WHITE PAPER

How To Build a SAN

The Essential Guide for Turning Your Windows Server Into Shared Storage on
Your IP Network
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3
What is a SAN? .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Why iSCSI Storage? ................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Getting Started ......................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Building Your Own SAN ............................................................................................................................................................. 6
Protecting Data With a SAN ....................................................................................................................................................... 9
Enterprise Features: Expanding The SANs Feature Set ............................................................................................................... 9
Summary .................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
About StarWind Software Inc. .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Related Links ........................................................................................................................................................................... 10

[2] www.starwindsoftware.com
 INTRODUCTION

“
This How To Build A SAN guide provides a brief overview to building your own Storage Area Net-
Ultimately, work (SAN) using industry standard off-the-shelf hardware or a repurposed server that you already
you can use
have as well as freely available storage software that will convert your box into a fully-functional
a SAN for any
SAN. The SAN that you will build will work directly on your Ethernet network without any additional
server appli-

”
investments.
cations

But why bother with an Ethernet SAN at all? With this SAN you can do many common tasks far
easier and faster than with conventional file servers and direct attached disks. A SAN gives you
“shared storage” on your network, which means that you can centrally manage all of your stor-
age from one device as opposed to managing storage on each application server. Shared storage
allows simplified backups and replication between storage devices at a far lower cost than host
based replication. Ultimately, you can use a SAN for any server applications as demonstrated in
this diagram:

Also, when using virtual machines with VMware or Hyper-V, shared storage greatly simplifies and
leverages the fact that your server is now stored as a single large VM file. Using shared storage
makes it significantly easier to manage, provision and protect virtual machines. Further, you need
shared storage to use high availability features of virtual machines such as VMware’s VMotion,
VMwareHA, VCB and DRS.

This whitepaper details how anyone can easily build their own SAN without incurring the high
costs associated with proprietary SAN vendors hardware. You can use off-the-shelf server hard-
ware and storage software to build your own custom SAN - this significantly reduces the entry cost
for IT departments without limiting functionality. Before we dive into the details, we’ll review some
essential points about SANs and touch on a few key issues surrounding the iSCSI vs. FC protocol
debate.

[3] www.starwindsoftware.com
What is a SAN? d) a pure VTL (virtual tape library).

It is essential to have a clear understanding of what a SAN is.

Now consider why you should implement iSCSI storage when
SAN is an acronym for storage area network - it is the shared
you can also select from NAS (Network Attached Storage), DAS
storage box accessible to everything and everyone on your
(Direct Attached Storage also known as local hard disks), or a
network. The term SAN is commonly used to refer to dedicated
FC SAN (Fibre Channel)?
storage servers that use either the Fibre Channel (FC) or iSCSI
(Small Computer System Interface command set which works
iSCSI storage is based on the iSCSI protocol, this means the
over IP network) protocol. By carrying SCSI commands over
disk drives in your storage appliance are presented over an
IP networks, iSCSI is used to facilitate data transfers over
IP network using the SCSI command set. Don’t confuse this
intranets and to manage storage over long distances. It is able
with traditional SCSI disks; in fact, iSCSI storage is typically
to work over your LAN hence simplifying the implementation
implemented with affordable SATA or SAS disks. iSCSI pres-
and management of the SAN. But since FC storage requires
ents block based storage just as you get with your internal
proprietary, expensive switches and host cards (HBAs), you
disk drives, whereas a NAS is a just a plain file server which
are forced by design to put your SAN on a completely separate
presents storage as file shares. A common scenario is to use
Fibre Channel network that doesn’t communicate with your
a portion of your iSCSI SAN storage as back-end disks for file
existing Ethernet network.
servers (NAS), consolidating both application data and file
shares into one appliance.
With the iSCSI protocol it is entirely possible to connect iSCSI
storage directly into your existing corporate IP network also
Now a little about iSCSI security which is achieved by the de-
known as your LAN. However your LAN should not be des-
sign of iSCSI allowing IT administrators to specify which client
ignated for your SAN even though it is possible to use it for
machines (initiators) are able to connect to the iSCSI storage
that purpose; this design could flood the corporate LAN with
servers (the iSCSI target). And CHAP (Challenge Handshake
storage traffic which may slow everything down. So even with
Authentication Protocol) is used to provide authentication
iSCSI storage you should use separate NIC ports on applica-
with iSCSI storage devices. Because CHAP identifiers are
tion servers and separate IP switches to connect to the storage
changed frequently and because 3 The Essential Guide to
device to ensure you get a secure, segmented network for stor-
Building a SAN 3 authentication can be requested by the SAN
age traffic that will not adversely affect your LAN and existing
at any time, CHAP provides a high level of security, even more
network traffic.
so than Password Authentication Procedures (PAP).
What iSCSI Storage?
One of the main advantages of iSCSI is the speed. iSCSI stor-
The section above hints at why iSCSI storage is advantageous.
age is Ethernetbased so IT Administrators only require basic
But prior to getting into additional details, it’s important to
IP networking knowledge, as opposed to more specialized
mention that iSCSI storage can work in a mixed protocol envi-
FC networking skills. There is a common misconception that
ronment. For example if you already own a FC SAN and don’t
FC is better for performance but with correct sizing to deter-
plan to replace it then iSCSI may be the most rational decision
mine the speed and number of disks required to achieve the
for a) new virtual machine deployments b) application serv-
required IOPs (i/o's per second) to sustain optimal applica-
ers that are not SAN attached but have out grown their direct
tion performance, iSCSI has proven to be more than up to the
attached disks c) as an iSCSI disk-to-disk backup applance or

