install ESX4 on Intel whitebox

[jasonwangau]

I tried to install ESX4 on intel boxes, and I notice:

1. Boxes with 945 series MBs work fine. However considering 945 only supports up to 4 GB RAM, it is even not good platform for testing.

2. I also tested with DP45SG, installation OK, works fine but when I tried to turn it off, it showed me PSoD. The information on the screen are mainly about APCI

Who have done the similar testing and fix the PSoD?

Have anybody tested with i7? That is what I want to test next.

Also how the PC servers like DELL RXX seriers could perform better than a high spec whiteboxes?

[AndreTheGiant]

Try to use different boot loader option, like apci=off and so on.

And search on whitebox sites to see if there are some tips:

http://www.vm-help.com

http://ultimatewhitebox.com

Also how the PC servers like DELL RXX seriers could perform better than a high spec whiteboxes?

I've used both R410 and R710 and perform very well.

Andre

[toha]

Who have done the similar testing and fix the PSoD?

I'm running ESX 4 on Asus P5QL Pro mobo which has Intel P43 chipset. Works fine, no PSODs, altough I had to install Intel Pro 1000 PCIe NIC since onboard realtek is not supported by ESX.

Also how the PC servers like DELL RXX seriers could perform better than a high spec whiteboxes?

I hope you are not referring to 945 and P45 or even desktop Core i7 CPU as "high spec whiteboxes". But if you are referring to Xeon boards from eg. Supermicro and use Xeon 5500 cpu, fast DDR3 and Intel or Broadcom NICs then performance won't be that much different between whitebox and serves from DELL or HP. You just need to throw in quite bit $$$ and time to get whitebox on same level performance wise.

[jasonwangau]

I tried with ACPI=off but didn't work. This motherboard is not listed on some ESX compatible whitebox configuration list, but the list won't always give you the updated Spec.

The reason I use Intel motherboard is to make sure I can use the onboard NIC and the Chipset can be most possiblely compatible.

As per some perfessional assessment websites, for single CPU system, i7 performs better than Xeon E5500 series. Have anybody tested ESX4 with i7?