Windows 7 iSCSI initiator disconnect issues

iscsiwindows

I have Windows 7 workstation installed on 2 LUNS connected via 2-port Intel Pro/1000 PT, one LUN per port, first LUN is a system drive. LUNS are on the different targets.

There are absolutely no problems with a system LUN, but according to the system event log, the second LUN keeps disconnecting and reconnecting: "Connection to the target was lost. The initiator will attempt to retry the connection.", it happens every 1-2 minutes. There is no any system freezes etc., just a messages in the logs. But of course I would like to have this fixed. Is it possible?

Some additional info:

all power management features for the adapters are disabled.

MSC for the target is set to "Failover only".

The target is Solaris Express (ex. OpenSolaris) COMSTAR, but I guess it's not important – other machines don't have any issues as well as the first LUN on this Windows 7 machine.

p.s. I've tried to copy some large files to the second LUN to see any freezes, but for some reason disconnects are disappeared until the copy process is completed. Looks like Windows iSCSI initiator "plays" with a LUN only when it's idle. But for what?

Best Answer

Looks like I've already answered this one on ru_root, but for the record:

  • disable tcp offloading. and generally go over ProSet's options, might be something worthwhile in there
  • check the initiator for a persistent connection option, I remember something of the sort in there
  • If MPIO is used, it is possible that you're losing a path and not the connection
  • If everything else fails, I'd get a tcpdump and analyse it for iSCSI related traffic issues.

BTW, if you're using a team, it will not work with MPIO apparently: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee338480(WS.10).aspx

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