[4] www.starwindsoftware.com
job of even the most demanding applications. FC storage is Getting Started
significantly more expensive than iSCSI, requiring proprietary
The simplicity of Windows iSCSI storage software allows you
FC HBAs (Host Based Adapters) on client machines as well as
to use the Microsoft Windows operating system as the SAN
very expensive FC network switches. Managing and maintain-
controller and have a fully functional iSCSI SAN with an easy
ing a FC SAN requires administrators to learn new skills in FC
to use and familiar user interface. Any IT administrator familiar
networking. While the price is significantly higher for FC, the
with Windows should be able to install and configure a Win-
performance is not 300% better. Ultimately, while Fibre Chan-
dows SAN in less than 30 minutes. Microsoft is one of several
nel bandwidth is indeed higher (until everyone has 10GigE
companies that provides iSCSI storage softwarefor Windows;
implemented), the bottleneck is actually the speed of the hard
another is our featured product StarWind Server v4.1.
disks and not the network connection.

For our example we are using the Free version of StarWind

So iSCSI storage allows you to use existing IP switches and
Server v4.1, which gives you plenty of flexibility for use as
routers and the client machines (your application servers) can
primary storage for application servers including virtual
use basic software called an “initiator” instead of very expen-
machines such as Hyper-V and VMware ESX, for Tier-2 storage
sive FC HBA cards. For older application servers with lower
for less critical applications and file servers, for pure disk-to-
powered CPU’s you can use an iSCSI HBA which is still afford-
disk backup or even as a 4 The Essential Guide to Building a
able unlike the FC HBA counterpart. For instance, Microsoft of-
SAN 4 dedicated VTL (virtual tape library). The Free edition of
fers a freely downloadable software iSCSI Initiator and all new
StarWind allows you to manage a capacity of up to 2TB.
versions of Microsoft Windows include the Microsoft iSCSI
initiator. Microsoft has eagerly endorsed iSCSI technology for
A few key points are outlined below to make your experience
Windows, helping to promote iSCSI awareness. Linux based
of building your own SAN run smoothly. First here’s a list of
iSCSI initiators are also freely available.
basic ingredients, you can adjust these to suit your taste:

For organizations that have already invested in FC as primary

• iSCSI Target Software: StarWind Server V.4.1.
storage and require lower cost Tier 2 storage, using iSCSI for
the lower cost tiers will provide
• x86 Server: Any x86 server will do that is capable of running
significant cost savings over FC. It is also a growing trend with-
as a minimum Microsoft Windows XP. 2-4GB RAM and a 2GHz
in the industry to implement iSCSI storage in a mixed environ-
CPU (single core) will be good enough for most storage ap-
ment, where existing FC storage may be legacy but still under
plications. Dual power supplies are recommended for critical
warranty or the performance of FC is required for extremely I/O
applications.
intensive applications such as high transactional databases
with many hits per second. In any mixed storage environ-
• Windows Operating System: A server class Windows OS is
ment, iSCSI can be an ideal choice for many applications from
recommended, although XP and Vista are also supported.
Exchange, SQL Server to VMware or Hyper-V.
Both 64-bit and 32-bit OS’s are supported.

iSCSI storage is already in use by many companies from SMBs

• Disks: SAS or SATA disks, as long as the Windows OS can
to the Fortune 500s.
see them you are fine. A minimum of 2 disks will provide basic
RAID protection.

