A hardware provider is software that supports management of iSCSI virtual disks and snapshots from the iSCSI initiator. These hardware providers, available on the installation CD, include:
- Microsoft iSCSI Software Target Virtual Disk
Service Hardware Provider.
Windows Server® 2003 introduced Virtual Disk Service (VDS), a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that provides a single interface for managing disks. VDS provides an end-to-end solution for managing storage hardware and disks, and for creating volumes on those disks. The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target VDS Hardware Provider is required to use third party VDS or VSS aware applications to manage virtual disks on a storage subsystem.
You install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target VDS Hardware Provider on each iSCSI initiator computer running a storage management application (such as Storage Manager for SANs) that uses the hardware provider to manage storage, as described in this guide. You should also install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target VDS Hardware Provider on any computer from which you will use VDS-aware management applications to manage the storage appliance.
- Microsoft iSCSI Software Target Volume Shadow
Copy Service Hardware Provider.
iSCSI snapshots are created using Volume Shadow Copy Service and a storage array with a hardware provider designed for use with Volume Shadow Copy Service. A Microsoft iSCSI Software Target VSS Hardware Provider is required to create transportable snapshots of iSCSI virtual disks and create application consistent snapshots from iSCSI initiators.
You install this hardware provider on the iSCSI initiator server and the server that is to perform backups. The backup software you use must support transporting snapshots.
The iSCSI initiator creates snapshots for backup and restore of virtual disks that are file system consistent, and which support restoration at the file system level. For a virtual disk to be restored in a way that is application consistent, so that the server application recovers completely, the snapshots should be made from the iSCSI initiator. This functionality in the iSCSI initiator requires the use of the iSCSI initiator VSS Hardware Provider on the iSCSI initiator server.
The VSS and VDS Hardware Providers can be installed on the following operating systems:
- Windows Server 2003 SP2 x86
- Windows Server 2003 SP2 x64
- Windows Server 2008 (SP1) x86
- Windows Server 2008 (SP1) x64
- Windows Server 2008 x86 SP2
- Windows Server 2008 x64 SP2
- Windows Storage Server 2008 x64
The VDS and VSS Hardware Providers require that the computer on which they are installed is in a Windows domain, and that the computer is in the same domain as the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target that they are connecting to.
To upgrade to Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.2 Hardware Providers-
Uninstall previous versions of the iSCSI initiator VDS Hardware Provider and the iSCSI initiator VSS Hardware Provider.
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Right click the iscsitargetClient.msi file for iSCSI initiator 3.2 and select Run as Administrator.
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Follow the steps in the wizard.
Install the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target:
msiexec /i iscsitargetClient.msi <options> ALLUSERS=1 [PROPERTY=PropertyValue]
Uninstall the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target:
msiexec /x iscsitargetClient.msi <options>
Options:
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
|
/quiet |
Quiet mode, no user interface is displayed during installation. |
|
/passive |
Unattended mode, only a progress bar is displayed. |
|
/q[n|b|r|f] |
Sets user interface level:
|
|
/L*v <logfile> |
Logs all actions to the specified log file. |
Properties:
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
ADDLOCAL |
Specifies which features to install. Available features include:
|
|
TARGETDIR |
Specifies the root destination directory. |
|
SERVICEUSERNAME |
The VSS/VDS service account user name. |
|
SERVICEPASSWORD |
The VSS/VDS service account password. |