Dell drops support for MD3000i with ESX 4.1

[RobTerhaar]

Last week, I had the pleasure of contacting Dell's technical support for help with an MD3000i that I was setting up for a client. The problem that we were having was the frequently reported "non-optimal path" issue related to MD3000i, iscsi, and mpio connection to ESX.

However, I was very disapointed to learn that Dell is currently not supporting ESX 4.1 with the MD3000i. I was told that we must downgrade to ESX 4.0, because "Support for ESX 4.1 is on the roadmap, but is not here yet."

Has anyone else heard this from Dell? I told the technical support engineer that we also tested ESX 4.0 and received the same "non optimal path" error. Dell tech support replied "a firmware update will be coming soon to fix that".

Ultimately, I was able to solve the non-optimal path issue myself, with no help from Dell.

[RParker]

Um.. the MD3000 is REPLACED by the MD3200 anyway, so that could be another reason.

If it worked with ESX 4.0 it will work with ESX 4.1, DELL may not support it official but it does NOT mean it will NOT work.

"Support for ESX 4.1 is on the roadmap, but is not here yet."

Also that is a COMPLETELY bogus statement of ALL the vendors (Dell, IBM, and HP) Dell is ALWAYS the first to support the newest version of ESX.

[RobTerhaar]

I agree it's a bogus statement. Here's the original message from the manager of the technical support representative at Dell.

Good afternoon Robert,

I just finished talking to Doug, and here is what I learned. I apologize in advance if you already had this information. Support for ESX 4.1 is on the roadmap, but is not here yet. He also mentioned that the error you guys are encountering is an eyesore, but can be worked around. It sounds like you can roll with 4.1 and support will be coming soon, or downgrade to 4.0 and deal with the error. Obviously if you downgrade it will be supported by <span class="il">Dell immediately. I hope this helps.

Thanks,

Eric Shouse

Technical Sales Representative

<span class="il">Dell | US SMB Advanced Systems Group

[RParker]

I agree it's a bogus statement. Here's the original message from the manager of the technical support representative at Dell.

I feel really sad.. It's bad enough that people that are HP/IBM fans believe Dell is sub-par hardware (which unequivocally is not true) but NOW this puts Dell in a bad light, because they apparently don't share proper info....

At any rate, you got it worked out, which proves it works, so that's at least a positive for you.

[RobTerhaar]

Thanks rparker

Yes, luckily I managed to get the system working correctly, however we were the ones that recommend the MD3000i. Suffices to say, we will not be recommending any Dell storage hardware to our clients in the future.

[RParker]

we will not be recommending any Dell storage hardware to our clients in the future.

Actually don't give up on Dell for the short sidedness of a single individual...

The MD3200i series is MUCH improved.. besides technology is one thing.. TECHS are another, you want help with those units, post your question here, don't use the Dell tech again.. or find another tech to help.

Dell makes good stuff.