This topic describes how to manage iSCSI volumes in the Cloud Storage Gateway console, including how to create, modify, delete, and view iSCSI volumes.

Prerequisites

  1. You have created a block gateway. For more information, see Create a block gateway.
  2. You have added a cache disk to the block gateway. For more information, see Add a cache disk.

    If you need to create an iSCSI volume that has the Cache mode enabled, you must add a cache disk to the block gateway first.

Create an iSCSI volume

  1. Log on to the CSG console.
  2. Select the region where the target block gateway is deployed.
  3. On the Gateway Clusters page, find and click the target block gateway.
  4. Click Volumes in the left-side navigation pane, and click Create in the upper-right corner.
  5. In the Bucket Settings step, set the required parameters, and then click Next. The following table describes the parameters.
    ParameterDescription
    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 RegionSelect an existing bucket.
    Use SSL to Connect BucketIf you select Yes, you can connect to the OSS bucket over SSL.
  6. On the Basic Information tab, set the following parameters and click Next.
    ParameterDescription
    iSCSI Volume NameSpecify a name for the volume. The name can be up to 31 characters in length and can contain letters and digits.
    RecoverySelect whether to enable the data recovery function.
    • Yes: If you select Yes, when the OSS bucket associated with the cloud resource is already used as cloud storage of the volume, the system attempts to restore the volume based on the metadata, such as the volume capacity.
    • No: If you select No, the system directly uses the OSS bucket associated with the cloud resource to create a new volume.
    SizeIf you set Recovery to No, you must set the Size parameter.

    The cache size must be no less than 1 GB and no more than 262,144 GB.

    ModeSupports the Write-through mode and Cache mode.
    • Write Through Mode: writes files directly to the associated OSS bucket, and reads data directly from the OSS bucket.
    • Cache Mode: writes files to and reads files from a target local cache disk first. Typically, the Cache mode provides higher read and write performance.
    CacheIf 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.
    • For more information about cache disks of block gateways deployed on Alibaba Cloud, see Add a cache disk.
    • For more information about cache disks of on-premises block gateways, see Add disks.
    Storage Allocation UnitIf you set Recovery to No, you must set the Storage Allocation Unit parameter. Valid values: 8 KB, 16 KB, 32 KB, 64 KB, and 128 KB. Default value: 32 KB.
    Authorization MethodSupports one-way Challenge-Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP) authentication.

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

    • CHAP User Name: Specify a CHAP username.
    • CHAP Password: Specify 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.

Related operations

On the Volumes page, you can also perform the following operations.

OperationDescription
Modify an iSCSI volumeFind the target iSCSI volume and click Edit in the Actions column.
Delete an iSCSI volumeFind the target iSCSI volume and click Delete in the Actions column.

When you delete an iSCSI volume, you can choose whether to delete the data stored in the associated OSS bucket at the same time.

Warning If you select the Delete data in the OSS buckets at the same time check box, all data stored in the OSS bucket will be deleted after the iSCSI volume is deleted. Proceed with caution.
View iSCSI volume informationFind the target iSCSI volume and click the plus sign (+) to show the volume information. The volume information includes the operation status, total amount of downloaded data, IP address, capacity, port, whether CHAP is enabled, total amount of uploaded data, whether OSS bucket SSL is used, LUN ID, volume status, and whether the volume is enabled.

What to do next