VSA - latest 13.1 (attaching ISCSI lun's and extending them)

[BostjanUNIJA]

Hi.
In Virtual LAB i have setup latest VSA and attached ISCSI LUN and created REPO.
I wanted to test the scenario where ISCSI LUN is running out of space, and if you expand LUN size how can you then expand it inside VSA?
Is that even possible or currently not supported?

[vnikiforov]

Hello, Bostjan,

Not supported at the moment. Growing the LUN on the storage side won't help: 13.1 has no way to extend an existing volume and its file system on the appliance. Managing Storage only lets you attach, add, rescan, unmount and detach devices.

To get more capacity today, attach a second LUN, add it as new storage, and register it in the console as another repository, for example as an extent of a scale-out backup repository next to the existing one. That is the scenario the drive expansion feature in 13.1 covers.

Extending existing storage in place is planned for future versions.

[BostjanUNIJA]

Thank you for your reply.

[sfukuda]

Hi all,

Following up on this thread since it's about VSA 13.1 storage management — I ran into a related question around multipath support that seems to have conflicting documentation.

What's New 13.1 states:

FC and iSCSI storage support — Veeam appliances now support attaching Fiber Channel (FC) and iSCSI storage devices, along with multipathing, enabling deployment in enterprise SAN environments.
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/wn/veeam_software_appliance_and_veeam_infrastructure_appliance.html?ver=13

But Considerations and Limitations still says:

Veeam Software Appliance cannot be installed on machines that have multipath storage devices.
https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbr/userguide/deployment_linux_byb.html?ver=13

Checked on build 13.1.1.18, both pages still show this way.

Question: Is the Considerations and Limitations statement referring only to the initial OS installation (i.e., no pre-existing multipath devices at install time), while the new multipathing support in 13.1 applies to storage attached after deployment via Host Management Console (Add Storage / Attach iSCSI LUNs)? Or is multipath storage still unsupported for VSA in general, and the What's New wording is getting ahead of the Limitations page?

We're evaluating this for a customer design requiring >100TB of iSCSI multipath-backed repository storage, so a clear answer on which page is authoritative would really help.

Thanks!

[vnikiforov]

Hello, Shunichi,

I assume both pages are correct, they just describe different stages.
The Considerations and Limitations statement applies to the OS installation only: the machine must not have multipath storage devices present while you install the appliance.
The multipathing support added in 13.1 is for network storage attached after deployment.
When you attach iSCSI LUNs through Host Management, multipathing is applied automatically where possible, and the appliance picks up FC devices presented over multiple paths after a storage rescan.

So your reading is right: deploy the appliance first, then present and attach the multipath-backed iSCSI LUNs. That is a supported configuration.

[sfukuda]

Hi Vladimir,

Thanks for the clear explanation, that confirms what I suspected. So to summarize for my own understanding:

1. Deploy the VSA/VIA with no multipath devices present.
2. After deployment, attach the multipath-backed iSCSI/FC LUNs via Host Management.
3. Multipathing is then applied automatically to those attached devices.

This is exactly the design we needed for a customer project. Really appreciate the quick and clear answer!

[vnikiforov]

Hello, Shunichi,

Yes, correct - glad to hear you found it helpful! Thank you.