ESXi doesn't support RAID on software (fake / HostRAID) controllers like the ICH10R. The most you'll see are the individual drives even when the controller is set to RAID mode.
The HCL is the best place to start - vmware.com/go/hcl. If you want to go off the HCL look at LSI based cards (Dell Perc 5 / 6). You'll get a true hardware RAID controller, health status of the array within ESXi. If performance is a concern, get battery backed write cache. It'll make a huge improvement in performance.
Dave
VMware Communities User Moderator
Now available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
Do you have a system or PCI card working with VMDirectPath? Submit your specs to the Unofficial VMDirectPath HCL.
