The operation of virtual storage includes the following tasks.

Confirm storage type: External storage includes FC, iSCSI, and NFS. They differ in how they integrate with HCI, so it is important to confirm the storage type to be integrated in the early stages.

Confirm storage compatibility: Confirm whether the storage to be integrated meets the requirements.

• Check the official compatibility list. Visit the Sangfor official compatibility query platform to confirm whether the components you plan to use, such as HBA cards, are included in the compatibility list for the HCI version.

• Verify ATS acceleration support. ATS (Automated Tiering and Simplification) is a key hardware acceleration requirement for external storage on the HCI platform.

• Verify SCSI-3 emulated compare-and-write support. If the storage does not support ATS, check whether it supports SCSI-3 emulated compare-and-write.

• Strict limitation: If the external storage supports neither ATS nor SCSI-3 emulated compare-and-write, it is typically unsuitable for running business virtual machines and can only be considered for scenarios with low performance requirements, such as backup storage.

• The storage sector size must be 512.

Physical connection: Ensure that the physical connection between HCI and the external storage is properly established. If TCP/IP network connectivity is required, verify that the TCP/IP network between the storage and HCI is functional.

Storage configuration: Make the necessary configurations on the storage side, such as LUN partitioning, allowed client access, authentication methods, etc.

Storage configuration: On the storage side, allocate the required storage space for the Sangfor platform and configure the corresponding authentication method etc. If you need to obtain HCI information such as WWN or IQN, you can follow the steps below.

Login to HCI go to Nodes > Nodes select a node click the node’s name, roll down the page in the Basics & Hardware Configuration section you can check the Storage Adapter IQN and HBA information. Click the icon next to Storage Adapter IQN you can modify the host’s IQN.

HCI configuration: Make the necessary storage integration configurations on the HCI side, such as entering the storage endpoint's IP, selecting the nodes that need to be integrated with the storage, entering authentication information, etc.