OS/2, eCS & ArcaOS - Technical > Storage

Boot from iscsi or fiber channel

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j:
I would like to have a diskless ArcaOS (or Warp 4, but preferably ArcaOS) machine. For that I would like to boot and run diskless from iSCSI or Fiber Channel or FCoE (Fiberchannel over Ethernet.)

Either way it will be booting from a Netapp filter.

It's just much more convenient for us, as it allows us to take filesystem snapshots, replicate storage remotely; and it gets automatically backed up; plus naturally, it's a very reliable SAN underneath with parity; and finally, it's more "aligned" with how we run things around here.

The initial OS installation can be done to Virtualbox (because I don't think you can readily install to FC or iSCSI), then the contents of the disk *could* be moved (more precisely dd if=virtualboxdisk.raw of=/dev/remoteblockdevice bs=512 or something like that) to the SAN block device, but I'm not certain how things would boot (ECSBOOT.COM?); naturally, I could use a Qlogic HBA with iSCSI boot support (sometimes they do that for windows or AIX) but I'm not sure if that was ever attempted for OS/2; although, because it's a fairly common way to do things in large organizations i would be surprised to hear that it was never done with OS/2.

GOALS: Note that I don't want to boot or run diskless os/2 from os/2 (or ecomstation or another operating system) or run os/2 "virtualized" here; the goal is to boot and run os/2 from a machine with no disk. So please refrain asking "why would you do this", "use a raid controller", "use reliable drives", etc. Finally, the GOAL is not to simply boot, but have the block device exposed over network or fiber channel; or basically run "diskless" via iscsi/FCoE or fiber channel.

Quick search on Google didn't show anything extremely useful (which hardware to use, which HBAs are supported etc) or how to accomplish this, so I'm turning to the community for ideas and pointers.

Thanks in advance -- J.

Roderick Klein:

--- Quote from: j on February 12, 2024, 07:28:11 am ---I would like to have a diskless ArcaOS (or Warp 4, but preferably ArcaOS) machine. For that I would like to boot and run diskless from iSCSI or Fiber Channel or FCoE (Fiberchannel over Ethernet.)

Either way it will be booting from a Netapp filter.

It's just much more convenient for us, as it allows us to take filesystem snapshots, replicate storage remotely; and it gets automatically backed up; plus naturally, it's a very reliable SAN underneath with parity; and finally, it's more "aligned" with how we run things around here.

The initial OS installation can be done to Virtualbox (because I don't think you can readily install to FC or iSCSI), then the contents of the disk *could* be moved (more precisely dd if=virtualboxdisk.raw of=/dev/remoteblockdevice bs=512 or something like that) to the SAN block device, but I'm not certain how things would boot (ECSBOOT.COM?); naturally, I could use a Qlogic HBA with iSCSI boot support (sometimes they do that for windows or AIX) but I'm not sure if that was ever attempted for OS/2; although, because it's a fairly common way to do things in large organizations i would be surprised to hear that it was never done with OS/2.

GOALS: Note that I don't want to boot or run diskless os/2 from os/2 (or ecomstation or another operating system) or run os/2 "virtualized" here; the goal is to boot and run os/2 from a machine with no disk. So please refrain asking "why would you do this", "use a raid controller", "use reliable drives", etc. Finally, the GOAL is not to simply boot, but have the block device exposed over network or fiber channel; or basically run "diskless" via iscsi/FCoE or fiber channel.

Quick search on Google didn't show anything extremely useful (which hardware to use, which HBAs are supported etc) or how to accomplish this, so I'm turning to the community for ideas and pointers.

Thanks in advance -- J.

--- End quote ---

Sorry best I can tell this is game over. Maybe just maybe the current ArcaOS UEFI loader MIGHT work to load from iSCSI. The problem is that would load ArcaOS for a small portion. But once ArcaOS starts to boot with the UEFI loader your dead in the water.
The problem is that you would need some sort of iSCSI add driver (I think). This is really uncharted terrain and I think your chances or low of getting this to work.


Roderick Klein

ivan:
Hi J,

From what you say I assume you are going to write the necessary OS/2 iSCSI initiator because as far as I know that is what you need to communicate between server and target - no initiator no service.

j:
What about fiber channel, is there any FC adapter known to work with OS/2?

ivan:
No, both iSCSI and fibre channel need an initiator which we don't have you should know that since you want ti use it.

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