Windows 2008 R2, SnapDrive and iSCSI

[rdenyer001]

All,

I am hoping that some one out there has seem this behaviour and can point me in the correct direction to solve.

We have just built a new Windows 2008R2 server on HP Proliant DL380-G5, with SQL 2008.

We are using iSCSI to connect to our FAS30370, via a seperate iSCSI network.

NetApp Host utils are 5.3

Snap Drive is 6.2

When  the server is restarted  we recieve error message that SQL can not find the  SQL databases.

If we then  manually restart SQL , every thing if fine.

If we place "persistant" targets in the Microsoft iSCSI initiator,  SQL starts just fine , BUT know SnapDrive has become all bitter an twisted , is failing to enumerate LUNs, and no drives or iSCSI information show up under the SnapDrive MMC.

IF we now restart the SnapDrive Service every thing is happy.

We are trying to get a combination that works 100% from BOOT  for both SQL and SnapDrive.

Has any one seen this behaviour ?

regards,

Richard

[andy_abbey]

At the point you are having the problem how are the LUN's represented in disk management?. I have setup Windows 2008 / SQL 2008 Cluster based on ISCSI and Host utils without any problems.

[rdenyer001]

Andy,

The problem shows up after the  server  boots.

The SQL one is more apparent as the SQL DBs are not availible after server boot.

If we set  the iSCSI targets as persistant in  MS iSCSI, the DBs arer all availible  but  when we   load Snapdrive -  there are no disks showing up ,and no iSCSI information.

This can be resolved by restarting the snapdrive service.

This is only happening on our Windows 2008 R2 servers ( Windows 2008 works fine) ,  one physical and one virtual  running under Hyper-V.

We have uninstalled and re-installed  NetApp host utils and Snapdrive , with no improvements.

Regards,

Richard

[amiller_1 · Accepted solution]

Hmm....no idea if it will help to be honest but SnapDrive 6.2P1 might be worth a shot...

[watan]

Is this a cluster?  I have seen some instances where there were issues with service dependencies and may want to check the snapdrive service.

If the problem persists, I'd recommend using the  Data  Collection Tool for SnapDrive for Windows (ONTAPWinDC.exe)  and open a support case for further troubleshooting.

[anton_belodedenko]

I've seen this issue a few times, although failed to reproduce in a test lab today.

Try this anyway on affected W2K8 R2/SnapDrive/iSCSI LUN configuration:

(1) Disconenct LUNs and remove all portals/targets from the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator control panel (all fields should be empty)

(2) Restart to make sure no LUNs are mounted on boot

(3) Initiate iSCSI sessions using SnapDrive MMC instead of Microsoft control app.

(4) Reboot

This has resolved the issue in 3 separate cases for me.

Cheers,

-- ab1