New install ESXi

[dwisby]

I have a server with Windows Server 2003 and VMware Server 2.0 installed. I learned that 2.0 does not support Raw Device Mapping and am looking into VMware ESXi to start my virtualization project. The server has four harddrives with a RAID 10 configuration and 2 Qlogic HBA's attached to a Fibre Channel SAN. Since there is no OS in the initial ESXi installation:

1) How do I setup the partitions for the RAID config?

and

2) How do I setup the SAN software to utilize Raw Device Mapping on the Virtual guest?

Thanks

David

[khughes]

Your current RAID config should be fine, the leftover space from the install should just convert into local VMFS storage space. If you do install ESXi on this host, make sure the fibre connections are disconnected from the physical server. There have been cases when it reads the SAN space as its local drive and formats them (formats the SAN) which is never a good thing. As for the RDM, you will need to carve out a LUN on your SAN and then within the VI client you will be able to configure it as a RDM as long as the SAN settings are all configured correctly.

• Kyle

[dwisby]

Kyle, thanks for the response. I have a server that is end of life and need to move the storage LUN to another box and was going to use a virtual server for this purpose. I have another LUN that is just for testing and this is the one, on which I will initially test this config. I can disconnect the HBA's from the server before I install ESXi but was confused about setting the SAN software(SANSurfer, PowerPath and Navisphere Agent and CLI) to work with ESXi. Is the SAN software supposed to be set up on the virtual guest(Windows Server 2003) instead of the Host(ESXi)?

Thanks

David

[khughes]

Sorry if I was a bit vague on that part, its mainly because the differences in SANs that everyone has. On our Fibre SAN, we use a utility to carve out a chunk of drive space, give it a RAID level, and then assign HBA addresses to the array which can access it (ie - esx hosts). From there we can use the VI client to assign the storage to the ESX host. Hope that made a little more sense.

• Kyle

[Dave_Mishchenko]

Hi David, not sure if this will apply to your situation, but keep in mind that the maximum LUN size that ESXi will support is 2 TB.

[dwisby]

Dave and Kyle, thanks for the input. I have an EMC CX300 Fiber Channel SAN and have the LUN's setup in the proper RAID and Storage Groups as well as zoned properly to the HBA's in the fiber channel switch. I am still confused about how the ESXi host can see the storage space without the appropriate drivers for the HBA's and SAN agents. Is this something I should discuss with EMC or Dell, or is there a way to install proper drivers in ESXi?

David

[dwisby]

Thanks for the response. I do not anticipate using any 2TB LUNs at this time. I do anticipate moving to ESX enterprise once I can provide proof of concept to the Powers That Be.

Thanks

David

[mcowger]

ESXi has appropriate drivers for its supported fiber channel builtin, so that piece is covered.

SAN agents are not required - simply mask your LUNs from the navisphere interface on the CX300 to the WWPNs on your FC cards.

--Matt

[dwisby]

Matt, sorry to sound stupid but what do you mean (simply mask your LUNs from the navisphere interface on the CX300 to the WWPNs on your FC cards)?

Thanks

David

[mcowger · Accepted solution]

Use the regular software (whatever you have to manage your CX300), create the LUNs, and mask them to the ID's for the FC cards in your ESXi host. if you dont know how to do that, you need to ask EMC how to create/mask LUNs.

--Matt

[dwisby]

Thanks to all of you for your expertise. I feel like I have enough information to proceed with this project and be successful.

Your input is greatly appreciated,

David