"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:A6C4F280-9733-4688-AB30-1C12D30F1279@newsgroup

> I just installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 onto a local SCSI drive. I have a
> large RAID in the box using an Areca RAID card where I store all my files,
> including VMs. I loaded its driver during install, so Hyper-V can see the
> RAID and my gazillions of files on it.
>
> The problem is that when I create a VM, the VM can't see my storage drive.
> I
> would think that if Hyper-V can see the drive (the RAID), then each VM
> should
> also have access to it. How can I use my storage drive from each VM I
> create?
>
> Thanks,
> Jay

Not really. The virtual machine is a separate machine running on its own
virtual hardware with its own virtual hard disk. It will only see files on
the RAID array which are shared across the network. Think of the vm as
simply another machine on your network.

Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

"Bill Grant" wrote:

>
>
> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message
> news:A6C4F280-9733-4688-AB30-1C12D30F1279@newsgroup

> > I just installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 onto a local SCSI drive. I have a
> > large RAID in the box using an Areca RAID card where I store all my files,
> > including VMs. I loaded its driver during install, so Hyper-V can see the
> > RAID and my gazillions of files on it.
> >
> > The problem is that when I create a VM, the VM can't see my storage drive.
> > I
> > would think that if Hyper-V can see the drive (the RAID), then each VM
> > should
> > also have access to it. How can I use my storage drive from each VM I
> > create?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jay

>
> Not really. The virtual machine is a separate machine running on its own
> virtual hardware with its own virtual hard disk. It will only see files on
> the RAID array which are shared across the network. Think of the vm as
> simply another machine on your network.
>
>
> .
>

Maybe you could, but why would you want to? Just share files or folders
which are needed.


"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:C5608440-C75B-45C6-9E6F-68AC955DC5C0@newsgroup

> Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?
>
> "Bill Grant" wrote:
>

>>
>>
>> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message
>> news:A6C4F280-9733-4688-AB30-1C12D30F1279@newsgroup

>> > I just installed Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 onto a local SCSI drive. I have
>> > a
>> > large RAID in the box using an Areca RAID card where I store all my
>> > files,
>> > including VMs. I loaded its driver during install, so Hyper-V can see
>> > the
>> > RAID and my gazillions of files on it.
>> >
>> > The problem is that when I create a VM, the VM can't see my storage
>> > drive.
>> > I
>> > would think that if Hyper-V can see the drive (the RAID), then each VM
>> > should
>> > also have access to it. How can I use my storage drive from each VM I
>> > create?
>> >
>> > Thanks,
>> > Jay

>>
>> Not really. The virtual machine is a separate machine running on its
>> own
>> virtual hardware with its own virtual hard disk. It will only see files
>> on
>> the RAID array which are shared across the network. Think of the vm as
>> simply another machine on your network.
>>
>>
>> .
>>

"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

> Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

Hi Jay,

no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
presentation layer.
If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share" disks/files
between your VMs.

Regards
Ramazan

Hi, Ramazan.

The way I had this box set up before was with Windows Server 2008. It was my
file server. The OS was on the SCSI drive and the machine simply exposed the
S: drive (the RAID drive I use for STORAGE, thus the "S:" drive letter
choice.) Its job was just to be a file server so I could access all my files
from my PC and my laptop.

Then I discovered Hyper-V, added it as a role on this Windows Server 2008
box, and began creating virtual machines. Loads of fun!

Then I discovered that there was a lightweight operating system that
Microsoft had created and its sole purpose was just to host virtual machines.
I thought that was super cool, so I reinstalled the OS on that
machine—Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, instead of Windows Server 2008.

The first order of business was to get my file server set back up so I could
begin accessing all my files again. So, the first VM I created was a Windows
Server 2008 R2 box. I spent all day yesterday doing this and never could
figure out how to access the RAID so that I could put my file server back in
action, despite the fact that the Hyper-V server, itself, was using the RAID
to store the VMs (I had installed the appropriate RAID driver during
installation of Hyper-V Server).

Since the Hyper-V machine itself has access to my RAID, it's hard for me to
imagine that the VMs that it hosts cannot also access that drive. Also, since
one of the VMs is my file server, it's imperative that it be able to access
the RAID so as to expose that drive to the rest of my network.

If this is not possible, I will simply put Windows Server 2008 back on that
box, make it my file server again, and use Hyper-V to create VMs, as I had
begun doing in the first place. It's not quite as slick as running Hyper-V
Server, but it may be my only option.

....unless you can help!!!

