VMware Cloud Community
rmrobert
VMware Employee
VMware Employee

What hardware do you most wish ESX supported?

I'm interested in hearing what hardware you have that ESX doesn't support.

I'm mostly interested in NIC controllers users would like ESX support for and also SCSI/SAS controllers, but feel free to mention anything else.

The more information you can give the better, such as linux module name and/or PCI VendorID and DeviceID (output of lspci -nn on linux or ESX)

I'll go first:

04:00.0 Ethernet controller : Marvell Technology Group Ltd. 88E8053 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 22)

In Linux this is the "sky2" driver.

After we get some responses, I may put up a poll where users can vote for which devices they want support for most, but first I must establish which entries to put in the poll. Feel free to mention a device multiple times- we want get a feel for which devices to prioritize based on usage, not just a list of every possible unsupported hardware.

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mreferre
Champion
Champion

Hey Ken ... life is good .... she sleeps and allow us to sleep (reasonably) well ... I can't complain.... Smiley Happy

Massimo.

Massimo Re Ferre' VMware vCloud Architect twitter.com/mreferre www.it20.info
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markroe
Contributor
Contributor

HP ML 110

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ninv
Contributor
Contributor

I currently tried to install ESXi3.5u2 and i was surprised to discover that Realtek NICs are not supported at all (specifically RTL8139). I consider them very common cards and i expected ESXi to support them, especially since it's a free program now that will probably be used by many people without special hardware servers.

I'm not very familiar with linux internals, especially with the command-line and i'd appreciate a built-in solution with drivers loaded on demand but perhaps a better solution would be an interface that gives the user the ability to easily add his own drivers (if he can find them somewhere). I don't know if an easy-to-use solution is possible in Linux, as is done in Windows nowadays but it would be great.

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

One thing to note is that ESX is not based on Linux. ESX regular uses a Linux service console VM, but the vmkernel is not Linux. And while some drivers that ESX / ESXi uses are based on Linux drivers, they do have to be modified to work with ESX / ESXi.

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ceemour
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

Intel ICH7/8/9/10 Raid

Chris

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sbeaver
Leadership
Leadership

Or even some kind of VI simulator or sorts.....

Steve Beaver

VMware Communities User Moderator

====

Co-Author of "VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center"

*Virtualization is a journey, not a project.*

Steve Beaver
VMware Communities User Moderator
VMware vExpert 2009 - 2020
VMware NSX vExpert - 2019 - 2020
====
Co-Author of "VMware ESX Essentials in the Virtual Data Center"
(ISBN:1420070274) from Auerbach
Come check out my blog: [www.virtualizationpractice.com/blog|http://www.virtualizationpractice.com/blog/]
Come follow me on twitter http://www.twitter.com/sbeaver

**The Cloud is a journey, not a project.**
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ninv
Contributor
Contributor

One thing to note is that ESX is not based on Linux. ESX regular uses a Linux service console VM, but the vmkernel is not Linux. And while some drivers that ESX / ESXi uses are based on Linux drivers, they do have to be modified to work with ESX / ESXi.

Aha, so it's up to VMWare team to create them then. Thanks for the additional info. In that case, along with the Realtek 8139, i'd also like to have support for Realtek 8111C NIC and ICH10(R) storage controller since i'm in the process of purchasing a motherboard with these characteristics.

Realtek 8139: Vendor ID=10EC, Device ID=8139

Here it is (Gigabyte GA-EP45-DS3R)

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cab3
Contributor
Contributor

I fully agree that Realtek NIC's would be a very nice addition. I'm staring at a AMD Phenom Quad Core, with 8GB of memory that runs an Asus M2A-VM motherboard, which happens to have an on-board Realtek RTL8111B GBE network adapter. It also has on-board 3.0G SATA, attaching 3x750G disk. I've seen (and have done) the silliness of installing ESX inside of VMWare Server or Workstation, but that's just getting downright obfuscated. I, personally, would make use of ESXi at home to run virtual servers (separate webserver from mailserver from photo server), and I've even gone as far as "tweaking" the installer to actually install to the SATA disks via various procedures. After successfully getting to that point, I find that I don't get an IP address because the network card isn't supported. sigh So my choices are beg for support or put in some add-on card, or run everything in VMWare Server (which I don't want to do because I don't want to have the care/feeding of the underlying OS and ITS security patches!)....

