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The-Kevster
Contributor
Contributor

SATA Support Clear as Mud!?

From the updated I/O sheet this is what's mentioned on supported SATA controllers....

Supported SAS/SATA Dual Controllers

ESX Server 3.5 supports selected SATA devices connected to dual SAS/SATA controllers. This support is limited to ESX Server 3.5. It is not included with ESX Server 3.0.x.

The supported dual SAS/SATA controllers are:

  • mptscsi_2xx (PCIE) ‐ LSI1078*

  • mptscsi_pcie ‐ LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)*

  • mptscsi_pcix ‐ LSI1068 (SAS 5)*

  • aacraid_esx30 ‐ IBM serveraid 8k SAS controller*

  • cciss ‐ Smart Array P400/256 controller*

So what is the best PCIE card for me to put into my S5000PAL server that will use the above driver, if only someone could make a list :smileygrin:

Thanks,

Kev

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342 Replies
eabeukes
Contributor
Contributor

I have it working now on a single disk ML115 (thank you guys points on the way when I figure out how!) - anyone run a ML115 in RAID1 or RAID5 using the onboard SATA? How does ESX install / run on it? And does it show up as JBOD during install or as a single disk?!

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rpartmann
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

hi,

hi scsi == (1scsi drive jbod on a smart array 5302/32mb cache)

windows to esx (internal sata) with fast scp 2,5MB/sec ...... (whats fastscp said)

windows to esx (scsi) with fast scp 19,5MB/sec ...... (whats fastscp said).

scsi -> sata 2.02MB/sec ...... (time_end - time_start)[in sec]/(#bytes/1048576)

sata -> scsi 17.4MB/sec ...... (time_end - time_start)[in sec]/(#bytes/1048576)

wouldn´t say a perfect benchmark but shows that sata is crazy slow here....but for testing its ok.

hth,

Reinhard






ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.

ps: Award points if you find answers helpful. Thanks.
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JanPekman
Contributor
Contributor

That sure makes me stay with the SA2610 if not go to SAS one day.

My test with windows to vmfs

Operation completed in 3 minutes and 29 seconds, 2 575 171 584 bytes copied (average transfer rate 12017.34 KB/s)

Thx again!

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poko70
Contributor
Contributor

I know I might be being a bit dim, but can someone please post an idiot guide to getting an ML110 G5 working?

It installs ok if I make no changes to the BIOS whatsoever (RAID disabled) but can't see any SCSI disks for VMFS volumes

If I enable RAID in the BIOS, ESX 3.5 won't install, as it says that there are no disks in the server. I have used the 250Gb SATA that the box came with, and bunged in 3 x 750Gb disks on top.

It sounds like people have got it working with the onboard RAID, but I can't work out how exactly.

Eternally grateful! :smileygrin:

Poko

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supahted
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Poko this is the procedure i use to install ESX 3.5 on a HP ML 110 G5:

1. Goto BIOS en reset all BIOS settings to default (F9). Enable Intel VT support for the CPU.

2. Install ESX

3. After the install is ready, reboot and goto BIOS. Set SATA mode to: SATA.

4. You know should be able to format your SATA harddisk as a VMFS volume in the VI client.

blog: http://vknowledge.wordpress.com/
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poko70
Contributor
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Thanks supahted.

Unfortunately, that didn't work.

I'll tell you exactly what I have tried, and see if you can spot what I'm doing wrong (I'm on the verge of giving up)

1. I reset the BIOS, no sata Raid, and enabled VT, and then built ESX3.5. It built ok, but obviously it couldn't see any storage.

2. I went into the BIOS and enabled Sata Raid (set it to Serial ATA rather than Auto). ESX now gets Root Mount Failed. It will not boot into a service console (troubleshooting) either - it hangs.

3. Booted off a Linux CD, ran lspci, and noted that the built in Adaptec Sata Raid controller has an ID of 31f4. Went into the bios again, disabled Raid, and rebooted into ESX (which boots ok without Raid). I then added a section the sata related xml file to include this ID, ran esxcfg-pciid. I then rebooted, renabled Raid, and tried to boot into ESX.

I still get the Root mount failed error. I don't know why I am having so much trouble when others have found it relatively straightforward!

I don't know whether they ship the G5's with slightly different raid controllers/firmware levels, or what?

Any clues?

Cheer!

