iSCSI CONSIDERATIONS WITH LINUX RECORDERS
Also Note:
https://crm.exacq.com/kb/?crc=42338 == recovering corrupt iSCSI configuration in Linux (open-iscsi issue). This can also solve the occasionally-observed problem of deleting a portal, restarting service, and observing the portal was not actually deleted after all.
Alternatively, you can also:
sudo services edvrserver stop
sudo apt-get purge open-iscsi
sudo apt-get install open-iscsi
sudo services edvrserver start
exacqVision Linux-based recorders since Ubuntu version 8.04 support using extended storage with S-Series. However, please do note the following:
Ubuntu 8.04
* iSCSI tools may not already be installed. You may need to install the open-iscsi package, then restart the edvrserver service.
* Only the ext3 filesystem type is supported. This means that you cannot format or mount a partition larger than 2TB. You must take care when configuring your S-Series, to specify sufficient number of partitions, such that each one is within the 2TB size limit. For a large installation, this can require that your recorder be configured to connect to a larger number of iSCSI targets, which you may find inconvenient.
* Formatting takes significantly longer with ext3. A 1 TB partition can take approximately 15 minutes to prepare, and a 2 TB partition is expected to take much longer. Granted, this only matters when configuring a target the first time, but if you don’t expect this slow performance, it can falsely imply a problem.
* Systems have been observed to attempt formatting and mounting targets larger than 2 TB, even though these cannot work. In such a situation, the client will indicate “bad mount”, with logs resembling:
TM=14:48:48;LV=25;PI=390000;TX=/usr/local/exacq/server/scripts/iscsiprep.py addportal -portaladdr 10.16.1.106 -portalport 3260
TM=14:48:52;LV=25;PI=390000;TX=Updated iSCSI target (iqn.exacqstorage:disk1.vol6.68-05-ca-1e-0f-fc) for portal (10.16.1.106:3260) in configuration.
TM=14:48:59;LV=25;PI=390000;TX=/usr/local/exacq/server/scripts/iscsiprep.py enabletarget -iqn iqn.exacqstorage:disk1.vol6.68-05-ca-1e-0f-fc -portaladdr 10.16.1.106 -portalport 3260
TM=14:48:59;LV=25;PI=390000;TX=No prep to be done for LUN 1 for iqn.exacqstorage:disk1.vol6.68-05-ca-1e-0f-fc (diskindex 0, diskname /dev/sdb)
TM=14:48:59;LV=25;PI=390000;TX=Configuring UUID (UUID=a1db15d4-3679-42b3-9f34-4c72c049d0c3) – created mount point (/mnt/edvr/1).
TM=14:48:59;LV=50;PI=390000;TX=iSCSI target (iqn.exacqstorage:disk1.vol6.68-05-ca-1e-0f-fc) partition (1:1) mount point (/mnt/edvr/1/) – mount error 8192.
TM=14:48:59;LV=25;PI=50000;TX=Drive /mnt/edvr/1/ (ID 1) discovered via iSCSI.
If you were to execute dmesg | tail you might also see a message resembling EXT3-fs: sdb1: couldn’t mount because of unsupported optional features (240).
Your best solution here is to remove the portal from your recorder, go back and reconfigure your number of S-Series partitions, reprovision one for this recorder, then add the same portal again.
Ubuntu 10.04
* iSCSI tools may not already be installed. You may need to install both the open-iscsi and open-iscsi-utils packages, then restart the edvrserver service.
* Because the ext4 filesystem type is supported in Ubuntu 10.04, target preparation will complete much more quickly.
* With the ext4 filesystem type, you may connect to partitions up to 16 TB in size. This will help to reduce the total number of partitions necessary for a large installation.
Ubuntu 12.04 and newer, 32-bit
* All necessary iSCSI tools should be pre-installed.
* Otherwise, experience will mimic Ubuntu 10.04.
Ubuntu 12.04 and newer, 64-bit
* If your S-Series is using a 64-bit operating system, it will allow you to specify fewer partitions, because 64-bit Ubuntu can support partitions much larger than 16 TB.
* If you attempt to connect a 32-bit recorder, it is expected to subpartition the target in order than all partitions are within a 16 TB size limit.
* If you attempt to connect a 64-bit recorder, it is expected to connect to the single, large partition as-is.