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simo79
Contributor
Contributor

Make visible usb port in esxi

Finally from yesterday I'm able to use my esxi in a pc with asus P5q Pro and ich 10 intel controller (look the post with this object "Customizing ESXi install with oem.tgz"), now I have just install my first virtual machine vith xp pro but when I edit my machine I don't be able to add the usb port... There is a way for run the usb controller installed in my MB?

thanks

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RParker
Immortal
Immortal

There is a way for run the usb controller installed in my MB?

NO. You cannot virtualize USB inside guest VM's on ESX.

Troy_Clavell
Immortal
Immortal

.... the only way it may work is to look at something like http://www.digi.com/pdf/wp_ESXServer_AnywhereUSB.pdf

nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

I prefer the Silex SX2000-U2, myself. Supports USB 2.0 and multiple computers accessing it concurrently.

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simo79
Contributor
Contributor

I understand... This is very expensive hardware

more than 250$ for the AnywhereUSB ( with 5 usb ports)

and 100$ for Silex SX2000-U2(with 1 usb port)

?:|

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

If you don't need Windows 2000 / 2003 support, Belkin has a 4 port device for about $100.

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simo79
Contributor
Contributor

This one? http://www.belkin.com/networkusbhub/

It's Compatible with Microsoft Windows Vista and XP (32bit), Mac OS® X v10.3, 10.4, and v10.5....

So it's a hub usb with a Ip address.. and it's possible to use with the virtual machine installed in Esxi. It's true?

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jsmithsd
Contributor
Contributor

I purchased an AnywhereUSB device with the intention of backing up an SBS 2003 ESXi guest using the SBS Backup Wizard. Total size of the backup was about 110GB. I didn't realize that this device was USB 1.1 and the backup reported 2 days 9 hours as an estimated completion time. Obviously this isn't going to work.

Has anybody used the SX2000-U2 for a purpose such as this? Will it perform adequately using the above example?

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nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

Yes, it's true.

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nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

I've not measured the speed of file transfers through this type of device. I expect it's probably somewhat slower than USB 2.0 hooked directly to a machine, but should be significantly faster than the AnywhereUSB device. I don't use mine for file transfers most of the time, so I don't have a great idea of what to expect...

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Dave_Mishchenko
Immortal
Immortal

I'm using this with VMs. The one downside is that it doesn't work on Windows 2003 (I haven't tried Windows 2008 yet).

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nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

The Silex device does work with Windows 2003.

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jsmithsd
Contributor
Contributor

The SX-2000U2 does not list Windows 2003 support, although that doesn't mean it doesn't work (I'll take your word for it).

However, I see that the SX-5000U2 does list Windows 2003 support but it doesn't support disks that are formatted with NTFS. I'm assuming the SX-2000U2 has the same limitation. See below:

http://www.silexamerica.com/us/products/pdf/sx_5000u2.pdf

What I need is a reasonably fast device for backing up data to an NFTS formatted USB hard drive, inside of an ESXi SBS 2003 guest. Somebody must be doing this :P.

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nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

I'm pretty sure I've used NTFS-formatted disks with my SX2000-U2 without any problems. I know the some of those devices support mounting the filesystem locally and presenting it in a NAS sort of fashion - maybe this is what they mean by not supporting NTFS??

After looking closer at the SX5000 page, it appears that they mean that, as a "storage server" (where the SX5000 device is actually serving the files), NTFS is not supported. However, if you're forwarding a USB device directly to a Windows O/S, NTFS should still work - the Silex device isn't going to care.

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simo79
Contributor
Contributor

If I use RDP I can resolve my problem.. with RDP I can share the usb connected in my pc...

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nick_couchman
Immortal
Immortal

Yes, this should work, especially for USB storage devices. Some USB devices may not work correctly over RDP...

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