Esx 3.5 with sata RAID

[shivekroi]

Hello good people,

I'm currently searching for a SAS/SATA RAID pci-x controller that is supported by ESX 3.5. The controller is supposed to be used for RAID 1 (mirror).

After lots of researching I dug out this Intel controller:

Intel SRCSAS144E PCI Express SATA / SAS Controller Card RAID 0/1/5/10/50

Does anyone know if this controller is indeed suppoerted by ESX 3.5?

If not can anyone please throw me a bone, or even better, a supported RAID controller's name that is known to work with ESX 3.5 and isn't too expensive...

Thanks,

Roi Shivek

IT Slave

[sepso]

From the ESX Server 3.5 HCL:

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Supported SAS/SATA Dual Controllers

*

ESX Server 3.5 supports selected SATA devices connected to dual SAS/SATA controllers. This support is limited to ESX Server 3.5. It is not included with ESX Server 3.0.x.

The supported dual SAS/SATA controllers are:

mptscsi_2xx ‐ LSI1064

mptscsi_2xx (PCIE) ‐ LSI1078

mptscsi_pcie ‐ LSI1068E (LSISAS3442E)

mptscsi_pcix ‐ LSI1068 (SAS 5)

aacraid_esx30 ‐ IBM serveraid 8k SAS controller

cciss ‐ Smart Array P400/256 controller

megaraid_sas ‐ Dell PERC 5/i controller

My guess is that you're looking for the LSI Logic SAS 5 controller (LSI1068)

[MLLF_PC]

Be careful, those LSI numbers listed are merely chipset identifiers. The only actual controller listed there is the LSISAS3442E. The other numbers only refer to the logic embedded on an actual controller. Don't bother trying to call LSI to ask them which actual controllers have which chipsets, their technical support doesn't know. I got a little farther with their pre-sales department, but still no actual controllers that use any of those chipsets. Further, when you research the controller listed above on the LSI website, it doesn't even list the chipset.

VMware support is practically useless on this subject. They refuse to recommend ANY actual adapter for SAS or SATA drives. They act as if you aren't using SCSI or iSCSI devices, you aren't worth bothering with. Is there anybody out there running any version of ESX server on any type of SAS or SATA or combo RAID controller?

[saclavij]

I friend installed this PCI and it is working with ESIx 4

Sabrent RAID Native Serial ATA (SATA-150) 4 Ports Low Profile PCI Controller Host Card Adapter

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329305&CatId=1455

I am looking for a PCI Express that works with ESIx 4. The ones listed in the VMWare compatibillity are expensive.

[Rumple]

whatever you get, I would highly recommend that you make sure it can accept (and you purchase) a Battery Backup Write controller (BBWC) or you will hate the performance...