Technical Odds and Ends

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Hacking the Western Digital Sentinel DX4000 Update 1

At this point, all limitations listed in my first post have been removed or mitigated. Here is a quick summary of the current status of each resolved/mitigated limitation listed earlier:

  1. The two NICs are configured in failover mode only, and teamed, meaning two active network connections cannot be established. This is a significant limitation if trying to use the DX4000 as a low-cost centralized storage server for Hyper-V and/or VMware.
    By installing the lastest Intel drivers and management tools for the two onboard NICs, it is possible to remove the teaming configuration from the NICs and concomitantly end up with two independent NICs. In my configuration, one NIC has now been dedicated to iSCSI traffic and the other NIC for remote access to the DX4000 via RDP.
  2. Given that the DX4000 ships with WSS 2008 R2 Essentials, iSCSI support otherwise available from Microsoft in non-Essentials versions of WSS, is not provided. This significantly limits the ability of the DX4000 to act as a centralized storage server for Hyper-V and/or VMware. Although theorectically the DX4000 supports NFS, which would allow one method of leveraging the DX4000 in an ESXi environment, out-of-the-box WD documentation and tools do not indicate in any way whatsoever how to install support for and configure NFS, and it does NOT ship with NFS support already configured.
    NFS has now been enabled on the DX4000. However, with regard to use with ESXi 5.0, StarWind Sofware’s free iSCSI target software has been installed and configured. The ESXi host, using an iSCSI storage adapter, is connecting over the dedicated iSCSI network to iSCSI targets defined on the DX4000 via the StarWind iSCSI SAN Software.
  3. Although capable of supporting two power sources, the DX4000 only ships with one laptop-style power brick. However, additional DX4000-compatible power bricks are available for about $65 (including shipping and handling).
    Second power brick has been ordered and will be installed this week. When installed, testing of automatic power failover will be performed to ensure the additional investment keeps the DX4000 running smoothly.
  4. The DX4000 ships with only 2 GB of RAM installed, which imposes a perceptible limitation on throughput speed. Despite the low cost of RAM today, Western Digital does not provide an officially sanctioned, or described, method of installing additional RAM.
    Removed the DX4000 shell, removed the six screws holding the DX4000 motherboard to the top of the interior drive cage, carefully removed the motherboard from the unit, and exposed the single SODIMM (2 GB). Note that there is indeed only a single SODIMM slot, despite CPU-Z indicating otherwise. Replaced the 2 GB SODIMM with a 4GB with same specs, carefully reinserted the vertical PCB extender into the motherboard as I remounted it on top of the drive cage, and finished re-assembling DX4000. Turned on the unit, connected via RDP, and WS 2008 R2 reported 4 GB of RAM in use.

As time permits, I intend to post more detailed instructions and other pertinent information related to each of the above limitation remediations.

As an illustration of the two NICs operating independently, here is a screenshot of Task Manager on the DX4000 with three VMs running on a separate ESXi host using three iSCSI targets hosted on the DX4000:

DX4000 Task Manager Showing Two NICs Operating Independently
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28 responses to “Hacking the Western Digital Sentinel DX4000 Update 1”

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  4. My purpose behind splitting the NICs had to do with allowing separation between a dedicated internal iSCSI network and normal access to the DX4000s over the organization LAN. Thus, I have not explored MPIO but would likely just leave the teamed approach that the unit ships with operational if I was worried about MPIO?

  6. My feeling is that if you want to pay a premium for a WD WSS-based NAS, you should go ahead and buy the WD-approved drives. They are pricey, but if you’re only worried about cost and spending as little as possible on a storage server (Linux-based or otherwise), then I’d just get a generic NAS cabinet from vendors such as Thecus.

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