Hi!
I have a HP StorageWorks MSA2000i with dual controllers (4 host ports) for redundancy purposes.
-
MSA2000i controller ports:
Controller A:
Port 0
Port 1
Controller B:
Port 0
Port 1
-
Port 0 on controller A has to be on the same subnet as Port 0 on controller B to get failover functions to work. Port 1 on controller A and B also has to be on the same subnet (but not the same as A/0 and B/0).
However, is it possible in ESX 3.0.2 to set up a direct ethernet connection to the host ports on the iSCSI storage device without involving any kind of ethernet switch, and instead bind the different networks (NIC's) together with the same vSwitch?
Let's say that I've got a quad port NIC adapter. Can I bind/bridge two NIC ports to one vSwitch within VMware to communicate with iSCSI port A/0 and B/0 to get the failover functions to work properly? Physically this is two different networks as there is no switch connecting them together.
Is this a bad/impossible solution? Why I'm eager to not using any switches is because of better security, less devices and to reduce costs.
I know that a iSCSI HBA is a better choice than a quad port NIC, but I don't need that top performance right now.
Thank you in advance!
// Hazz