XenServer 7.0 SMB SR question
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"Everyone" has always said "XS includes everything..."
Why can't I find the SMB/CIFS option (when I go to create a new SR)?
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Because XS doesn't use SMB for an SR. No one does but Hyper-V. You use NFS for everyone that isn't Hyper-V.
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All four hypervisors offer block (SAN) options and file (NFS or SMB) options for VM storage. NFS is considered the best, but for marketing reasons Hyper-V chose to not include NFS but to work hard to make SMB viable so that they could include that. They had nothing before SMB 3 was released.
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Strangely, though, XS decided to include SMB optionally for you ISO store SR. You can see it on your screen. So you have the functionality from your left screen shown on your right.
But because SMB is not good for production VMs, XS doesn't let you use it there.
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@scottalanmiller said in XenServer 7.0 SMB SR question:
Because XS doesn't use SMB for an SR. No one does but Hyper-V. You use NFS for everyone that isn't Hyper-V.
XS 7.0 can use SMB as an SR
https://www.citrix.com/blogs/2016/05/24/xenserver-7-whats-new/ -
If XS includes "everything" how/why is SMB Storage only available to XS Enterprise customers?
From the XenCenter help section:
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iscsi or death.
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@FATeknollogee said in XenServer 7.0 SMB SR question:
If XS includes "everything" how/why is SMB Storage only available to XS Enterprise customers?
From the XenCenter help section:
Because the "Enterprise" version is from a third party and is not XenServer itself. Citrix doens't make XenServer. Third parties are free to take any GPLd product and tack stuff onto it and resell it. XS Enterprise is from Citrix, XenServer is from the Linux Foundation. This is a unique case of confusion because Citrix owns the NAME Xen for branding purposes, but doesn't own XenServer the product. It's because you are looking at Citrix' site instead of the site for XenServer.
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Making things more confusing, Citrix hosts the downloads of XenServer for the Linux Foundation. But the documentation on Citrix' site is for Citrix' product, not true XenServer.
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Here is a better "what's new in XenServer 7" page.
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Oracle has done this same thing with Xen (and with RHEL) for a very long time. But they have no claim to the branding and so have always had to rename their third party products. VirtualIron was Oracle's repackaging of Xen, Oracle Unbreakable Linux is their repackaing of RHEL. Citrix is a weird, unique case in that they kept the brand name of a product they don't make. They did this because they bought Xen long ago for the purpose of the brand, not the product, so that they could apply the confusing Xen name to unrelated products like XenApp and XenDesktop which are not even virutalization related.
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So "non-Citrix" XenServer does not support SMB as a SR option?
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@FATeknollogee said in XenServer 7.0 SMB SR question:
So "non-Citrix" XenServer does not support SMB as a SR option?
That's always been my understanding. I know that it did not until 6.5 for sure, and nothing I've seen on 7 says that it supports it and I've never heard of it being requested or on the road map. And it's not come up in any of the 7 work that we've done or any lists of things in 7 not from Citrix. So I'm pretty sure real XS from the Linux Foundation doesn't have that.
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But real XS does have the SMB based ISO mount, it's just not made available for the production storage.
