iSCSI

About

The Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) is an internet protocol based storage standard. The protocol has two main ideas, an Initiator (the client initiating the connection) and a Target (the server the client is connecting too).

iSCSI provides block storage over the network for use on the initiator, the target has no knowledge of the contents of the Logical Unit Number (LUN). This is contrary to a shared folder which is formatted and controlled as block storage on the server then shared over other protocols (e.g. Samba or NFS)

Once the initiator has logged into the target a block device will be present on the system, you can use standard disk management tools to setup the block device and/or mount it.

Integration

Retronas provide a small script that aims make connecting an Initiator<->Target simple. When run you will enter the ip address of the server and if the connection is successful you will be presented with a selection of available Targets in iSCSI Qualified Name (IQN) format.

Select one from the menu and the script will connect to it and update the configuration file to reconnect at boot

Usage

It is up to you how you want to use this block storage once attached to RetroNAS. If you want to manage it through a graphical interface you can use Cockpit to manage as though it was locally attached storage.