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ceemour
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

LACP inside esx and esxi

Chris

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jguidroz
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

It is up to HP to qualify equipment to be on the HCL. Typically companies start from the latest and greatest and work back towards older hardware. At some point, they have to draw the line. This does not mean this hardware will not support ESXi, it just may never make it to the HCL.

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ninv
Contributor
Contributor

I have the same wishes as you and have done exactly the same things... Smiley Happy IMHO it's a proof of how people intend to use ESXi so VMWare should take it into consideration, along with a few other things...

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Tekoloshe
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

would like to install the ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 to my GDT8546RZ Raid Controller.

All information is given here: http://www.icp-vortex.com/NR/rdonlyres/78593F4E-AA9D-47B8-BC26-6610A5547A84/0/rz_neu_d.htm

I would apprecheate if the drivers would be inculded in the installer image.

Best regards,

Teko

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cab3
Contributor
Contributor

So, what is the process by which the community can request functionality be added into ESX? I'm amazed that the Intel SERVER network cards are so much more expensive than the desktop (I don't see any desktop cards on the HCL, but wonder if they'd work?) I'm almost desperate enough to go buy one, but unfortunately since I don't have a Fry's in my state, I'm forced to look to mail ordering, and hoping that the card works. Every network card in my local Circuit City, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Office Max have either Marvell or Realtek chipsets, neither of which are supported with ESX. The really frustrating thing to me is that there are Realtek drivers (including source code!) available. Yes, it doesn't cover every little revision of Realtek, but if there's driver source out there (reference USR's driver code http://www.usr.com/support/7902/7902-files/linux.zip) it should be "relatively" simple to incorporate.

I'm really interested in figuring out how we can lobby to get expanded support for built-in network cards vs having to go out and buy plug-in cards when there's a perfectly workable NIC onboard.

I'm also moderately frustrated with the lack of native SATA support, though I've been able to work my way around that one. I'm amazed that somehow iSCSI or SCSI is supported, but native 3G SATA isn't (though I can install Linux, put Workstation on that, then create some SCSI disks, and present those to install ESX on!) I can't imagine how that's faster than just having native support, but I digress, I think.....

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ninv
Contributor
Contributor

Well, so far, this thread is the only thing i've discovered for hardware-support wishes, thanks to . I think VMW team released ESXi for free hoping that it would be tried-out inside companies on brand-servers and help them promote ESX and their other products. I don't think they expected it would be used very much by hobbyists on everyday PCs so ESXi seems a little "unprepared" at the moment. IMHO, it would help if they quickly added support for commonly used net and raid controllers in order for it to spread among hobbyists.

So far i'm using vmware server 1 @ home for running linux under windows and i'm somewhat satisfied, not completelly though. I'd very much like to try-out ESXi and see vmware's real capabilities but it's not in my plans to build a PC specifically for that. I guess i'll wait a little longer hoping VMW team will add support for the most common devices at least...

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khughes
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

Like some of the earlier posts said, sometimes you can't please everyone because then you are spread too far too thin. ESXi is free and I'm sure they want to get it into the hands of as many people as they can't but then again they don't want to put out a product that could be buggy for certain drivers or controllers just so they can cover more 'supported' setups. From what I gathered from VMworld is that they are trying to move ESX to more of an ESXi setup for security reasons (most vulnerabilities are caused by the SC). If this is the case should be interesting how VMware differs between an enterprise paid copy of a variation of ESXi and the free version...

Granted, I would love to run ESXi on some beefed up PC system that would be more than capable of running ESXi but for now I'll stick to what is supported and what works just fine which is VMware server.

  • Kyle

-- Kyle "RParker wrote: I guess I was wrong, everything CAN be virtualized "
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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

If this is the case should be interesting how VMware differs between an enterprise paid copy of a variation of ESXi and the free version...

I think it will be just like it is today - you can license ESXi as free or at the Foundation / Standard or Enteprise levels.

I would love to run ESXi on some beefed up PC system that would be more than capable of running ESXi.

