In the previous articles we explored the steps about configuring an iSCSI LUN on a Synology NAS. Or even for smaller environments it is possible to create iSCSI Targets leveraging a separate VM based on NAS4Free providing there is enough storage space to create the drives!
One of the main purposes for visiting these scenarios was to simply provide storage for the VMware vSphere Datastores on which to run the VMs. Adding an ISCSI storage to VMware vSphere couldn’t be any easier and the next screenshots on this article show how to add or remove iSCSI LUN Datastores to vSphere step by step.
First of all from the vSphere Client we need to add a new Storage Adapter from the Configuration menu
As per instructions selecting the Properties for the newly created iSCSI Initiator will bring the window below from where we can specify the name of the NAS Server hosting the iSCSI Targets. Dynamic Discovery will automatically show all the available Targets
Let’s put the IPAddress and leave the default Port. In my case the network configuration is not needed as both iSCSI and VM networks are using the same subnet. Bad I know but this is just a home lab!
Let’s click on Yes and continue
At this point we are ready to add a new Storage from the Configuration Tab on the ESXi Host
I will choose the first one which has 4TB of free space (3.64TiB)
Let’s define a name for the Datastore. This can be changed later on very easily with the Rename option from the contextual menu
Even though it is possible to create different partitions on the provided volume I prefer to pre-allocate LUNs of the desired size and dedicate them to single Datastore partitions
At this point we can see the newly created Datastore available on the list
But what if we want or need to remove a Datastore? First of all make a backup of all VMs and Data (ISOs, configuration files, Templates etc..) then when browsing the properties of the selected Datastore we need to uncheck the Enabled status. The Datastore will still be visible until a Full Reboot of the ESX Host is performed! So essentially be careful about dependencies with other LUNs mounted through the same iSCSI adapter and VMs running on other Datastores
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