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Cloud Storage Gateway:Manage a block gateway in the CSG console

Last Updated:Jul 18, 2023

This topic describes how to create a block gateway and an Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) volume in the Cloud Storage Gateway (CSG) console.

Prerequisites

  1. An Alibaba Cloud account is created and the real-name verification is completed. For more information, see Create an Alibaba Cloud account.

    Note

    We recommend that you log on to the CSG console as a RAM user. For more information, see Use RAM to implement account-based access control.

  2. CSG is activated.

    When you log on to the CSG console for the first time, activate the CSG service as prompted.

  3. A virtual private cloud (VPC) is available in the region where you want to create a block gateway. For more information, see Create an IPv4 VPC.

  4. An Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance is available in the region where you want to create a block gateway. The ECS instance runs in the VPC. For more information, see Create an ECS instance.

    Note

    If your on-premises host is connected to a VPC by using an Express Connect circuit, you can also manage the block gateway on your on-premises host.

  5. An Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket is created. For more information, see Create buckets.

    Note

    Block gateways support only Standard and Infrequent Access (IA) OSS buckets.

Step 1: Create a block gateway

  1. Log on to the CSG console.

  2. Select the region where you want to create a block gateway.

  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click Gateways. On the Current Gateway Cluster page, select the gateway cluster, and then click Create.

    If you have not created a gateway cluster, click Create Gateway Cluster on the Overview page to create a gateway cluster.

  4. In the Gateway Information step, set the required parameters, and then click Next. The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Name

    The name of the gateway that you want to create.

    The name must be 1 to 60 characters in length and can contain letters, digits, periods (.), underscores (_), and hyphens (-). It must start with a letter.

    Location

    The location where you want to deploy the gateway. Valid values: On-premises and Alibaba Cloud.

    • On-premises: specifies an on-premises block gateway that is deployed in your data center. You can deploy an on-premises block gateway either in the CSG console or in the on-premises block gateway console.

    • Alibaba Cloud: specifies a cloud block gateway that is deployed on Alibaba Cloud. You can deploy a cloud block gateway only in the CSG console.

    Type

    The type of the gateway that you want to create. Select iSCSI Gateway.

  5. In the Gateway Configurations step, set the required parameters, and then click Next.

    If you set Location to Alibaba Cloud, you must set the following parameters in this step.

    Parameter

    Description

    Edition

    The edition of the gateway that you want to create. Valid values: Basic, Standard, Enhanced, and Performance Optimized. For more information, see Specifications.

    VPC

    The VPC where you want to deploy the gateway.

    Note

    The specified VPC must be the VPC where your ECS instance or on-premises host resides.

    vSwitch

    The vSwitch that is connected to the gateway.

    Note
    • The specified vSwitch must be the vSwitch that is connected to your ECS instance or on-premises host.

    • If no gateway is available in the zone where the specified vSwitch resides, create a vSwitch in another zone.

    Public Network Bandwidth

    The public bandwidth.

    Note
    • By default, Public Network Bandwidth is not selected. If you want to use a gateway that resides in another region, you must select and set the Public Network Bandwidth parameter. For more information, see Upgrade the public bandwidth.

  6. In the Billing Information step, set the required parameters, and then click Next. The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Billing Method

    The method that the system uses to calculate fees for the gateway. Valid values: Pay-as-you-go and Subscription. For more information, see Billable items and billing methods.

    If you select Subscription, you are redirected to the Cloud Storage Gateway (Subscription) page after you create the block gateway. Then, you must complete the payment as prompted. For more information, see Purchase a gateway.

    Expiration Policy

    Select an expiration policy for the gateway. Valid values: Switch to Pay-as-you-go and Release.

  7. In the Confirmation step, confirm your settings, and then click OK.

    • After you create a cloud block gateway, the system completes the deployment in 5 to 10 minutes. If the Running state is displayed in the Status column, the gateway is activated and deployed.

    • After you create an on-premises block gateway, click Activate Gateway in the Actions column. In the Activate Gateway dialog box, set the required parameters to activate the gateway. For more information, see Activate the gateway.