Thanks!
Jay



"RCan" wrote:

> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

> > Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

>
> Hi Jay,
>
> no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
> presentation layer.
> If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
> accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
> cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share" disks/files
> between your VMs.
>
> Regards
> Ramazan
>
> .
>

I disagree. All of our network shared drives are on either RAID5 or RAID0 drives. We have no trouble accessing them from other computers, with both normal and DFS shares.

Tom Mason
"RCan" <noospam@newsgroup> wrote in message news:uNfLZ6YrKHA.4284@newsgroup
"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

> Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

Hi Jay,

no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
presentation layer.
If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share" disks/files
between your VMs.

Regards
Ramazan

Jay,

As Bill said, the VM is a "separate computer". it is no more capable of accessing the host physical drives than would be another computer on your network. If you want the VM to see the RAID, you must first create a Share for it on the Host, and then map this network drive in the VM.

I do this with most of my VMs and it works.

Tom
"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message news:167C4BEF-CD33-4D43-840A-1D569002DE24@newsgroup
Hi, Ramazan.

The way I had this box set up before was with Windows Server 2008. It was my
file server. The OS was on the SCSI drive and the machine simply exposed the
S: drive (the RAID drive I use for STORAGE, thus the "S:" drive letter
choice.) Its job was just to be a file server so I could access all my files
from my PC and my laptop.

Then I discovered Hyper-V, added it as a role on this Windows Server 2008
box, and began creating virtual machines. Loads of fun!

Then I discovered that there was a lightweight operating system that
Microsoft had created and its sole purpose was just to host virtual machines.
I thought that was super cool, so I reinstalled the OS on that
machine—Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, instead of Windows Server 2008.

The first order of business was to get my file server set back up so I could
begin accessing all my files again. So, the first VM I created was a Windows
Server 2008 R2 box. I spent all day yesterday doing this and never could
figure out how to access the RAID so that I could put my file server back in
action, despite the fact that the Hyper-V server, itself, was using the RAID
to store the VMs (I had installed the appropriate RAID driver during
installation of Hyper-V Server).

Since the Hyper-V machine itself has access to my RAID, it's hard for me to
imagine that the VMs that it hosts cannot also access that drive. Also, since
one of the VMs is my file server, it's imperative that it be able to access
the RAID so as to expose that drive to the rest of my network.

If this is not possible, I will simply put Windows Server 2008 back on that
box, make it my file server again, and use Hyper-V to create VMs, as I had
begun doing in the first place. It's not quite as slick as running Hyper-V
Server, but it may be my only option.

...unless you can help!!!

Thanks!
Jay



"RCan" wrote:

> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

> > Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

>
> Hi Jay,
>
> no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
> presentation layer.
> If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
> accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
> cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share" disks/files
> between your VMs.
>
> Regards
> Ramazan
>
> .
>

Tom,

How do I share my RAID from Hyper-V Server? I've seen a program called
diskpart, but that doesn't seem to have a command to do that.

Thanks!
Jay

"Tom Mason" wrote:

> Jay,
>
> As Bill said, the VM is a "separate computer". it is no more capable of accessing the host physical drives than would be another computer on your network. If you want the VM to see the RAID, you must first create a Share for it on the Host, and then map this network drive in the VM.
>
> I do this with most of my VMs and it works.
>
> Tom
> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message news:167C4BEF-CD33-4D43-840A-1D569002DE24@newsgroup
> Hi, Ramazan.
>
> The way I had this box set up before was with Windows Server 2008. It was my
> file server. The OS was on the SCSI drive and the machine simply exposed the
> S: drive (the RAID drive I use for STORAGE, thus the "S:" drive letter
> choice.) Its job was just to be a file server so I could access all my files
> from my PC and my laptop.
>
> Then I discovered Hyper-V, added it as a role on this Windows Server 2008
> box, and began creating virtual machines. Loads of fun!
>
> Then I discovered that there was a lightweight operating system that
> Microsoft had created and its sole purpose was just to host virtual machines.
> I thought that was super cool, so I reinstalled the OS on that
> machine—Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, instead of Windows Server 2008.
>
> The first order of business was to get my file server set back up so I could
> begin accessing all my files again. So, the first VM I created was a Windows
> Server 2008 R2 box. I spent all day yesterday doing this and never could
> figure out how to access the RAID so that I could put my file server back in
> action, despite the fact that the Hyper-V server, itself, was using the RAID
> to store the VMs (I had installed the appropriate RAID driver during
> installation of Hyper-V Server).
>
> Since the Hyper-V machine itself has access to my RAID, it's hard for me to
> imagine that the VMs that it hosts cannot also access that drive. Also, since
> one of the VMs is my file server, it's imperative that it be able to access
> the RAID so as to expose that drive to the rest of my network.
>
> If this is not possible, I will simply put Windows Server 2008 back on that
> box, make it my file server again, and use Hyper-V to create VMs, as I had
> begun doing in the first place. It's not quite as slick as running Hyper-V
> Server, but it may be my only option.
>
> ...unless you can help!!!
>
> Thanks!
> Jay
>
>
>
> "RCan" wrote:
>

