Flash drives for ESXi

[mephistopoa]

Hi there,

I'm planning to migrate all my hosts to ESXi 4.1 update 1 and install ESXi on usb flash drives, but I couldn't find a HCL of recomended brands/models of flash drives that can last for several years being used as a ESXi host.

Is there any requirements for the flash drive? I've found IBM flash drives for ESXi but they are slightly overpriced in my opinio as I could buy a proper SSD of 60GB from sandforce or intel with that amount.

Could you guys give me some advice about where to find information for recommended flash drives for this purpose please?

Regards,

[schepp]

Hey,

well most SSDs will work with ESXi. The important thing, that must be supported by VMware, is the SATA Controller you're using to connect the SSD.

To check those controllers, take a look at http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php

Regards

[mephistopoa]

Sorry but the question was regarding the flash drive, not the SSD. I just mentioned SSD pricewise against the IBM usb flash drive for ESX.

My question is:

Is there a HCL for usb flash drives? IS there a recommended list of usb flash drives, brands, models?

[schepp]

Oh sorry, multitasking is not good when replying here

I haven't seen an official list for USB flash drives. Most common models work.

BUT if you want VMware support, you will need to use a certified USB flash rive for your server model by the server vendor. See here:

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101057...

Most big vendors like IBM, HP, etc. have those usb flash drives, but they cost up to 100$, so it wouldn't be that much cheaper than a SSD.

Regards

[mephistopoa]

IBM flash drives are too expensive.

I remember Dell selling flash drives for ESX alongside server, but looking on their website now I can't find this option anymore. There are flash drives that can be added to the purchase but nothing saying it is for ESX usage as it was state before, so I believe the flash drive brand if different as well now.

Shame, I missed the oportunity to get the brand name 😕

[Dave_Mishchenko]

There are some older sources that mention a USB flash device HCL but there isn't one.  If you want a VMware supported system you  need to use a flash device that is supported by the hardware vender - http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1010574.  Otherwise you'll want to go with a USB 2.0 certified device.

Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator

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[mephistopoa]

Well, I think I'll stick with a normal usb flash drive then for testing purposes

Does it needs to be bigger than 1GB?

[schepp]

Nope, 1GB is large enough.

[Nikhil_Patwa]

These days server vendors like Dell include USB drives inside the server chassis for the purpose of installing VMware ESXi (or other virtualization systems) and this can be included when you are customizing your server. Recently we ordered a Dell PowerEdge T710 with onboard USB flash drive and managed to install VMware ESXi 4.1, my USB drive is 2GB in size.

I have also installed VMware ESXi 4.1 using a normal USB drive

Nikhil

[mephistopoa]

I've the same R710 here, I noticed the USB and SD plugs inside the case, but people are a bit afraid of running ESXi from a USB storage, so I'm going to test on the test farm we have here for a couple of months before deploying on production servers.

[Nikhil_Patwa]

Don't be afraid, if the server has come with the USB there is a reason behind it and you will be able to install VMware ESXi and run it from the USB flash. Hope all your testings are successful, as my server is already running production VMs together with test VMs.

Nikhil

[golddiggie]

I've used, with success, 2GB and 4GB USB flash drives from SanDisk for ESXi 4.x... I would just go with a flash drive make/model that's known for reliability, not just low cost. Still, you should be able to get a good flash drive for under ~$25 that will do the job.

I've not used the internal USB ports in systems for the flash drives, yet. I would be more concerned about the temperature where the drive is. Performance should be more than acceptable with a good flash drive. Especially since most of the configuration, or what ESXi is, gets loaded into memory on the host. It shouldn't need to access the flash drive all that often, reducing any perceived performance hit. If you're really concerned, then put it onto a higher quality, faster performing, flash drive.

If you do decide to go with flash drives for ESXi to reside upon, I would highly recommend having a spare with the configuration already installed. If you're licensed for it, use host profiles to make sure any hosts that get the flash drive swapped/replaced are configured exactly as needed every time. You could also rotate the flash drive that's the 'spare' so that it's kept to the same update level as the production hosts/flash drives.

Personally, I would probably get a spare flash drive for each host. Every time there is an update to be applied, make the change to just one of the drives. Give it enough time to make sure it's 100% kosher for your environment before updating the spare drive. Doing that could save you from bigger headaches as new updates are applied. Having a rapid roll-back method for a host configuration would prevent a lot of stress, IMO...

[DSTAVERT]

mephistopoa wrote:

I've the same R710 here, I noticed the USB and SD plugs inside the case, but people are a bit afraid of running ESXi from a USB storage, so I'm going to test on the test farm we have here for a couple of months before deploying on production servers.

If you have the SD slot available to you I would use that. Tiny bit faster to load. I would not be afraid of using USB or SD for ESXi. ESXi loads directly into RAM and there is very little writing to the disk (once per hour for a configuration backup to the alternate partition). If you are using a SAN then there is no need to order internal disks or RAID controllers. Less heat and power at the server which should mean higher reliability.

[ewilts]

Yes, the vendor's flash drives are overpriced, but it's still a very small percentage of the rest of the costs.  Am I happy paying $60-70 for a 4GB SD card from HP?  No.  Is this a show-stopper when we're already paying ~$10K for a server with enough disk, memory, NICs, software licenses, etc.?  No.

So we grumble and pay up anyway.

[MasterZen]

I have not seen any issues with just using a regular flash dongle.  I do know that HP had major issues with their first release of their "green" colored dongles and were replaced by the 2GB black ones that you can buy at CompUSA.  At today's low price of $8.99 each. Item #: H19-2002

If you don't have an internal Type-A connector, you can also get a 2Gb USB DOM at about $50.  I bought several at memorydepot.com and have had no issues at all with them.  P/N:DEUX-02GU52C1S

The big thing is that it should reside "inside" the server so noone can easily remove it or knock it out while working on another server in the cabinet.

-Zen

[mephistopoa]

I'll this on my test farm, because of this I don't want to spend much on the flash drive.

When I get a chance to deploy them on production machines, then of course I will go for something 100% tested as my ass will be on the line if something goes wrong 😃

I'll get a few different drives to ensure even the average brands can work fine, leave for a couple of months of 5-10 servers and then take my conclusions, but I assume it will be fine as you guys told me

[mephistopoa]

Can you give me more details about this problem? Do you have any links please?

Thanks!

[DSTAVERT]

You should have no issues with a quality USB flash drive. The HP issue was a manufacturing defect 3 years ago. Originally the green colored ones (not fully ripe I guess ) If you did a search on HPs site you would probably find it.

[DSTAVERT]

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?objectID=c01605187