GlobalSan iSCSI 4.1 Support?

FYI - I've hit the same issues as @mrwiggles; none of the v4.x releases have worked on any of my macs though I have no issues at all using the v3 release for multiple iSCSI LUNS, including ability to make LUNS persistent

I also use the v3 client to mount the backups of my LUNs from my NV+ using the iSCSI community add-on - again, no issues

And yes, this includes backing up Aperture vaults to both Ultra and NV+ (faster and easier to backup to 2 separate vaults than backup one vault to Ultra and then use frontview backup to copy that to my NV+ )

You should try to create and update an Aperture Vault on the LUN as well. At best all we can say is that 4.1 works sporadically for some people and I would bet on it not working consistently. The fact that Jedi also ran into problems and filed a crash report with Apple suggests to me that 4.1 is not stable. Also, I can update the my Aperture Vault using v3 of the Initiator but not 4.1. So, as said before, I don't think Aperture is the issue here.

All I want is for Netgear to work with SNS to make the GlobalSAN Initiator part of their testing process on ReadyNAS firmware releases. It IS ASTOUNDING to me that Netgear can advertise iSCSI support on the Mac and not test/suggest/recommend any Mac-based Initiator other than v3 of GlobalSan.

-mw

My last message was directed at Charles, not Sphardy. But Sphardy is providing confirmation of the main point of that message: 4.1 is not a stable solution, period.

At this point I have uninstalled v4.1 and will have to go back to v3. However, I can't seem to make v3 persistent and I don't know why.

The reason I am really unhappy with this whole situation is that I KNOW that v3 will break at some point as SNS has deprecated it and that means that UNLESS 4.X is tested to work with ReadyNAS LUNs, all of us Mac iSCSI users are screwed. Hence wanting Netgear to take some ownership over this and communicate back to us what their plan is. So far I've not received any replies after many requests.

-mw

Another point: this is the only thread I've seen where anyone has claimed to have the v4.x client working with ReadyNAS as far as I can remember - even Chirpa has had issues and recommended using the v3 client

There is the ATTO initiator that is sometimes mentioned by them, but that's pretty expensive.

I would also like to see GlobalSAN v4.1 working with the ReadyNAS.

mdgm wrote:
There is the ATTO initiator that is sometimes mentioned by them, but that's pretty expensive.

$200 per license last I looked

mdgm,

I've asked Netgear to get with the SNS team to work out the compatibility issues. See this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=48529

If you would like to chime in on this thread, and others do as well, perhaps we can get some movement on this issue.

-mw

MW & Sphardy,

I have been on their fourm as well. In term of official talk from us, I can't make comment on it. I am sure other NAS may have issue with 4.x version too as one of the user already reported the hung issue with iPhotos. It could or may be same with Apetures (during Vault Update), but I can't really make comment on Apple Applications using GlobalSAN iSCSI Initiator. Or it could be Apple Kernel it self that disconnect the iSCSI Target in low level while the upper application level shown hung.

Yes, there may be any number of explanations for the problems with 4.1. My point was that the SNS folks seem willing to get feedback from all corners, including Netgear and its customers. So my question was is Netgear engaged? Well I know for a fact that answer is 'No' because SNS says they've never heard from anyone at Netgear on this issue.

I'm frankly not sure what the issue is with Netgear commenting on trying to work with SNS to assure that Netgear's Mac customers have a solid iSCSI solution. As it stands today, and if I was asked by another prospective customer, I would have to say 'no'. And I'm not sure I could recommend the ReadyNAS to other Mac users. It pains me to say that given that I recently paid over $1500 for a Pro Business specifically to get iSCSI support as I needed a network based HFS+ file system. But all this 'no one owns the problem' stuff is pretty discouraging.

I was a product manager once in a software company and my view at the time was that I needed to own the eco-system for my products. That included working with third parties to make sure that even if we didn't provide the complete solution, there was a solid and robust third party offering to fill in the missing pieces. I feel that Netgear is not thinking this way as evidenced by this whole issue.

I know that the Drobo supports iSCSI. Do they provide their own Initiator or do they also punt on it like Netgear is doing?

-m

I had similar problems with the previous GlobalSan 4 beta. It mainly happened when lots of I/O is happening to the iSCSI volume. For me, it was pretty much guaranteed to happen with Adobe Lightroom when backing up the catalog. Since rolling back to v3 everything has been nice and stable. I haven't tried the newest beta, but given the reports here it doesn't appear to be worth my time...