Attach a Cloud Block Storage volume to a Windows OnMetal server

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Attach a Cloud Block Storage volume to a Windows OnMetal server

Last updated on: 2019-04-05

Authored by: Aaron Davis

If you want more than 32 GB of storage but do not need the fast I/O normally provided by an OnMetal server, you can connect an OnMetal server to a Cloud Block Storage volume. Using an OnMetal server with Cloud Block Storage is particularly useful for OnMetal Compute and Memory v1 flavors.

This article covers creating a Cloud Block Storage volume, attaching the volume to a server, and connecting the volume in a Microsoft® Windows® server.

Note: Before you can delete an OnMetal server, you must detach the volume. See Detach and delete Cloud Block Storage volumes for instructions.

Create a new Cloud Block Storage volume

If you don’t already have a Cloud Block Storage volume, use the following procedure to create a new a volume by using the Cloud Control Panel.

Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.
In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.
Select Storage > Block Storage Volumes.
Click Create Volume and fill in the fields.
Click Create Volume again.

Attach an existing Cloud Block Storage volume to a server

Use the following procedure to attach a Cloud Block Storage volume to your OnMetal server by using the Cloud Control Panel. The procedure assumes that the server instance already exists.

Log in to the Cloud Control Panel.
In the top navigation bar, click Select a Product > Rackspace Cloud.
Select Storage > Block Storage Volumes.
Click the cog beside the volume that you want to attach and select Attach Volume.
Select a server from the list and click Attach Volume.

Note: You can attach more than one volume to a server.

A window opens with the following information:
```
# set initiator name
echo InitiatorName=iqn.2008-10.org.openstack: ae9f0492-d19d-45d3-9eac-6987b07f145a > /etc/iscsi/initiatorname.iscsi
# discover targets for a given portal
iscsiadm -m discovery --type sendtargets --portal 10.190.142.197:3260
# connect to the target
iscsiadm -m node --targetname=iqn.2010-11.com.rackspace: ae9f0492-d19d-45d3-9eac-6987b07f145a --portal 10.190.142.197:3260 –login
```
From this output, take note of the two node values that are needed to connect your Cloud Block Storage volume to your Windows OnMetal server: the targetname (iqn), which is the initiator and the target for your volume, and the portal IP address and port, which are your address. In the preceding example, these nodes have the following values:
- targetname=iqn.2010-11.com.rackspace: ae9f0492-d19d-45d3-9eac-6987b07f145a
- portal 10.190.142.197:3260

Connect the volume in Windows

With the preceding information noted, perform the following steps:

Log in to the Windows instance as a user with Administrator privileges, and open the Services Management console.
Select Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service > Properties.
Set the service to start automatically, and then start the service.
Next, open the Administrator control panel by selecting Start -> Control Panel -> Administrator Tools.
Open the iSCSI initiator, click on the second tab, Discovery, and then click Discover Portal.

A window opens where you can enter the Cloud Block Storage node address.
Enter the IP address (the portal IP address and port, which you noted earlier), and click OK.

The target server appears in the list on the Discovery page.
Click the Targets page, and enter the target ICQ (the targetname, which you noted earlier).
In the Target field, enter the target IQN value (the targetname value, which you noted earlier), starting with iqn. Then click Quick Connect.
Open the Administrator control panel by selecting Start -> Control Panel -> Administrator Tools, and click Computer Management.
Select Storage -> Disk Management to see all of your drives.

Because the Cloud Block Storage volume is attached, a second disk, the target, is listed and can then be prepared and brought online.

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