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supahted
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Poko70 try this:

1. I reset the BIOS, no sata Raid, and enabled VT, and then built ESX3.5.

2. After the first reboot enter BIOS and set SATA mode to SATA, but do not enable SATA RAID!

3. ESX should boot know and you should be able to make a VMFS volume.

This method does not use a RAID configuration and should work. I'm still working on enabling the raid configuration but haven't had the time to work on it.

blog: http://vknowledge.wordpress.com/
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poko70
Contributor
Contributor

Supahted,

You're a genius :smileygrin:

There was me messing about with RAID controller settings, and all the time, I didn't need to concern myself with raid at all!

So, the answer for the ML110 G5, is simply to switch between Auto and Serial ATA in the SATA in the BIOS! No mucking about with various xml files or anything.

Thank you very much indeed! I owe you a beer Smiley Wink

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a18041967
Contributor
Contributor

This may seem a silly question but is everyone using the same version of VMWare ie V3.5 or Vi3 they offer the same functionallity but the Vi3 version is a very cut down kernal, has anyone tried installing Vi3 on an ML115?

The reason for asking is that I've checked both versions of the software and in V3.5 the nv_sata.xml file only includes id:037e for the NVidia MCP55 SATA controller whereas the PCI.IDS file in the Vi3 cd includes both ID:037e & 037f which is the one required for the ML115.

So to summarise the Vi3 appears to have better hardware support, can anyone confirm this?

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DannyH73
Contributor
Contributor

Another config that's working, right out of the box, no extra's needed (very surprisingly!)

AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+ 2x2.2GHz Manchester 2x512KB L2

2x1024MB DDR400 Corsair XMS3200 kit + 2x512MB DDR466 PC3700 Corsair (3GB)

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium NForce4+MCP Socket939 PCIe

80GB PATA WD Caviar SE 8MB cache (ESX, using NVRAID) + 160GB Maxtor SATA (VMFS, using SIL3114R)

SATA NVRAID/Silicon Image SIL3114R RAID onboard

Toshiba 16x/48x DVDROM ATAPI

ASUS Pe16 Radeon X1600XT 256DDR3 TV/Out DVI-I 2V Passive Cooling

2x Gigabit LAN (1x NVidia / 1x Marvell) on board - NVidia works, Marvell not

Basically, this is an old PC - one of the first x64's back in the days the AMD A64 was the only one possible. Motherboard ASUS A8N, NVidia NForce4 chipset.

Using 2 (also old) IDE drives: 1 PATA configured on NVRAID (as a normal IDE drive ESX cannot format the drive, as a JBOD RAID drive it can) and 1 SATA JBOD RAID on the SIL controller for my VMFS

-> What more do you need? Smiley Wink

PS: ESX 3.5 tested running fine, 3.0.x does not work, 3i not tested

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a18041967
Contributor
Contributor

Update on my testing last night, V3.5 will happily install, and runs perfectly on the ML115 once the configuration changes have been made, but Vi3 fails to install due to supported hardware not being found. Now for the interesting part, as there's no command line options in Vi3 I tried to find a way to add the new PCI ID's to the Vi3 installation CD, this is what I've found:

On the CD there's a file called BINMOD.TGZ within this, there's a file /etc/vmware/simple.map I extracted this and added the new entires and then attempted to recreate the BINMOD.TGZ file with the updated simple.map file. Using WINISO I then repalce the BINMOD.TGZ with my new updated file in the ISO file, so far so good.

The new CD booted OK but then crashed/panic'ed indicating that there was a corrupt file, I found that during the Vi3 installation you can press TAB key and modify the installation command, I therefore pointed the installation back to the original BINMOD.TGZ file and the installation started correctly but failed due to missing hardware. The reason for so much detail is that if we can find a way to update the BINMOD.TGZ file we maybe able install Vi3 with all the new controllers. I'm not sure if my new BINMOD.TGZ file is corrupt due to the way I created it, or if there's a checksum that is invalid due to the updates I made.

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tday71
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Contributor

All I have to say is 'wow'. I have never had to jump thru so many hoops to install a piece of software. And when the hoops are 'Clear as Mud' it really does not speak well for this product as far as I am concerned. I have spent the better part of a week trying to get this installed on a Sun X2200 with the MCP55 controller. I ran the 2a version of the script and it bombs all over the place not finding paths and commands.

I don't understand item #1 'Install ESX, should work just fine'. It doesn't work fine isn't that the reason we have to run this script? If I can't even mount to the drive how I'm not sure how the install 'works just fine'. If I understand correctly the script needs no mods. I moved it to the machine from a USB drive using Ubuntu LiveCD. Tried running it from the Desktop and then I moved it to the root and tried running it from there, same problem.

