VM Ware ESXi 6 - Raid controllers?

[ParisNakitaKejs]

Hi all here,

i'm pretty new on VM Ware ESXi i need to use this software home to build my own computers to test, so now i have build my computer, the last thing i need is a raid-controller there support ESXi 6.0 can sombardy recommend one to me.

Requireing:

min. RAID5

6x SATA 600 conneters

so cheap as posibule

Hope i can be helping here!

[cykVM · Accepted solution]

Hi,

you may refer to LSI RAID Controller - HBA Equivalency Mapping | ServeTheHome and ServeThe.Biz Forums and check for a vendor (DELL, IBM etc.) branded LSI controller.

The 2108/2208 chipset based ones should be working fine with VMWare 6. Be sure to get one with either a battery backed up cache (BBU) or a flash backed up one to get decent performance.

Double check with VMWare's HCL for compatibility to version 6: VMware Compatibility Guide: System Search

cykVM

[ParisNakitaKejs]

I'm not so good to find raid-controlers, can you help me to link to sombardy the problem is i have build my home computer up and running and right now i only need the raid controller ESXi supported under the install,

[cykVM]

Have you read through the first link I posted above?

First of all what amount of money are you able to spent for the controller? Which hardware (mainboard, CPU, amount of RAM OR server brand/model) do you have?

Sometimes the above mentioned re-branded LSI controller are available for less money as used/refurbished but that greatly depends on where you are located.

So it's pretty hard to point you to one single model which might be not available for cheap or at all at your side.

Usually with ordering a server you have a limited choice of compatible controllers by the vendor and thus if you build the server yourself you have to do some searching/reading.

[JarryG]

Try checking eBay frequently. With a little luck you can get good controller for low price. I got my IBM M5016 (aka LSI-9266) for 200€, brand new, including super-cap.

You can buy any other model, but remember: you need controller with on-board cache (the bigger the better), power-backup (preferably super-capacitor, because battery must be replaced quite frequently), and for 6xSATA you need two ports SFF-8087 or SFF-8643 (or expander, but that's more expensive). Cables are usually extra, so you need 2x SFF-8087 <-> 4xSAS/SATA.

[ParisNakitaKejs]

Its a home made, so i need access from PCI-Express eg. right now i have build my computer on i7 Quadcore, 4ghz, 6x SSD 250gb and 4x 8gb DDR3 memeory, i only need to get the raid up on working,

the amount of money good qustion, but so cheap as posibule, if its chaper to buy 2x 4 channel raid card vs 1x 8 channel its fine, right now i just need my system up and running ^^

[ParisNakitaKejs]

i found this controller ( LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-8i - 128xHDD ) in Denmark to like 4.000 dkk, its like ( 533 Euro )

its sound what i look and have the right chipset,

[cykVM]

Since you seem to plan to put the SSDs in a RAID5, you know of the limitations to that configuration?

You may read this: Skyera Reveals RAID 5 Hinders Reliability Of SSD Arrays | The SSD Review

[cykVM]

i found this controller ( LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-8i - 128xHDD ) in Denmark to like 4.000 dkk, its like ( 533 Euro )

its sound what i look and have the right chipset,

Don't forget the optional BBU or flash cache (CacheVault) module!

[ParisNakitaKejs]

is it not included?

Here is the diracte link: LSI MegaRAID SAS 9271-8i - 128xHDD

if i don't have this modul, whats happen here?

[cykVM]

is it not included?

As per LSI webpage not: http://www.lsi.com/products/raid-controllers/pages/megaraid-sas-9271-8i.aspx - "Add more protection and peace of mind with optional CacheVault® flash cache protection and heat-tolerant battery backup cache protection modules"

if i don't have this modul, whats happen here?

You will encounter a massive performance hit. VMWare does not do caching and relies on a backed up cache in case of a power failure for example. You may read: VMware KB: Write-cache disabled on storage array causing performance issues or failures

[RichardBush]

In addition some controllers will restrict the raid types allowed if a BBWC isn't installed, since a loss of power could wipe the cache and render the array inoperable. And as mentioned above, performance would suffer since all writes would need to be complete by the disk, not cache.

Im speaking from experience with HP, i don't have any LSI controllers.

R

[ParisNakitaKejs]

Thanks a lot for your awsers now i think i'm can going the next level ^^ thanks a lot for helping!

[JarryG]

Original LSI-branded controllers usually come without BBU/SuperCap (or as they call it, CacheVault). For LSI-9271 you'd have to buy LSICVM01 (about 150-200€). You still can use the controller (and force it to do caching for both read- and write-ops, despite of warnings), but in case of power-interruption, you might loose a lot of data (it has 1GB cache).

[ParisNakitaKejs]

Just to info, i have buyed the RAID controller today, and its working perfect, ESXi 6.0 support this RAID controller smooth!

Thanks a lot one more time for helping!

[cykVM]

You're welcome. But that's without cache protection as far as I see?

And take care of cooling the RAID card. This is server-level hardware and if it runs for a while it will get hot. There should be a continous air-stream flowing around the RAID-CPU-cooler.