Windows Storage Server – initiator login problems
I came across a problem whilst trying to repair a broken Windows Storage Server 2003 R2 system yesterday and thought my findings might help someone out.
When using the Microsoft iSCSI initiator I was able to login to the iSCSI portal but not able to login to a target. In the system event log of the client the follow event was logged:
Event ID 43, Source: iScsiPrt
Target failed to respond in time for a login request.
After what seemed like an eternity of trying to work out what was going wrong, the previous IT manager had setup the system to use an iSNS server (which no longer existed – or didn’t exist to begin with). What was weird was that it worked fine for months and then suddenly stopped (perhaps when another system was issued the iSNS server IP, I’m not sure).
To disable iSNS, right-click “Microsoft iSCSI Software Target” in compmgmt.msc and select “Properties” then choose the iSNS tab.
After removing the iSNS server and clicking ‘OK’ all the initiators were then able to login again.