[5] www.starwindsoftware.com
• IP Switches: A dedicated 1GigE switch for the SAN fabric. your hardware according to the following simple guidelines.
Budget IP switches are not recommended for performance In general the performance required from the physical server
reasons. A second switch is optional, although highly recom- where StarWind is installed isn’t as critical as sizing the disks
mended if connecting mission critical applications to the SAN. correctly although it is still important to note the CPU speed
Jumbo frame support is recommended for optimal and amount of RAM will affect the 5 The Essential Guide to
throughput. Building a SAN 5
system’s performance. A server with 4GB of RAM and a 2GHz
• NICs: 2 X 1GigE NIC ports - a single NIC port will also work for single core CPU should be fine for most applications.
applications with low I/O requirements.
Here is a sample server for your custom-built SAN that will of-
• Client Connections: The free Microsoft iSCSI initiator can be fer excellent performance:
used, as well as various Linux, Unix initiators, iSCSI HBAs and
iSCSI TOE NICs. • Windows Server 2008 x64
• 2 x Dual Core CPU (Intel)
• IP Switches: A dedicated 1GigE switch for the SAN fabric. • 8GB of Memory
Budget IP switches are not recommended for performance • 1 x RAID Controller (SATA and SAS Backplane support)
reasons. A second switch is optional, although highly recom- • 2 x 1GB NICs (Jumbo Frame support)
mended if connecting mission critical applications to the SAN. Sizing disks involves selecting the correct speed drives and
Jumbo frame support is recommended for optimal throughput. the right number of drives to achieve the required IOPs (i/o
operations per second) for your application.
• NICs: 2 X 1GigE NIC ports - a single NIC port will also work for StarWind will work with any disk that Windows can see (SAS,
applications with low I/O requirements. SATA), and storage can be expanded by using an expansion
bay such as an externally SAS connected bay of drives. Using
• Client Connections: The free Microsoft iSCSI initiator can be a server with hot swappable drives provides extra resiliency in
used, as well as various Linux, Unix initiators, iSCSI HBAs and the event of a drive failure.
iSCSI TOE NICs. How you decide to carve up a RAID group, many LUNs spread
across a single RAID group vs. each LUN on a separate RAID
Building Your Own SAN group is a function of the performance your applications
Once you download and install StarWind iSCSI Server soft- require.
ware, it should take you no more than 15 to 20 minutes to get
started. StarWind can be installed on any x86 server running To make sure that your IP network is utilized correctly, you
64-bit or 32-bit Microsoft Windows, allowing you to select your should use a dedicated NIC port on your application servers
preferred hardware vendor (i.e. Dell, HP, IBM, or any white- to connect to dedicated IP switches which are only used for
box server) or to repurpose any existing server that may have iSCSI traffic. This will ensure that you don’t overwhelm your
become available after consolidation or implementation of LAN. This is the cornerstone of a SAN which is by definition a
VMware or Hyper-V virtualization environments. separate network for storage. For further redundancy on your
Before installing StarWind, note that you will get the best SAN network you can use two separate switches in a criss-
performance and experience with your iSCSI SAN by selecting cross fashion, this requires either dual NICs or two available

[6] www.starwindsoftware.com
Ethernet ports on your application server and again on the
server running StarWind iSCSI Target.

If you are using StarWind as a backup to disk appliance and

you only have a single backup server you can get away with a
simpler direct connection and eliminate a switch all together.
Multipathing will provide redundancy or NIC teaming to im-
prove data flow. Multipathing with StarWind is achieved using
industry standard MPIO capabilities, and is simple to config-
ure via the MS iSCSI initiator (fully supported with StarWind
Software).
Figure 1: StarWind central management console interface.
In large I/O environments adding more NIC ports to the
StarWind server will allow even more data throughput. Unlike
many dedicated SAN vendors, a StarWind SAN allows you to
grow NIC ports without purchasing a new SAN.

Also, ensure you are using a 1GigE network for all SAN traffic.
Anything slower will lack performance. If you need additional
performance then using a 10GigE dedicated IP network for SAN
traffic will assure you achieve higher performance that will still
be a fraction of the total cost of FC storage and FC switches.

On Windows clients (your application servers) the free Mi-

crosoft iSCSI initiator or the free and more advanced StarPort
Figure 2: Adding a new client connection to StarWind. Note the
Initiator is used to enable the client machine to connect to option to enable CHAP authentication for security.
your new SAN. StarWind has also been validated with Linux
and UNIX iSCSI initiators, iSCSI HBAs from Adaptec and QLogic
and hardware iSCSI accelerators from Alacritech.

