help with New ESXi build using SAN for storage

[drnick5583]

Hey folks,

I currently have a VMware server setup running on top of windows 2003 which runs off the servers local storage (I know, VERY outdated setup) I'm looking to buy a new 1U server and install esxi (I think I'll go with embedded... but im open to suggestions) and migrate all my VM's over to this new box. once this is up I'll then wipe my existing 1U box and install esxi on this as well (eventually will move over to essentials plus for Vmotion and HA, but for now, im just going to run 1 ESXi box, then add the 2nd one later as a backup)

I have an OPEN-E SAN that I'd like to use over iSCSI and store all the VM's on here. I'm looking for a cheap reliable way to get this done. Do I need a Host Bus adapter for this? or is there some other way to accomplish this? I don't plan on using local storage so I don't believe I need a RAID card, correct?

Any tips or recomendations would be great. thanks in advance!

-Nick

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community - VMware does provide a software based iSCSI intiator so you fo not need any additional hardware -

[drnick5583]

Thanks for the Quick Reply!

My new server will have 2 onboard 1GB network cards, would this suffice? I don't have any 10GB switches installed so going that route would be a waste.

[JohnADCO]

Generally you want 4 nics min.

1 for LAN/MGT

1 for Vmotion

2 for iSCSI

[drnick5583]

Thanks for the reply! We won't be using Vmotion out of the gate but it looks like I'll add a dual Gb NIC to give me 4 ports and that should be plenty.