> > "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

> > > Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

> >
> > Hi Jay,
> >
> > no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
> > presentation layer.
> > If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
> > accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
> > cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share" disks/files
> > between your VMs.
> >
> > Regards
> > Ramazan
> >
> > .
> >

One more thing, Tom. If I can share the RAID from Hyper-V Server such that it
can been seen from any machine on my network and I can just "Map Network
Drive," is there even any reason to create a VM that acts as a file server?

Thanks again!
Jay

Hi Jay,

thanks for providing more details on your scenario.

As far as I can see from below you "only" want to share files between
host/guest systems. As Bill and Tom already pointed out each VM should be be
handled in this scenario like a "normal" physical server. How would you do
that in a physical environment ?

there are different approaches possible here like a.e. create shares and
provide access via SMB/network to your files. For this - as in a normal
environment - you need to get succesfull IP connection between host/guest
systems.

I would add a add. disk to 1 of your VMs and restore your files on this.
Install file services / create shares / set permissions and you got back
your file shares.

As you are currently using standalone Hyper-V R2 server there are no
additional services like file services available. it is also an best
practice to not add any add. role whey hypervÃ*sor is running.

Did I got you wrong somewhere ?

Bottom note here is, till you see the files on your hyper-v these can be
directly shared via network access. If no network is available or you need
present files dedicated to VM you should do that with ISO images which can
be created on-the-fly with freeware tools like IMGBurn.

Regards
Ramazan

"Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote in message
news:167C4BEF-CD33-4D43-840A-1D569002DE24@newsgroup

> Hi, Ramazan.
>
> The way I had this box set up before was with Windows Server 2008. It was
> my
> file server. The OS was on the SCSI drive and the machine simply exposed
> the
> S: drive (the RAID drive I use for STORAGE, thus the "S:" drive letter
> choice.) Its job was just to be a file server so I could access all my
> files
> from my PC and my laptop.
>
> Then I discovered Hyper-V, added it as a role on this Windows Server 2008
> box, and began creating virtual machines. Loads of fun!
>
> Then I discovered that there was a lightweight operating system that
> Microsoft had created and its sole purpose was just to host virtual
> machines.
> I thought that was super cool, so I reinstalled the OS on that
> machine—Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, instead of Windows Server 2008.
>
> The first order of business was to get my file server set back up so I
> could
> begin accessing all my files again. So, the first VM I created was a
> Windows
> Server 2008 R2 box. I spent all day yesterday doing this and never could
> figure out how to access the RAID so that I could put my file server back
> in
> action, despite the fact that the Hyper-V server, itself, was using the
> RAID
> to store the VMs (I had installed the appropriate RAID driver during
> installation of Hyper-V Server).
>
> Since the Hyper-V machine itself has access to my RAID, it's hard for me
> to
> imagine that the VMs that it hosts cannot also access that drive. Also,
> since
> one of the VMs is my file server, it's imperative that it be able to
> access
> the RAID so as to expose that drive to the rest of my network.
>
> If this is not possible, I will simply put Windows Server 2008 back on
> that
> box, make it my file server again, and use Hyper-V to create VMs, as I had
> begun doing in the first place. It's not quite as slick as running Hyper-V
> Server, but it may be my only option.
>
> ...unless you can help!!!
>
> Thanks!
> Jay
>
>
>
> "RCan" wrote:
>

>> "Jay Williams" <JayWilliams@newsgroup> wrote

>> > Isn't is possible to share my RAID on the network?

>>
>> Hi Jay,
>>
>> no RAID cannot be directly shared in a network as it is a different
>> presentation layer.
>> If you could provide some more details around what your are trying to
>> accomplish here we can provide more useful information toyou.
>> cause there are different possible ways to "present" or "share"
>> disks/files
>> between your VMs.
>>
>> Regards
>> Ramazan
>>
>> .
>>