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Connecting a NAS to Linux via iSCSI

If your vCloud server and NAS storage are on separate machines, the most reliable way to connect them is iSCSI.

iSCSI allows the NAS to present a disk over the network, and Linux sees it as a local block device (like /dev/sdb). This is ideal for video storage because it usually performs better than SMB/NFS for large sequential writes.

Architecture

+-------------------+        iSCSI        +-------------------+
|   vCloud Server   | <-----------------> |        NAS        |
| Ubuntu Server     |                     | Synology/TrueNAS  |
| 192.168.1.10      |                     | 192.168.1.20      |
+-------------------+                     +-------------------+

Step 1 — Prepare the NAS

Example: Synology DSM

1. Install iSCSI Manager

  • Open Package Center

  • Install SAN Manager (or iSCSI Manager depending on DSM version)

2. Create a Storage Pool and Volume

If not already created:

  • Storage Manager → Create Pool

  • Create Volume

3. Create an iSCSI LUN

  • SAN Manager → LUN

  • Click Create

  • Choose:

    • Thick Provisioning (recommended)

    • Size: for example 10 TB

  • Finish creation

4. Create an iSCSI Target

  • SAN Manager → iSCSI Target

  • Create target

  • Name: vcloud-storage

  • Enable CHAP authentication (recommended)

Example:

  • Username: vcloud

  • Password: StrongPassword123

5. Map the LUN to the Target

During creation or afterward:

  • Select the LUN

  • Map it to vcloud-storage

Step 2 — Install iSCSI Client on Ubuntu

On the vCloud server:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install open-iscsi -y

Enable the service:

sudo systemctl enable --now iscsid

Step 3 — Discover the NAS Target

Replace 192.168.1.20 with your NAS IP.

sudo iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p 192.168.1.20

You should see something like:

192.168.1.20:3260,1 iqn.2026-07.local.synology:vcloud-storage

Step 4 — Configure Authentication (if CHAP is enabled)

Edit the node configuration:

sudo nano /etc/iscsi/iscsid.conf

Find and set:

node.session.auth.authmethod = CHAP
node.session.auth.username = vcloud
node.session.auth.password = StrongPassword123

Save the file.

Restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart iscsid

Step 5 — Log In to the iSCSI Target

sudo iscsiadm -m node --login

Expected output:

Login to [iface: default, target: iqn.2026-07.local.synology:vcloud-storage, portal: 192.168.1.20,3260] successful.

Step 6 — Verify the New Disk

List disks:

lsblk

Example:

sda    1.8T
├─sda1
└─sda2
sdb   10.0T

The iSCSI disk is usually sdb.

Step 7 — Create a Filesystem

⚠️ This will erase the iSCSI disk.

sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb

For very large storage (8–20 TB+), XFS is also a good choice:

sudo mkfs.xfs /dev/sdb

Step 8 — Create a Mount Point

sudo mkdir -p /mnt/vcloud-storage

Step 9 — Mount the Disk

sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/vcloud-storage

Check:

df -h

Example:

/dev/sdb        9.8T   24K  9.3T   1% /mnt/vcloud-storage

Step 10 — Make the Mount Persistent

Get the UUID:

sudo blkid /dev/sdb

Example:

/dev/sdb: UUID="a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-1234567890ef"

Edit /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add:

UUID=a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-1234567890ef /mnt/vcloud-storage ext4 _netdev,nofail 0 2

If using XFS:

UUID=a1b2c3d4-e5f6-7890-abcd-1234567890ef /mnt/vcloud-storage xfs _netdev,nofail 0 2

Test:

sudo umount /mnt/vcloud-storage
sudo mount -a

If there are no errors, the configuration is correct.

Step 11 — Ensure iSCSI Reconnects After Reboot

Enable automatic login:

sudo iscsiadm -m node --op update -n node.startup -v automatic

Check:

sudo iscsiadm -m node

Step 12 — Give vCloud Access

Assume vCloud runs as user vcloudai.

sudo chown -R vcloudai:vcloudai /mnt/vcloud-storage

Or, if running in Docker:

sudo chmod -R 775 /mnt/vcloud-storage

Step 13 — Use the Storage in Docker Compose

Example:

services:
  vms-ai:
    image: vcloudaiorg/vcloudai-vms-ai:latest
    volumes:
      - /mnt/vcloud-storage:/storage

Then restart:

docker compose up -d

Recommended Network Settings

For video surveillance storage:

On both NAS and server

Enable:

  • Jumbo Frames (MTU 9000) if your switch supports it

  • 1 Gbps minimum

  • 10 Gbps preferred for many cameras

Example:

Useful Commands

Check iSCSI sessions

sudo iscsiadm -m session

Log out

sudo iscsiadm -m node --logout

Rediscover targets

sudo iscsiadm -m discovery -t sendtargets -p 192.168.1.20

Performance Recommendation for vCloud

For a surveillance system:

Component Recommendation
Filesystem XFS
Network 10GbE
LUN type Thick Provision
Mount options _netdev,nofail
NAS RAID RAID6 or RAID10
Separate network Dedicated storage VLAN if possible

This setup gives you a single large storage volume on the Linux server while keeping the actual disks inside the NAS, and it works very well with vCloud and Docker-based deployments.

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