Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN with QLogic QLA4010 HBAS

PS Series Best Practices Booting Windows® Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN Abstract

This Technical Report describes how to configure the QLogic QLA4010 iSCSI host bus adapter to support booting Microsoft Windows Server 2003 from PS Series storage.

Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN ii

Copyright © 2005 EqualLogic, Inc.

October 2005

EqualLogic is a registered trademark of EqualLogic, Inc.

All trademarks and registered trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.

Possession, use, or copying of the documentation or the software described in this publication is authorized only under the license agreement specified herein.

EqualLogic, Inc. will not be held liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein. The information in this document is subject to change.

Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN iii

Table of Contents

Technical Report Revision Information ............................................................................... iv

QLogic QLA4010 Revision Information ............................................................................. iv

Windows Server 2003 Revision Information ....................................................................... iv

Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1

Server and Group Requirements ............................................................................................ 2

Steps for Booting from the SAN ............................................................................................ 3

SAN Boot Configuration Details ........................................................................................... 3

Setting Up the iSCSI Boot Volume .................................................................................... 3

Preparing the Boot Server .................................................................................................. 5

Configuring the QLA4010 HBA ........................................................................................ 6

Installing Windows Server 2003 ...................................................................................... 17

Verifying the Configuration ............................................................................................. 18

Documentation and Customer Support ................................................................................ 19

Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN iv

Technical Report Revision Information

Revision Date Change

1.0 5/4/2005 Initial release

1.1 10/18/05 Firmware updates for PS Series storage arrays and the QLA4010.

QLogic QLA4010 Revision Information

The following table lists the revisions of the QLogic QLA4010 BIOS, Firmware, SANsurfer Manager, and the Windows Driver used in the preparation of this report.

BIOS Firmware SANsurfer Manager SCSI Miniport STOR Miniport

1.11 03.00.00.04 4.01.00 2.1.0.3 *2.1.0.8

Note: If you plan on using the QLogic STORport Miniport driver in place of the SCSIport Miniport driver, as a temporary work around to a problem described in the Microsoft KB891793 article, be sure to install Windows Server 2003 initially using the Qlogic SCSIport Miniport driver.

Following the successful build of the operating system, install either the Microsoft Hotfix provided in KB891793 or a subsequent service pack, then upgrade to the QLogic STORPort driver. Review the QLogic Readme included in the STORPort driver package for more information.

Windows Server 2003 Revision Information

The following table reflects the hotfix level or service pack revision for the Windows Server 2003 operating system used to prepare this report.

Hotfix Information Service Pack

Minimum Hotfix (KB891793) SP1

Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN 1

Introduction

This Technical Report describes the steps for configuring a QLogic QLA4010 host bus adapter (HBA) to boot a server from a volume in a PS Series group. This configuration improves server operations by placing the operating system on a highly available SAN with snapshot and replication capabilities. The result is improved server management and the ability to recover quickly in the event of server hardware failure.

Details in this report include how to:

• Prepare a PS Series group volume.

• Configure the QLogic QLA4010 HBA.

• Install the Windows Server 2003 operating system onto the volume.

• Successfully boot the operating system from the SAN environment.

The example in this report will create a single 5GB PS Series boot volume.

Figure 1: QLogic QLA4010 SAN Boot Configuration

PS Series Storage Array

Windows Boot Disk Hosted bythe PS Series Storage Array

GigE Network Switch

WindowsServer

Qlogic QLA4010 HBAWindows

2003Boot Disk


Server and Group Requirements

This Technical Report assumes that the user has basic familiarity with PS Series group setup and management using the Group Manager Graphical User Interface (GUI). The user should also be comfortable with creating and connecting to group volumes and displaying connection status.

The PS Series group must be previously configured with IP, subnet, and gateway addresses that will be accessible by the QLogic QLA4010 HBA once it is configured as described in this report.

The procedures described in this report were conducted with a dual 2.4GHZ x86 server platform with 1GB of main memory. This configuration satisfied the QLogic SAN boot requirements. Also, the server BIOS was verified as up-to-date and able to support a SAN boot. The QLogic QLA4010 was installed into a PCI-X 133MHZ slot.

Note: The server must have a 3.25” floppy disk drive and a bootable CDROM or DVD drive to be used for the <F6> QLA4010 driver load during the Windows Server 2003 installation.

Network access between the PS Series group and the server will be provided through a Gigabit Ethernet network switch. Be sure to configure the switch according to guidelines provided in the Technical Report, Network Connection and Performance Guidelines available on the EqualLogic Support website.

The latest QLogic QLA4010 Windows SCSIport Miniport Driver files must be available and extracted to a 3.25” floppy disk. You can obtain this self-extracting kit from either the QLogic website or from the distribution CD that is included with the HBA.

