Upgrading ESXi 5.0 to 5.5U2 w/Adaptec controllers

[dchapman00]

Hello again everyone.

We are getting closer to our update of ESXi 5.0 to ESXi 5.5U2.  We have an Essentials licence if that makes any difference to the below.

Our host has an Adaptec 29320LPE SCSI controller which hosts a Quantum tape drive.  In order to get that combination working I followed a command:

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="aic79xx" --description="Adaptec 29320LPE HBA"

which I plagerised from the discussion at: Adaptec 29320LPE PCI-Express version.

The tape drive works fine.

This  controller is apparently deprecated under ESXI 5.5.  We have an Adaptec 2120S SCSI controller to put in its place which is supported under ESXi 5.5 according to:

VMware Compatibility Guide: I/O Device Search.

I plan to remove the rule for the Adaptec 29320LPE by the same method used to add it.

I'm trying to figure out if I then have to add a rule for the 2120S.  This controller uses the AIC 7902W chipset.  The Compatibility Guide says the driver is 'inbox'.  Would this mean no rule necessary or are these different things?

Anyone know?

Thanks,

--

David Chapman

dchapman@victoriataxi.com

[dchapman00]

A followup to this.  We did our ESXi 5.0 to ESXI 5.5U2 upgrade, and for now the Adaptec 29320LPE is working fine.  The connected tape drive works fine, backups run etc.  I don't know how long this will last, though.

--

David Chapman

dchapman@victoriataxi.com

[vuzzini]

Hello dchapman00,

The NMP SATP claim rules specify which SATP should manage a particular storage device. The NMP supports all storage arrays listed on the VMware storage Hardware Compatibility List (HCL) and provides a path selection algorithm based on the array type. The NMP associates a set of physical paths with a storage device (LUN). A Storage Array Type Plugin (SATP) determines how path failover is handled for a specific storage array. A Path Selection Plugin (PSP) determines which physical path is used to issue an I/O request to a storage device. SATPs and PSPs are plugins within the NMP plugin.

You may delete the existing rule and add a new rule for the new Adaptec 2120S SCSI controller in ESXi 5.5 U2.

[dchapman00]

Thanks, vuzzini.

We stayed with the deprecated 29320LPE as the 2120S physically would not fit.  The 29320LPE is working at the moment.

We're starting to look for recommendations on a PCIe 1x SCSI controller with an external 68-pin VHDCI connector.

The only device on this controller at the moment is a Quantum LTO 3 tape drive.

Thanks again,

--

David Chapman

dchapman@victoriataxi.com