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3,640 Views 10 Replies Last post: Aug 27, 2008 3:50 AM by thomas@schenk… RSS
ojconcentrate1 Novice
ojconcentrate1
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Jul 28, 2008
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Jul 28, 2008 1:10 PM

ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

Hi all,

 

 

 

 

 

i've searched the forums but couldn't find any cases where people confirm if this is possible or not.

 

 

i'm planning to setup an esxi 3.5 u2 on this supermicro board but was just wondering if anyone has had any luck with accessing RAID volumes on it.

 

 

I can't try it myself at the moment since the server is currenlty live with VMware Server 2.0 and i can't turn it off for a couple of day. i just want to be prepared for anything so that the transition will be as smooth as possible.

 

 

 

 

 

thanks in advance

 

 

Dave.Mishchen… Guru User Moderators vExpert
Dave.Mishchen…
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Nov 15, 2005
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1. Jul 28, 2008 1:20 PM in response to: ojconcentrate1
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

Welcome to the VMware Community forums.  With Intel ESB / ICH SATA controllers,  part of the RAID functionality is provided by the software driver and this doesn't work with the ESX drivers at this point.  Further, the ESB2 is not a supported controller.  For production it would be best to stick with with a controller from the HCL - http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi35_io_guide.pdf.

etfong Novice
etfong
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Apr 16, 2004
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2. Jul 29, 2008 3:59 PM in response to: ojconcentrate1
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

Well, it should install, but booting up is another question.  I was able to install the latest installable iso on a SM XDWA-N on a single drive non-raided drive but can't seem boot.  David has a site with all the posted intel ICHs that work.  Your m/b uses the same ESB2 intel matrix raid like my M/B I'll post here my findings,

Dave.Mishchen… Guru User Moderators vExpert
Dave.Mishchen…
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3. Jul 30, 2008 12:26 AM in response to: etfong
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

Take a look through this thread  - there may be some things that help you - http://communities.vmware.com/thread/158987?tstart=0.  Do you see any error messages when it boots after the install? (ALT-F1 or ALT-F12 show anything)?

etfong Novice
etfong
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4. Jul 30, 2008 11:45 AM in response to: Dave.Mishchen…
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

Please refer this thread http://communities.vmware.com/message/1006075?tstart=0#1006075.  When I boot, I get the Vista bootloader with all my O/Ss listed but ESXi is nowhere to be found.  I manually created a BCD entry using EasyBCD but that did not seem to work.

thomas@schenk… Lurker
thomas@schenk…
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5. Aug 6, 2008 9:31 PM in response to: ojconcentrate1
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

I was just working through the same scenario on an ASUS with Intel Matrix RAID. I have the ASUS P5BV-E (the model without the SAS support). Your config may be different, however mine has two roms you can use to configure the array, the LSI and the Intel. So far, without setting up RAID, I am able to see all SATA drives on the controller and the broadcome NICs work as well. I am running VMs on this system now and everything works without a problem. I suppose I can give both a few more scenarios a try and write back regarding matrix and RAID vols, though it will take a few days.

 

 

T Schenkman

 

 

cbbowyer Novice
cbbowyer
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Feb 14, 2008
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6. Aug 26, 2008 8:15 PM in response to: thomas@schenk…
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

Just wondering if you had the chance to work on the RAID scenarios with this board.

 

 

I'm seriously consider this for my setup, but am curious to hear how it went for you.

 

 

Could you use the LSI RAID, what about INTEL...I'd really like the RAID 5 option.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

nick.couchman Champion
nick.couchman
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Jan 13, 2006
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7. Aug 26, 2008 8:29 PM in response to: cbbowyer
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

I'd be careful with the Intel Matrix RAIDs.  Some of them are "fake" RAID controllers and so the RAID functionality won't be supported under ESXi.  If this controller is a true controller - does not require a driver to perform the RAID functionality - then you should be okay, assuming that ESXi will see the controller.

TSCH-VM Novice
TSCH-VM
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Jul 26, 2005
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8. Aug 26, 2008 10:04 PM in response to: thomas@schenk…
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

Hello Thomas,

 

 

 

 

 

which CPU did you use on the P5BV-E ?

 

 

I just did some testing with a HP ProLiant ML110 G5 (about 650.-EUR) and everything was OK but I want to replace some Mainboards in my existing VMware-Servers (1.0.6) to be able to update to ESXi in the near future.

 

 

 

 

 

Kind regards

 

 

 

 

 

TSCH

 

 

ojconcentrate1 Novice
ojconcentrate1
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Jul 28, 2008
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9. Aug 27, 2008 12:53 AM in response to: cbbowyer
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

No, i still haven't had a chance to work on it. I had to go on holiday for a couple of weeks and just came back last week.

 

 

to tell you the truth, i may just go for esxi even if it doesn't support the onboard raid. I have been testing at work with a 4 socket Xeon dual core with hyperthreading 16GB RAM server (virtualization heaven) and esxi is just so much better than vmware server (i'm using it at the moment at home).

 

 

I still need to set some funds aside to get a TB drive to move my existing data when i move to esxi.

 

 

thomas@schenk… Lurker
thomas@schenk…
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Apr 26, 2005
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10. Aug 27, 2008 3:50 AM in response to: cbbowyer
Re: ESXi 3.5 U1 or U2 on Onboard Sata (Intel matrix raid) on the SM X7DB8

 

Just and update.....still haven't gotten RAID to work. So, the motherboard works flawlessly out of the box with ESXi otherwise. Performance is somewhat disapointing without RAID. The CPU I am using is the Q6600.

 

 

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