[7] www.starwindsoftware.com
 Figure 3: iSCSI networked storage implementation.

[8] www.starwindsoftware.com
Protecting Data With a SAN the VTL edition of StarWind ($1795) which is seen by backup
software as a tape device, or if your backup software vendor
Once you have centralized/shared storage in place one of the
allows you to backup straight to disk you can backup directly
first questions you should ask yourself is how will you back
to StarWind without requiring the VTL option. Check with your
up the data that resides on the storage server? With data on a
backup vendor regarding backing up to disk as there may be
StarWind SAN you can still use your existing backup applica-
an additional cost from your backup software vendor for this
tion to backup your data, and for VMware users you can also
option.
use VCB (Virtual Consolidated Backup). StarWind SAN also
allows you to perform live, point-in-time snapshots with the
SUMMARY
CDP & Snapshots feature for further flexibility in your disas-
There you have it, building SAN is a fairly straight forward
ter recovery strategy, including mirroring and replication for
process. It takes a bit of pre-planning, but the small amount of
remote offsite replication.
effort required to build your own SAN can result in a signifi-
CDP & Snapshots and Mirroring & Replication are available
cant savings in cost. Using StarWind Software to build a SAN
with paid editions of StarWind’s iSCSI SAN software.
is easy and you will be able to reduce complexity, save time
Enterprise Features: Expanding The SANs Feature Set managing your storage and expand your storage capabilities
affordably.
The Free version of StarWind allows for a capacity of up to 2TB
but the paid version of StarWind Server will scale in TBs to any
This guide is meant to be a brief introduction to building your
capacity required by you for the project, making a perfect addi-
own SAN. Please refer to the more in depth Best Practices
tion to any IT environment whether you are adding an addi-
Guide or consult the StarWind sales rep for further assistance.
tional SAN, your first SAN or just a backup appliance. StarWind
is the industry’s most affordable and best valued platform for
building an iSCSI SAN.

With additional features such as CDP & Snapshots as well

as Mirroring & Replication in the StarWind Enterprise Server
version, you will have an enterpriselevel feature set that will
permit for more protection as well as offsite storage and WAN
replication for your DR planning. Further, with StarWind’s abil-
ity to dynamically provision storage you can, for example, give
an application server a 2TB volume and only require physical
disks on StarWind to hold the actual used data which may be
less than 500GB.

Then as your application server requires more storage you

simply add more disks. Called “Thin Provisioning”, this pre-
vents you from purchasing and allocating storage until it is
physically required.
If you are using StarWind as a disk backup device you can use

[9] www.starwindsoftware.com
 ABOUT STARWIND SOFTWARE INC.
StarWind Software is a leading global provider of storage and iSCSI SAN software. StarWind Server
converts any Windows server into a reliable, powerful and scalable SAN and is designed for use
with solutions such as Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008, VMware ESX and VMware ESXi and Microsoft
Windows Server clusters for database applications such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Exchange
and Microsoft SharePoint Server. StarWind is an affordable iSCSI SAN solution and combines ease of
use with enterprise-class features such as Mirroring and Replication, CDP and Snapshots, Thin Pro-
visioning and Virtual Tape Library (VTL). Since 2003, StarWind has pioneered the iSCSI SAN industry
and has been the solution of choice for thousands of global customers in over 50 countries, from
small and mid-size businesses, to governments, and Fortune 1000 clients.

RELATED LINKS
To download a fully functional FREE edition of the StarWind iSCSI Server for Microsoft Windows or for
more information from StarWind Software about the solution outlined in this paper visit:
www.starwindsoftware.com

ABOUT STARWIND
Since 2003, StarWind has been the storage solution of choice for thousands of global customers in over 50
countries, from SMBs, to governments, and to Fortune 1000 clients. StarWind has pioneered the iSCSI / IP
SAN industry with its storage virtualization software that converts any Windows Server into a reliable and
scalable shared storage.
Turn Any Server Into a SAN. ©2009, StarWind Software Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the
Enterprise Features. express written permission of StarWind Software, Inc. is strictly forbidden. For more information, contact
SMB Price.TM StarWind. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. StarWind Enterprise Server is a
registered trademark of StarWind Software.

THIS WHITE PAPER IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, AND MAY CONTAIN TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS AND
TECHNICAL INACCURACIES. THE CONTENT IS PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
www.starwindsoftware.com ANY KIND.