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5 Replies Last post: Oct 19, 2009 11:17 AM by a2alpha  

installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues? posted: Sep 8, 2009 7:28 AM

Click to view a2alpha's profile Expert
a2alpha
315 posts since
Apr 20, 2008

Hi,

I am planning an installation onto a blade and rather than installing esx 4 onto internal hard drives I was hoping to install it onto an internal usb drive. This means that I can use the space in blade for extra memory. I know this will work with ESXi but I would really rather use full blown esx 4 as I am more used to the way it works.

Anyone had any experience / issues / comments / limitations with this?

Thanks in advance,

Tags: esx_4, esxi_4, install, installation, usb, usb_drive, 4.0, 4

Re: installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues?

1. Oct 19, 2009 4:09 AM in response to: a2alpha
Click to view a2alpha's profile Expert
a2alpha
315 posts since
Apr 20, 2008
Will do some testing

Re: installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues?

2. Oct 19, 2009 8:01 AM in response to: a2alpha
Click to view DSTAVERT's profile Champion
DSTAVERT
3,520 posts since
Nov 30, 2003
The reason that ESXi works is that it is designed to make minimal writes to the USB disk. ESX isn't and will do lots of writes. You may have success but I wouldn't count on it being safe for long. ESXi can install on a 1GB flash drive. You probably need at least 10GB for ESX. A small SSD? HP blades are starting to come with them. Non hot swap interestingly enough.

Re: installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues?

3. Oct 19, 2009 8:08 AM in response to: DSTAVERT
Click to view a2alpha's profile Expert
a2alpha
315 posts since
Apr 20, 2008

Thanks for the info, I think i'm going to try using ESXi for a bit and see if I miss the service console.

Cheers,

Dan

Re: installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues?

4. Oct 19, 2009 10:54 AM in response to: a2alpha
Click to view DSTAVERT's profile Champion
DSTAVERT
3,520 posts since
Nov 30, 2003
The first thing to add is the VMA appliance. Most of your console skills will transfer well. Make sure you go through the vifp section in the documentation for VMA. Once you add your servers and authentication to the appliance working with the hosts is slick.

Re: installing esx 4.0 on to a usb drive - anyone had any issues?

5. Oct 19, 2009 11:17 AM in response to: DSTAVERT
Click to view a2alpha's profile Expert
a2alpha
315 posts since
Apr 20, 2008

Thanks very much for the advice. I will get started.

Dan

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