NewBie-Building a Lab on HPz620

[Dineshds]

I recently purchased a Workstation class machine to set up a ESX lab.

HP Z620 ZC2.1 256G 16G W7 Pro 64bt WS
[ G1B14UP ]
HP Z620 ZC2.1 256G 16G W7 Pro 64bt WS

http://h20566.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=5225037&docId=emr_na-c03366531&docLocale...

Additional I have installed 3 WD Red Drive each with 3TB.

My question relates to the fact that do I need to get a RAID card (VMware supported).  I strongly believe the onboard RAID controller is not supported by VMware. Appreicaite if you can point me to any Compatiablity discussions?

My intension is to install vSphere 5.5 as our organization is hoping to move from v.4.1 to v5.5

Many thanks,

Dins

[CoolRam]

You can explore VMware Compatibility Guide: System Search to get the vmware Hardware compatibilty with vSphere.

You better start the Installation and see whether vSphere5.5 Installation is able to detect the hard drive or not.

You Can download the latest Vsphere from https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/info/slug/datacenter_cloud_infrastructure/vmware_vsphere/5_5

If this is the test lab and  your hardware is detect by vSphere than you can continue with installation.

[cykVM]

Following this discussion: Re: Has anyone attempted to load ESXi 5 on an HP Z620?

the onboard RAID feature is just a software RAID integrated in C600 chipset. If you want a RAID setup for ESXi 5.5 you need a hardware RAID addon card, e.g. some Pxxx controller.

In any case I would suggest using the HP customized 5.5 installation image for setting up the server.

You may as well use a non-RAID setup diabling the RAID feature in BIOS for the HDDs to be recognized by VMWare setup.