This raises an interesting point - can a beefed by PC really run ESXi (or ESX or other hypervisor) well? For memory and CPU yes generally you'll be OK, but will a typical NIC / storage controller to up to the task? Perhaps for light loads you'll be OK, but heavier loads an ICH / MCP / etc controller (and SATA drives) just won't keep up. I think a lot of people will get a bit of a wake up call when they try to run ESXi or other choice on hardware that just can't handle the job.

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cab3
Contributor
Contributor

This raises an interesting point - can a beefed by PC really run ESXi (or ESX or other hypervisor) well? For memory and CPU yes generally you'll be OK, but will a typical NIC / storage controller to up to the task? Perhaps for light loads you'll be OK, but heavier loads an ICH / MCP / etc controller (and SATA drives) just won't keep up. I think a lot of people will get a bit of a wake up call when they try to run ESXi or other choice on hardware that just can't handle the job.

So the interesting part to me is what constitutes a "workload". If I'm talking about an enterprise grade workload, where I'm doing real things for real money, then I'd never propose that anyone try to skimp on hardware to try to get by on the cheap. The reality, though, is that there are some of us out there that have labs in our homes that support our work lives. I can't afford to go out an buy enterprise grade hardware for the house, but I do have things that would be very nice to have a small footprint virtualization solution for, without the overhead of an underlying OS. For example, I run a photo server on Linux for our distant family members to be able to see their grandkids grow up. I also run my own mail server, also on Linux. These two things, in my opinion, have vastly different security concerns. I let my family post photos on the site as well, which means I open it up a bit more than my mail server, where it's locked down tight, with antispam and other apps running. I don't have service levels to deal with at home, but I get to use the same tools that I do in my day to day job, which, I feel, makes me better and more valuable at my job, and as a supporter of VMWare.

Being able to do this at home results in becoming more entrenched with a VMWare solution, in comparison to other virtualization technologies. If I'm able to do what I want to with virtualized environments, in an easy and accessible way, I'm much happier with a vendor, and that reflects in my professional day job. In my case, I've been able to "convince" ESXi to recognize my storage adapter, so I've been able to install it. However, due to the lack of network drivers, I can't talk to anything, so I go back to where I started, without a thin hypervisor-only system to manage (I consciously don't want to run VMWare Server on Windows or Linux since that's another OS that I have to patch and maintain, in addition to the VMWare Server layer).

Please consider making more technology accessible, especially when it leads to more devoted followers of something where there is an Enterprise version as well.

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JMills
Expert
Expert

QUOTE

I'm amazed that the Intel SERVER network cards are so much more expensive than the desktop (I don't see any desktop cards on the HCL, but wonder if they'd work?) I'm almost desperate enough to go buy one, but unfortunately since I don't have a Fry's in my state, I'm forced to look to mail ordering, and hoping that the card works. Every network card in my local Circuit City, Best Buy, Office Depot, and Office Max have either Marvell or Realtek chipsets, neither of which are supported with ESX.

/QUOTE

Some of my internal VMware ESXi 3.5.02 boxes run (reasonably) cheap Intel GigE cards, what specifically are you after?

On paper, these are "Intel Pro/1000 GT Desktop PCI Adapter -- PWLA8391GT" units, running $40.00 retail apiece (PixelUSA.com is where I sourced them from here)

Going up to dual- or quad-port units or PCIe / PCI-X makes the price spike quickly.

Message was edited by: JMills

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wila
Immortal
Immortal

Reinhard,

3ware was actually available at vmworld 2008 in Vegas and one of the people down there told me they where working hard on getting their drivers certified with VMware, both SATA as well as SAS. Not sure for which cards and if it includes older controllers, but they are certainly working on being an active member in the vmware supply chain.






--

Wil

| Author of Vimalin. The virtual machine Backup app for VMware Fusion, VMware Workstation and Player |
| More info at vimalin.com | Twitter @wilva
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fireguy306
Contributor
Contributor

I would love if ESX Supported more features of the advanced Broadcom NICs. I'm tired of only using the QLogic iSCSI HBA. The modern TCP/IP Offload engines and iSCSI Initators in these new Multi-Function NICs work well in a normal environment. I'd like to be able to use them here.

Also USB support to the VMs.

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