I/T - Initiator and Target mode, that is, pass-through mode, without any RAID function, SAS HBA card works in this mode, such as N2215, N2225
I found that the pass-through mode card also has a write cache. Do you need to close it?
Hello and welcome to the forums!
the controller must be in pass-through mode, and the write cache must be disabled.
Other than that you just make sure that the controller is on the vSAN HCL.
Andreas
Hello majuntax
Alternative to disabling cache is setting it to 100% Read.
Also ensure you are using the correct (and preferably latest) driver and firmware combination from the vSAN-HCL - the standard ESXi HCL generally has drivers+firmware on it that are not supported for vSAN. This tool my colleague created is very handy for checking these for vSAN components:
https://hcl.captain-vsan.com/index.php
Bob
N2215 is in the compatibility list. In the official VMware documentation, I only see that it is necessary to turn off the write cache in RAID 0 mode.
Hello majuntax,
Can you please link the documentation to which you refer? Potentially it is outdated and I this I would trust Duncan Epping over that:
"Let it be clear that with vSAN you are required to disable the write cache at all times."
Disk controllers for vSAN with or without cache? - Yellow Bricks
Bob