inbound iSCSI Connections?

[dslewiston]

I am running TrueNAS-SCALE-22.02.1 and I have a questions about connecting iSCSI into TruNAS.

I am running TruNAS SCALE on a Dell R410 server but there is not a ton of local storage on the machine. I do have a Drobo B1200i I have been using for some time and I would like to connect the iSCSI from that to the TruNAS instance running on the Dell R410. I am not seeing any where that this is possible. Is this just not an option for TruNAS?

 

[dslewiston]

Still trying to find a way to connect TrueNAS-SCALE-22.02.1 with another iSCSI storage provider. Everything I am finding shows ways to create an iSCSI target from TrueNAS -> Endpoint. but Not iSCSI Storage -> TrueNAS.

Is there a way to do this that anyone is aware of?

 

[x86inc]

Still trying to find a way to connect TrueNAS-SCALE-22.02.1 with another iSCSI storage provider. Everything I am finding shows ways to create an iSCSI target from TrueNAS -> Endpoint. but Not iSCSI Storage -> TrueNAS.

Is there a way to do this that anyone is aware of?

I believe that in the BIOS of the Dell R410 you can connect an external iSCSI as a drive then TrueNas will see it as a single drive

 

[Ericloewe]

Is there a way to do this that anyone is aware of?

No, this is not supported.

I believe that in the BIOS of the Dell R410 you can connect an external iSCSI as a drive then TrueNas will see it as a single drive

For booting maybe, but such a hack would be a tremendously bad idea for safety, performance and data integrity.

 

[x86inc]

No, this is not supported.

For booting maybe, but such a hack would be a tremendously bad idea for safety, performance and data integrity.

0) if the server motherboard can do it as a documented function
then it is supported and not a hack. It will just show up as a disk like the other disks already attached to it.
from his question he is already running TrueNas so booting is not required
1) I myself have never done it but this person has https://serverfault.com/questions/431864/boot-from-iscsi-how-does-it-work
However I have enough supermicro servers sitting around that I have been wanted to try it on. I will let you know how it goes.
2) safety and data integrity are mutually inclusive and are a consideration of the iSCSI Target not the Initiator
3) Performance depends on his use case. My guess is he wants it for VM or Container storage in which case
performance is not a problem.
4) Keep in mind dslewiston is asking how to map an iSCSI Target into TrueNas. He has his reasons for doing this
I merely threw out an option within the parameters of his question. (late as it was a year ago)

 

[Ericloewe]

the server motherboard can do it as a documented function
then it is supported and not a hack. It will just show up as a disk like the other disks already attached to it.

It is a hack, because of the way it is implemented. It's either the BMC doing that work or the host itself with SMM trickery. In either case, you're talking about ancient code (Gen 11 is many years out of support), with probably little thought put into security (even today system and BMC firmware is always a disaster site) and guaranteed terrible performance (BMC virtual media is slow as molasses on current hardware, much less ancient machines; and SMM trickery would destroy performance at least as much, if not more).
And how would it even show up, as a USB mass storage device? The legacy USB mass storage implementation is slow and clumsy, and a Gen 11 is definitely not going to support UASP by virtue of predating meaningful implementations by many years.

myself have never done it but this person has https://serverfault.com/questions/431864/boot-from-iscsi-how-does-it-work
However I have enough supermicro servers sitting around that I have been wanted to try it on. I will let you know how it goes.

That does not do what you say it does. For starters, it's in the NIC Firmware, which is slightly better, but not much. More importantly, it only serves to begin loading the OS, it does not provide a virtual disk to the OS, the OS has to connect to the same iSCSI target and do whatever.

Performance depends on his use case. My guess is he wants it for VM or Container storage in which case
performance is not a problem.

That's a bizarre statement on the level of "he wants to go racing, so it's fine if his car is slow".

4) Keep in mind dslewiston is asking how to map an iSCSI Target into TrueNas. He has his reasons for doing this
I merely threw out an option within the parameters of his question. (late as it was a year ago)

That's not a good reason for suggesting dodgy methods. We all have bad ideas and it's counterproductive to encourage them. If someone has their heart set on doing something weird, they can research it and figure it out for themselves, aware of the risks and implications.