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Message #17011
[openstack-dev][Cinder]Management of Block storage by nova-volume through iSCSI
Hello,
My question is specific to nova-volume, but might apply to Cinder also. In the "OpenStack Install and Deploy Manual - Ubuntu" doc, Page 47 lists the nova.conf file. In it the "VOLUME" related section is
noted below:
# VOLUMES
volume_group=nova-volumes
volume_name_template=volume-%08x
iscsi_helper=tgtadm
Who manages LVM VG - "nova-volumes". Is it nova-volume module or the iSCSI Target. I am guessing nova-volume. My thinking is nova-volume creates LV out of this VG and feeds it into iSCSI Target using utilites - tgt-admin, tgt-setup-lun (etc.). This LV is then exported as a block storage by the iSCSI Target. This block storage is then attached to / seen by a VM instance on the same or another physical host which has iSCSI connection to the SCSI Tgt. Would that be correct?
If so, I have a few questions:
- What if I want to "feed" additional disks/block devices or VGs to nova-volume module? How and where would I specify that. Or do I have to modify the nova-volume code to handle that. (One solution I can think of is to pool the additional storage into the existing VG - nova-volumes.)
- What if I don't want to feed any VG to nova-volume, but rather want nova-volume to call into the iSCSI target to get block storage.
- I would like to understand the interaction/interface/API of nova-volume (Cinder) that calls into iSCSI Target to expose storage or API to storage appliance to get block storage. Is this a generic standardized API that can call into any type of block storage - iSCSI , FCoE, etcv? If so, pointers to API would be highly appreciated.
I apologize if my questions seems newbie'ish or confusing as I am trying to understand the inner workings of nova-volume/Cinder. Any help is highly appreciated.
Regards,
Ahmed.
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