re-seeing this screen, launch the VSAN console and log in using your new creds.

And we are DONE:

Now, it's time to add a server that will attach to this.

On the Servers Tab, click New Servers:

Now, I am using a Windows 2008 host for this. If you use anything from pre-vista/2008, you need to install the iSCSI initiator from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=12cb3c1a-15d6-4585-b385-befd1319f825

In 2008 and Vista , it is included in the control panel:

Makes good sense:

An invaluable resource for decoding this:

Since this is for LAB only, I went with a secret-less config:

After adding the server, we can assign the volume:

Once added, you can go to targets:

Choose log on:

Launch Disk Management, and you will see:

From here, it's simple - format the disk, and you can use it!

I should note at this point that 2008UTILITY is actually on Hyper-V, so I am actually having this traffic transverse multiple machines!

One thing to add.. Any issues with VSA, check here first:http://vsaforum.lefthandnetworks.com/