StarWind Software

I recently installed the free version of Starwind software on a W2K8R2 VM.

Problem

The ESXi host connected to the iSCSI target with no problem. I then created a new VM (W2K8R2) on the target without incident. A second VM (W7) was then added the to the target, when I started to install of the OS2 I noticed that the target became disconnected. The error message - was insufficient disk space. I was also unable to restart the iSCSI SAN.

When I started the above VM installations I did check to verify that they were created on the correct data store (iSCSI target). I verified that there was 197 GB free space on the SAN target drive. Can someone advise if I have done anything wrong in my configuration or the reason why I get the message of insufficient space?

Any help is appreciated - thanks in advance


Server(Physical)
HP DL380 G5
E5430 x 2 CPU
16 GB Ram
ESXi 4 U2
HD 2 X 63 GB SAS 10K – RAID 1 (W2K8R2/Starwind VM)
HD 6 X 146GB SAS 10K – RAID 5 – 680 Free for SAN

Starwind v5.8 was installed on a W2K8R2 VM and configured as per the guide.
iSCSI SAN – VM
1 – vCPU
4 GB RAM
HD1 – 50 GB Windows OS/Starwind
HD2 – 250 GB - iSCSI SAN target

Regards
Bob

I have some questions:
1.What StarWind device are you using?
2.How much first and 2nd VM takes space?

Hi Anatoly

Thank for your response to my email. the answers to your questions are below.

1. I've installed Starwind Free v5.8.2013 on the Windows 2008 R2 server (VM). The physical server that its running on is:
HP DL380 G5
E5430 x 2 CPU
16 GB Ram
ESXi 4 U2
Array #1 - 2 X 63 GB SAS 10K – RAID 1 OS - ESXi 4 U2 with a (W2K8R2 VM with Starwind installed)
Array #2 6 X 146GB SAS 10K – RAID 5 – 680 Free for SAN

2. The first VM used 53 GB, the second was 50 GB. The error message of insufficient space occurred before finishing the installation of the OS on the second VM.


Questions & Advice:

1. If I create and install Starwind on a VM (50 GB) in Array 1, can I create new Image File Device/ Virtual Disk & save it to Array 2 (physical disks - 680 GB), where it needs to be?
Does a Starwind installation allow this?


2. What is the best way to configure the windows VM? I've not seen any documentation or guides on the Starwind website on how to configure the Windows sever (VM). Any advice or documentation you can point me to is appreciated. I also realize that Starwind should be installed on a physical server but this is only for home testing purposes.



Regards

Bob

1) Yes, if VM has access to storage - you can place StarWind content there.

2) This is not true. StarWind runs inside VM just fine and you can use it for evaluation and production.

We're working on Virtual Storage Appliance builder but for now you need to proceed with manual installation (or VM clone).