I also tried running gosata script that is in this thread as well. It bombs with a syntax error on line 55 or 56....lovely.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. I'm about ready to give up...

TIA

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blackforce
Contributor
Contributor

ESX is an amazing product. Using sata in a production environment is not recommended or desirable at all. ESX is designed for SCSI and will always be that way. If you have a server with a supported SCSI card then ESX will install fine. What people are doing here is trying to get ESX working on cheap hardware with cheap controllers.

Obviously ESX is an expensive bit of software designed to work with high quality approved hardware. This is why VMWARE has an approved list of hardware to ensure a robust stable product.

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blackforce
Contributor
Contributor

This is what I did. I think you are using an old version of the script. This is copied from Page 5.

I booted into troubleshooting mode then I enabled SSH :-

To allow the root user to login to a VMware ESX Server over the network using SSH, do the following:

  1. login to root

  2. vi /etc/ssh/sshd_config

  3. Change the line that says PermitRootLogin from "no" to "yes"

  4. do service sshd restart

Then I used winscp and uploaded the script to the default folder it connects to. Then I Changed permissions on the file to 777. I then ran 0.61 and it ran fine

Use the file I have attached.

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tday71
Contributor
Contributor

Blackforce, thanks for your quick reply. I tried following your instructions but do not get very far. First and foremost, Linux is pretty new to me so be patient with me please.

I logged in and tried to change the config file u mention. However, I had no sshd_config file in there. There was a ssh_config file but the line you specify does not exist. Correct me if I am wrong but this is to simply get the script on to the machine, correct? Does moving it to the machine via ubuntu LiveCD somehow cause it not to work? Once I got it to the machine I opened up a terminal and moved it from the Ubuntu desktop to root. I used the script that you attached and ran it as-is. I get a syntax error on line 53 just like before.

Only thing I can think of is that I have to be in the ESX Server troubleshooting mode to get this script to work. I'm gonna go give that a shot while I wait for your reply.

With respect to my 'suspect' hardware. My machine and it's SATA controller are on the approved list.

Thanks again for your assistance.

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blackforce
Contributor
Contributor

If you vi that file and then scroll down

you will see it

you will need to scroll down half way

When using VI scroll down find the value then press insert, change the value, then hit esq.

then type :wq

This is for enabling SSH so that you can upload the file. If you look on page 4 or 5 I had same problem ish.

use troubleshooting mode.

The MCP55 is not a published supported controller

Even if it was, SATA is not recommend for production. SAS/SCSI is minimum

Although people are getting some SATA controllers to work due to the increase in support for them. The MCP55 chipset is rubbish too. My server I use to test at home, has it. One of the worst out there.

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a18041967
Contributor
Contributor

I have to disagree with you blackforce on a number of points, I've been using VMWare since V1.52 and use ESX extensively in production environments running on high end HP DL585 servers. Your point about it not being officially supported is correct, but the performance differences between SCSI & SATA are not that different now. In addition to using fully supported hardware I have been running custom whitebox solutions using SATA & the LSI controller, I'm now running the ML115 with the standard onboard MCP55 controller and have seen no difference in performance and is ideally suited as a test/R&D box. I'd be interested in a little more detail regarding your statement that the MCP55 is rubbish, maybe there's a difference in the RAID functionallity, but you have to also take into account the server hardware cost, £130 for an brand new delivered ML115 is a bargain ESX option.

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blackforce
Contributor
Contributor

lol, i knew i was asking for trouble when i put my previous post.

The reason why i said the MCP55 is rubbish is because it does not support any form of raid. If you try and get it running with ESX its just presented with seperate disks. I too own a ML115, they are ideal for testing.

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a18041967
Contributor
Contributor

Are you sure, I know people have been experiencing problems configuring the RAID functionallity but it does exist. If you go into the BIOS you have to enable the RAID functionallity, and then enable each of the SATA ports. If this is done correctly your are presented with a F8 Raid configuration during bootup this then allows you to create RAID 0,1 & 5 arrays, ESX will then just install on top of the array.

One final point the ML115 support RAID 5 but the ML110 does not.

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blackforce
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Contributor

raid does exist, and i have enabled it. No matter what you do it sees it as a JBOD. I have tried raid 0,1,5 it does not work. During the ESX install it will see seperate disks

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