Setting up a 2nd server as storage only and link it to the 1st server help

[Krandall10]

Hello
I have 2 hp 380dl servers 1 has 8 hard drives and the other has 16 drives, I have windows server running on the 1st server but I want to use the 2nd server for file storage only, do I need an operating system on the 2nd one or is there a way I can just link the 2nd to the 1st and the drives will show up in windows server for me to control.
Thanks in advance

 

[ChatGPT]

To use the second HP server for file storage without an operating system installed directly on it, you can set it up as a storage server using a technology like iSCSI. Here's a general outline of how you can achieve this: 1. Configure Storage on HP Server 2: - Ensure that the second HP server with 16 drives is set up and configured properly. You would typically set up the drives in a RAID configuration for redundancy and performance. 2. Set Up iSCSI Target: - Configure the second server as an iSCSI target. iSCSI allows one computer to access and use the storage of another computer over a network. - In this case, you would configure the 16 drives on the second server as iSCSI targets that can be accessed by the first server. 3. Configure iSCSI Initiator on HP Server 1: - On the first server, configure the iSCSI initiator to connect to the iSCSI targets on the second server. - In Windows Server, you can use the iSCSI Initiator tool to connect to the storage volumes exposed by the second server. 4. Format and Configure the iSCSI Volumes: - Once the iSCSI connections are established, the storage volumes from the second server will appear as disks on the first server. - Use Disk Management in Windows Server on the first server to initialize, format, and configure these iSCSI volumes for file storage. 5. Use the Storage: - After setting up the iSCSI connections and configuring the disks, you can use these volumes on the first HP server for file storage as needed. By following this approach, you can leverage the storage capacity of the second HP server for file storage without needing an operating system installed directly on that server. Just ensure that your network infrastructure supports iSCSI connections and that the servers have the necessary network connectivity to communicate with each other.