Starting with Windows Server 2003, Microsoft has released a new port driver (STORport.sys) that has been optimized for increased performance in RAID and SAN environments. Visit the Microsoft website for more information about this new driver. As stated in QLogic QLA4010 Revision Information, there are known issues with the original release of the Microsoft STORport driver, and an update is available in KB891793. If you plan on deploying this new STORport driver be sure to install Windows Server 2003 initially with the QLogic SCSIport Miniport driver, install the latest Microsoft service pack or KB891793, and then update to the QLogic STORport Miniport driver. If you would like to verify that the STORport driver is loaded after the update, add the /BOOTLOG switch to the startup string in the boot.ini file. After the required server reboot you will be able to view the driver load list in the file %SystemRoot%\ntbtlog.txt.

A Windows Server 2003 CD and valid license key are required during the Windows installation portion of this report.

On successful completion of the Windows Server 2003 installation, the QLogic QLA4010 SANsurfer Manager application install kit is required to manage additional iSCSI connections.


Steps for Booting from the SAN

The basic steps for booting from a PS Series group SAN are as follows:

1. Set up the iSCSI volume. Using the Group Manager GUI or CLI (the GUI is used in this report), create and prepare the volume that will be used as the SAN boot device.

2. Prepare the boot server. This step includes installing the QLA4010 HBA and loading the HBA driver and operating system disks.

3. Configure the QLA4010 HBA. This step will be broken down into separate activities, which include enabling the QLA4010 HBA BIOS, providing the correct IP information for the iSCSI initiator, enabling the iSCSI boot capability of the HBA, setting the PS Series group IP address, and selecting the correct iSCSI target name for the operating system boot.

4. Install Windows Server 2003. During this step, the boot server is rebooted, allowing the Windows Server 2003 distribution CD or DVD to boot and begin the operating system load to the PS Series group boot volume.

5. Verify the configuration. After the Windows Server 2003 installation has finished and you have rebooted the server and completed final installation activities, you can install the QLogic QLA4010 SANsurfer Manager and complete final system checks.

SAN Boot Configuration Details

The following sections provide step-by-step details for booting from a PS Series group SAN.

Setting Up the iSCSI Boot Volume

You can access and manage a PS Series group using the Group Manager GUI (through an Internet browser connection to the group IP address) or the CLI (through a telnet or SSH connection to the group IP address or through a serial connection to an array). Once connected, log in to a group administration account that has read-write privileges, such as grpadmin.


To use the GUI to set up the iSCSI volume that will be the boot device, follow these steps:

1. In the Activities panel of the GUI under Getting Started, click Create Volume. A dialog box will open as shown in Figure 2. Specify the name of the boot volume and the volume size; for the example, the name qlabootdsk was used, and the volume size of 5GB was chosen. Microsoft recommends a boot volume capacity of 2GB or larger for Windows Server 2003. However, to avoid disk capacity issues in the future, EqualLogic suggests a minimum boot volume size of 20GB. Also, it is also recommended that you use the default 100% Snapshot Reserve size. Once Windows Server 2003 has been installed on the boot volume, it is a good practice to create a snapshot of the boot volume on a regular basis.

Figure 2: Volume Creation

After specifying the information, click Next to display the Create volume – iSCSI access dialog box.

2. The Create volume – iSCSI access dialog box enables you to restrict access to the volume by creating an access control record. It is a good practice to protect and limit boot volume access only to the QLogic QLA4010 HBA that will be connecting to this target. This dialog box enables you to limit volume access using CHAP, the QLA4010 iSCSI initiator IP address, or the iSCSI initiator name. This Technical Report uses the IP address, as shown in Figure 3.


Figure 3: Limiting Access to the Boot Volume

Select the desired access method and then click Next to display the summary dialog box.

3. Check the volume parameters displayed in the summary dialog box. If the information is correct, click Finish.

The boot volume is now ready for the operating system installation. Proceed to the next steps to prepare the boot server.

Preparing the Boot Server

To set up the boot server, follow these steps:

1. As noted in Server and Group Requirements, the server should contain a bootable CD or DVD drive and a 3.5” floppy drive. Using the server’s BIOS setup utility, verify that the CD or DVD drive boot capability has been enabled and that its boot order comes before the floppy drive and direct-attached IDE or SCSI disk drives. Also, to ensure that the SAN boot volume is configured as drive C:, it is recommended that any other direct-attached disks on the server be disabled at this time.

2. Follow the directions provided in the QLA 4010/4010C users guide (IS0053302-00) and install the QLA4010 HBA into a PCI or PCI-X slot.

3. Obtain the QLA4010 Miniport driver kit from either the QLogic website or from the distribution CD that is included with the HBA. Follow the instructions provided with the kit to extract the files to a 3.5” floppy disk.

