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Windows 2008 Web Server Edition does not support iSCSI Multipath (MPIO)

It's official. Windows 2008 server is a great product but microsoft makes me mad about one little hidden change. Windows 2008 Web Server Edition does not support iSCSI Multipath (MPIO). There is no way to get MPIO working on 2008 web edition. Any other server, such as 2000 or 2003 including 2003 web edition will support MPIO but in an apparent attempt to extract higher fees from companies, microsoft is now forcing people to buy full version windows 2008 server if customers need MPIO to work

If you don't want to buy third party iscsi client software, there is no way to set up iscsi multipath but there are other options available

Scroll down for additional info labeled What can be done about MPIO in 2008 Web edition

More info: What can be done about MPIO in 2008 Web edition

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There isn't much that can be done on the microsoft side, however if you are lucky enough to have multipath network driver, such as the one from HP on HP Proliant servers, you can set up one IP address on multiple network interfaces and just use simple point to point connection with failover or trunking. Of course your iSCSI storage must support bonding, trunking or similar technology so that it can export one IP on multiple interfaces. Once that is done, you can set up two separate networks and have the network failover take care of the stable network transport