FreeNas 8.3 - Creating a RAID volume and Configure iSCSI

FreeNAS is a tiny Open Source FreeBSD-based operating system which provides free Network-Attached Storage (NAS) services (CIFS, FTP, NFS, ...). It supports sharing across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems.

FreeNAS 8 includes ZFS, which supports high storage capacities and integrates file systems and volume management into a single piece of software.

Overview

In the following post I will cover the following points:

• Introduction
• Terminology
• Raid Volume Configuration
• Connecting to the FreeNas HTTP Interface
• Creating the RAID Volume
• iSCSI Configuration
• Adding a Portal
• Adding an Initiator
• Adding a Target
• Adding a File Extent
• Adding a Target / Extent association
• Enabling the iSCSI Service
• Configuring the iSCSI Initiator on VMware vSphere 5.1

Introduction

Using FreeNAS 8.3, I need to create a RAID Volume, configure iSCSI and present it to my VMware VSphere 5.1 environment.

Note: If you are not familiar with some of the iSCSI terms used below (target, initiator, extent...) please check the following webpage: http://doc.freenas.org/index.php/ISCSI

Overview of my iSCSI Lab Architecture