4. Insert the floppy disk created during the previous step into the server’s floppy drive.

5. Insert the Windows Server 2003 distribution CD or DVD into the server’s CD drive.

6. Shut down and turn off power to the server.


Configuring the QLA4010 HBA

At this time, the boot server has been prepared according to the instructions in Preparing the Boot Server and should be powered off with the QLA4010 driver floppy disk and the Windows Server 2003 distribution CD or DVD installed in their respective drives.

Follow the steps below to set up the QLA4010 HBA:

1. Turn on power to the server and be prepared to press <CTRL> + Q as soon as the QLogic Corporation banner is displayed (as shown in the example in Figure 4).

Figure 4: Entering the QLogic Fast!UTIL Setup Program

In a few seconds, the Fast!UTIL setup menu will appear. You are now ready to configure the QLA4010 HBA.


2. Select the Configuration Settings option as shown in Figure 5. You will now be given the option to configure the Host Adapter Settings or the iSCSI Boot Settings. Select the Host Adapter Settings as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 5: QLogic Fast!UTIL Options Screen

Figure 6: Selecting the Host Adapter Settings


3. The next screen contains all of the QLA4010 initiator specific parameters. Locate the BIOS version of the HBA and verify that the QLA4010 is loaded with the minimum revision of 1.08.

If the BIOS is at a lower revision than 1.08, obtain the latest BIOS image from the QLogic website and follow the directions in the Readme to perform the update. The BIOS update requires you to boot the server from a DOS boot floppy and execute the iFlash utility. If the BIOS revision was below 1.08, then the firmware will probably also need to be upgraded to 2.00.00.05 or higher. This upgrade can be performed after the Windows Server 2003 installation is completed.

4. Using Figure 7 to Figure 10 as examples, configure the QLA4010 HBA by completing the following steps:

a. Enable the Host Adapter BIOS.

b. Enable the Spinup Delay. In some network configurations the iSCSI target may not be discovered at boot time, enabling the Spinup Delay setting eliminates this problem.

c. Enter the initiator IP Address. This is the IP address specifically assigned to the QLogic QLA4010 HBA.

d. Enter the subnet mask address (netmask).

e. Enter the gateway IP address (if required).

Figure 7: Enabling the BIOS (iSCSI Boot Support) and Spinup Delay for the QLogic Initiator


Figure 8: Entering the IP Address for the QLogic Initiator


Figure 9: Entering the Subnet Mask for the QLogic Initiator

Figure 10: Entering the Gateway IP Address for the QLogic Initiator


5. Optionally, if CHAP authentication is desired, configure the CHAP user name and password (secret) at this time. For more information on CHAP authentication support in a PS Series group, refer to the Group Administration manual.

6. Once the QLA4010 BIOS has been enabled and the network address information has been entered, press the <ESC> escape key twice. A bright red popup screen will be displayed prompting the user to save the changes. Select Save Changes to commit the changes. A five to ten second pause during the save operation is to be expected due to the iSCSI target discovery process.

Figure 11: Completing and Saving the HBA Configuration Changes

7. Following the save operation for the QLA4010 HBA settings, the Fast!UTIL option screen will be displayed again. Select the Configuration Settings option, but this time when the Configuration Settings menu is displayed, select the iSCSI Boot Settings option, as shown in Figure 12.


Figure 12: Selecting the iSCSI Boot Settings

8. The iSCSI Boot Settings menu will appear, as shown in Figure 13. Use the tab key to location the iSCSI Boot field and press the Enter key to toggle the setting to Enabled.

Figure 13: Enabling the iSCSI Boot Function


9. Next, use the tab key to locate the Primary Boot Device Settings. After pressing the Enter key, a new screen is displayed as shown in Figure 14. Initially, the Security Settings will be selected. Use the tab key to locate the Target IP section and press the Enter key. In the red popup screen, add the PS Series group IP address. You do not have to change the Target Port or Boot LUN settings.

Figure 14: Adding the PS Series Group IP Address

10. Once the group IP address has been entered, it is important to save the changes in order to force a connection login with “Device Discovery” to the PS Series group. This is done by pressing the <ESC> escape key three (3) times. This action will take you to the Save Changes option of the Configuration settings modified screen, as shown in Figure 15. Complete the save changes action. Again, there will be a 5 to 10 second pause.


Figure 15: Saving the PS Series Group IP Address

11. When the group IP address has been saved, you will be taken back to the Fast!UTIL Options menu as shown in Figure 5. Select the Configuration Settings option and then chose iSCSI Boot Settings again.

12. In the iSCSI Boot Settings menu, the Primary: Boot Device selection should now display the PS Series group IP address. If not, the boot volume login did not succeed. Verify that the network connections are correct and that the QLogic HBA IP address is allowed access to the boot volume through an access control record. Then, save the changes and return to this step again. If the group IP address has been detected, the Primary field will be highlighted and contain the IP address (but no iSCSI target name at this time).

