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dwilli
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Custom disk configuration

I just received 3 new Dell R900 servers to act as host servers, they came with 5 400gb drives. How do I set a partition for the ESX software to run on and then have a seperate partition for the VM servers to be stored on? I want to seperate the OS form the VM's.

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ctfoster
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All the partition information is set during the install - the ESX 'software' and the VM datastores are seperated by default.

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ctfoster
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All the partition information is set during the install - the ESX 'software' and the VM datastores are seperated by default.

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dwilli
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How can I make multiple partitions for the stores?

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ctfoster
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If you mean VMF3 partitions to store the VM's. Yes, you can slice up the free space however you like.

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dmorgan
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I assume you want to create some sort of RAID with those disks. Then, carve up the partitions as necessary, with one for ESX and the rest probably for VM's. Since this is local storage, and not shared storage of any sort, VMotion won't work, but other than that I think you will be fine.

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dwight
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You can manually create the partitions using fdisk to create partitions with the id set to "fb":

After the partition is created, run the "partprobe" command to re-read the partition tables.

Run the esxcfg-vmhbadevs command to figure out the vmhba mapping for the device you want the vmfs volume on:

  1. esxcfg-vmhbadevs

vmhba0:0:0 /dev/sda

vmhba0:0:1 /dev/sdb

Create the vmfs filesystem using vmkfstools command (the last digit of the vmhba is the partition number):

vmkfstools -C vmfs3 -S "mydatastore" vmhba0:0:1:1

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rethee
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first tell me which is raid onfigaration if u need a sepperate drive totally then best way u can control from the hardware side also. Bsc otherwise its always showing os OS.IF u want store all this vmdk only then u can save it on ex3 also through vmfsktool - i So its more secure .

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ctfoster
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Bsc otherwise its always showing os OS.IF u want store all this vmdk only then u can save it on ex3 also through vmfsktool - i So its more secure .

Accepting the default partitions during the install will completely isolate the VM datastore from the 'OS' as you see it. You should have no concerns and need to do nothing special with partitioning table. Also vmdks are stored on a special partition type (VMF3). You cant run a VM from a EX3 partition.

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rethee
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u cant run run vm from ext3 but if ur ex3 in an nfs share then u can run from that nfs .

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