Creation of iSCSI Virtual Disks

Perform the following on the primary server, wherever the iSCSI Target server is online at the moment.

1. From Server Manager, navigate to File and Storage Services and select iSCSI. Click on the link “To create an iSCSI virtual disk, start the New iSCSI Virtual Disk Wizard”. (Alternatively, select New iSCSI Virtual Disk from the TASKS drop-down menu on the upper right of the screen.) Note: Windows Server 2012 Server Manager inherently takes some time to display or update the information presented to the user.

2. On the New iSCSI Virtual Disk Wizard, you will see the server and the volume. Select the DataKeeper volume and click Next. (Note: The server name is the name created in the previous step and the volume is the DataKeeper volume exposed.)

3. Follow the next panel to configure the iSCSI Virtual Disk.

a. Specify iSCSI Virtual Disk Name.

b. Specify iSCSI Virtual Disk Size. (Note: Multiple files can be created. If file size spans the entire disk, the OS may warn that disk is low since the VHD file(s) created can consume the entire disk.)

c. Designate whether the iSCSI Virtual Disk will be assigned to an Existing iSCSI Target or a New iSCSI Target on the Assign iSCSI Target screen. (See below for an explanation on when to select Existing iSCSI Target.)

d. Specify iSCSI Target Name.

e. On the Access Servers screen, select Add. Add the iSCSI Initiators that will be accessing this iSCSI Virtual Disk. Note: The iSCSI Initiators should be added one at a time.

4. Once all the answers have been provided, the iSCSI virtual disk/target creation is complete. Proceed to configuration of the iSCSI Initiator.

Setting Up Multiple Virtual Disks Within the Same Target Name

It is also possible to set up multiple iSCSI virtual disks within the same iSCSI target name. Whenever an iSCSI initiator connects to such a target, it will connect to all of the virtual disks that have been assigned to that name.

You need to have a plan ahead of time that describes which files you want to create and whether those files should all be accessed simultaneously or if the disks need to be accessed separate from one another.

To set up multiple virtual disks within the same target name, on Step 3c, instead of selecting New iSCSI Target on the Assign iSCSI Target screen, select Existing iSCSI Target and specify the iSCSI target name that was created previously. This target name will appear in the list of “targets” when an iSCSI Initiator connects to the iSCSI Target Server. If a target has more than one virtual disk associated with it, then the initiator will get a connection to each of those disks (they will appear as a new Disk in Disk Management).