13. With the Primary field highlighted, press the ENTER key. A new window will be displayed, listing all iSCSI targets that were discovered after the save operation (Figure 16). With the LUN highlighted, press the <F1> key to open another window that displays the full iSCSI target name for the boot volume (Figure 17).


Figure 16: Verifying the Boot Volume has been Discovered and Connected

Figure 17: Using the F1 Key to Expand the iSCSI Target Name


14. Once satisfied that you have selected the correct PS Series group boot volume, pressing the Enter key will commit this volume for use as the Primary Boot Volume. The iSCSI target name will now be displayed in the iSCSI Boot Settings menu.

15. Complete the iSCSI boot setup operation by pressing the <ESC> escape key twice to recall the save settings option. Save the changes (Figure 18) and then press the <ESC> key one more time to select Reboot System (Figure 19). Before rebooting the server, verify that the QLogic Driver Disk and the Windows Server 2003 Distribution are located in their respective drives. Be prepared to press the <F6> key because the QLogic qla4010.sys driver will be required during the Windows installation.

Figure 18: The Final Save Operation


Figure 19: Server Reboot

Figure 20: PS Series Group Boot Volume Shown during Server Boot

Installing Windows Server 2003

Perform the following steps to install Windows Server 2003:

1. If the QLA4010 iSCSI boot setup was completed correctly, during the server reboot you should see the boot volume listed at POST time as shown in Figure 20. The boot volume will be listed as Type - Disk, Vendor ID - EQLOGIC.


2. Immediately following POST, if the Windows Server 2003 distribution is available and bootable, the Windows Setup screen (Figure 21, Window 1) will appear. You have a short period of time to press the <F6> key to load the QLogic QLA4010 driver.

Figure 21: Loading the QLA4010 Driver

3. Once the <F6> interrupt has been trapped, the next screen displayed (Figure 21 – Window 2) requires additional user input to specify the QLA4010 driver. Enter the letter S to indicate a driver not supplied in the Windows distribution. The QLA4010 driver will be loaded from the disk located in the floppy drive.

4. After the QLA4010 driver has been loaded successfully, the next screen (Figure 21 – Window 3), will display the QLogic iSCSI Adapter.

5. From this point forward, the Windows Server 2003 installation continues in the standard manner. Follow the on-screen directions to complete the installation.

Verifying the Configuration

Once the Windows Server 2003 installation has been completed and the server has rebooted using the newly installed operating system, complete the following steps to finish the PS Series group SAN boot procedure.

1. Check for unexpected events in the Windows Event Viewer and check that the server reboots quickly and as expected.

2. Install the QLogic SANsurfer Manager provided on the CD that is supplied with the QLA4010


kit or download the application from the QLogic website.

3. After the SANsurfer has been installed you can manage additional iSCSI data volumes that have been created using the PS Series Group Manager GUI or CLI.

4. Other post-SAN boot setup activities should include:

a. With the server shutdown so that the boot volume is in a static state, create a snapshot of the boot volume. This will provide an original backup of the boot volume.

b. During events that will cause loss of connection to the SAN boot volume, (for example during a firmware upgrade of a PS Series storage array), if the server’s Disk TimeOutValue setting is less than 120 seconds, then write errors followed by a server crash may occur. In order to prevent the server from crashing, increase the default value of the following registry data value to a minimum of 120 (78 hex) seconds.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Disk\TimeOutValue

c. Any switch ports connected to PS Series storage arrays, or to NICs or HBAs carrying iSCSI traffic, should be set so that link transitions on that port will not trigger a full spanning-tree recalculation. Cisco calls this setting "portfast"; other vendors use the terms "end node", "edge node" or "edge port".

Documentation and Customer Support

Visit the EqualLogic Customer Support website, where you can download the latest documentation and firmware. You can also view FAQs, the Knowledge Base, and Tech Reports and submit a service request.

EqualLogic PS Series storage array documentation includes the following:

• Release Notes. Provides the latest information about PS Series storage arrays and groups.

• QuickStart. Describes how to set up the hardware and start using a PS Series storage array.

• Group Administration. Describes how to use the Group Manager GUI to manage a PS Series group. This manual provides comprehensive information about product concepts and procedures.

• CLI Reference. Describes how to use the Group Manager command line interface to manage a group and individual arrays.

• Hardware Maintenance. Provides information on maintaining the PS Series storage array hardware.

To access the Customer Support website, from the EqualLogic website (www.equallogic.com), click Support and log in to a support account. If you do not have an account, create one by clicking the link under the login prompt.

To contact customer support, send e-mail to [email protected]. If the issue is urgent, call 1-877-887-7337 to speak with a member of the customer support team.

Technology

Booting Windows Server 2003 from an iSCSI SAN with QLogic QLA4010 HBAS