Step 2: Create a cache disk

Before you create an iSCSI volume whose cache mode is enabled, you must add a cache disk to the block gateway.

Note

This section describes how to create a cache disk for a cloud block gateway. To create a cache disk for an on-premises block gateway, you must go to the platform where the on-premises gateway console is deployed. For more information, see Add disks.

  1. Log on to the CSG console.

  2. Select the region where the block gateway resides.

  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click Gateways. On the Current Gateway Cluster page, click the block gateway ID to open the Volumes page.

  4. In the left-side navigation pane, click Cache. On the Cache page, click Create Cache.

  5. In the Add Cache dialog box, set the following parameters:

    • Capacity: the size of the cache disk that you want to create. Valid values: 20 GB to 32 TB.

    • Type: the type of the cache disk that you want to create. Valid values: Ultra Disk, Standard SSD, and ESSD.

    Note
    • Basic gateway: The maximum cache capacity is 1 TB. PL3 is not supported for ESSD.

    • Standard gateway: The maximum cache capacity is 2 TB.

  6. Click OK.

    If you create a subscription block gateway, you are redirected to the Cloud Storage Gateway Cache Disk (Subscription) page after you create a cache disk. Then, you must complete the payment as prompted. For more information, see Purchase a cache disk.

Step 3: Create an iSCSI volume

  1. Log on to the CSG console.

  2. Select the region where the block gateway resides.

  3. In the left-side navigation pane, click Gateways. On the Current Gateway Cluster page, click the block gateway ID to open the Volumes page.

  4. In the left-side navigation pane, click Volume Information. On the Volumes page, click Create.

  5. In the Bucket Settings step, set the required parameters, and then click Next. The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Cross-region Binding

    • Yes: You can access a bucket that resides in a different region from the specified gateway.

    • No: You can access only a bucket that resides in the same region as the specified gateway.

    Note

    If you select an Internet endpoint of the specified bucket to bind your cloud resource to the block gateway, you may be charged for external download traffic.

    Bucket Region

    Select an existing bucket.

    Use SSL to Connect Bucket

    If you select Yes, you can connect to the OSS bucket over SSL.

  6. In the Basic Information step, set the required parameters, and then click Next. The following table describes the parameters.

    Parameter

    Description

    Volume Name

    The name of the iSCSI volume that you want to create. The name must be 1 to 31 characters in length, and can contain letters and digits.

    Recover

    Select whether to restore a volume that uses the specified OSS bucket as backend storage. Valid values: Yes and No.

    • Yes: When the associated OSS bucket is used as a volume, the system attempts to recover the volume based on the metadata of the volume, such as the size of the volume.

    • No: The system uses the associated OSS bucket to create a volume.

    Capacity

    If you set Recover to No, you must set the Capacity parameter. Valid values: 1 GB to 256 TB.

    Mode

    The mode that CSG uses to read and write files. Valid values: Write-through Mode and Cache Mode.

    • Write-through Mode: In Write-through mode, data reads and writes are preferentially performed on the OSS bucket.

    • Cache Mode: In Cache mode, data reads and writes are preferentially performed in the on-premises cache disk. iSCSI gateways have better read and write performance in Cache mode.

    Cache

    If you set Mode to Cache Mode, you must select a cache disk.

    Make sure that you have added a cache disk to the block gateway. Otherwise, no cache disk is available.

    Storage Allocation Unit

    If you set Recover to No, you must set the Storage Allocation Unit parameter. Valid values: 8K, 16K, 32K, 64K, and 128K. Default value: 32K.

    Authorization

    The one-way Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) authentication.

    If you select CHAP from the Authorization drop-down list, you must set the following parameters:

    • CHAP Username of Initiator: Enter a CHAP username.

    • CHAP Password of Initiator: Enter a CHAP password. The password must be 12 to 16 characters in length.

  7. In the Confirmation step, confirm your settings, and then click OK.

  8. After you create an iSCSI volume, you can use the volume. For more information, see Use iSCSI volumes.