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eptc
Contributor
Contributor

ESXi on HP ML310e Gen8


Hi,

Can any one tell me if they are running any version of ESXi on a HP ML310e Gen8?

Basically I'm wondering if it is completely supported, the server is on the HCL, however the RAID controller( Smart Array B120i) is not listed when I search under  IO Devices.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

D

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7 Replies
MavsX
Contributor
Contributor

man, i tried installing esxi 5.1 u2 (the custom HP image) today a few times. (on a HP ML310e gen8 v2)  I can't tell if it is installing or not, and actually come here to ask a question too. Are you using the intelligent provisioning  or no? When i pop the disc in, i can just install it to the usb flash drive, which worked fine, but i feel like i should use the intelligent provisioning instead. What would you do? What should i do? When i do the intelligent provisioning wizard, i can make a raid 1 with that same raid controller( although we have an add in card that is actually being used), not remember the model though. And there is an option under OS to select vmware custom image, so that is why i am thinking i should use it. But, if i do that, i can't see or choose the flash drive, it just installs it to the raid 1. Any ideas? also, sorry for hijacking your thread. 🙂

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Josh26
Virtuoso
Virtuoso

The B-series controllers are not genuine RAID controllers - they are hardware assistance for a software RAID driver. Accordingly, they won't work with esxi.

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eptc
Contributor
Contributor

Hi mavsX,

I have not yet purchased this system. I am trying to find out if the B120i controller works when configured as RAID10 in ESX. I have a number of ML110 ( in a lab) running ESX with the same controller, however  even though I have the drives configured as RAID 10 in the BIOS the ESX still sees them a separate drives. I assumed that this was because the ML110 was not supported by VMware.

When I was building the servers I was not able to use the custom HP image, I can't remember now what the problem was but I ended up using the non HP image downloaded from VMware. At that time  Smart Start did not support installing ESX so it was installed directly using the ESX install CD onto an internal USB key.

You could try disconnecting all your hard drives so that the only storage available is the USB flash drive, if you still can't see it when using intelligent provisioning then I would just create the logical drive manually and use the custom image CD to install the OS.

Hope this helps.

Have you managed to install ESX onto a logical drive created on the B120i controller?

I Would appreciate if you let me know how you get on as I may be facing the same issues if I decide to go ahead with the ML310e..

Thanks

E

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MavsX
Contributor
Contributor

Hey dude, yeah, i removed the drive and used intelligent provisioning which as you know is on all the gen 8 servers. once i did that, i was able to see the flash drive, i installed esxi 5.1 u2 and then shutdown, put drives in, booted the system. I hit F5 for the raid sofware during the post. This just loads up the raid portion of the intelligent provisioning. I was able to create a raid 1 and a 3 drive raid 5. I didn't see any options for raid 10 when setting up. Tomorrow i'll see if i can delete that raid 5 array and create a raid 10 instead....I'll let you know. You should definitely use the HP custom ISOs..i think i read somewhere, that it was required for HP gen 8 servers.

That being said, i've only installed 5.1 on the usb drive and created the 2 arrays..so haven't really gotten too far. i'll post back tomorrow about a raid 10 for ya

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MavsX
Contributor
Contributor

This is the server we purchased.

http://www.pcconnection.com/IPA/Shop/Product/Detail.htm?sku=16095614

our servers came with a Smart Array P420 raid expansion card. Which is working for us. I didn't see any options for raid 10, although i think i can enable raid 50 and 60 by going into the cards controller settings....so i guess we are not using the built in b120i controller.

i googled this and found this for you..

HP Dynamic Smart Array Controllers. Any experience? - Spiceworks

Hello again Denis and Members,

HP's Proliant Product Manager has provided a quick and authoritative response which appears below:

"The P400 series he refers to below are still the standard controllers on p series systems (DL380p, ML350p, etc). In Gen8 it’s called the P420 (or P420i for the embedded version).


We used to have the B110i as a more entry level SA controller option on our 100 series. This has moved to the B120i and B320i (call dynamic smart array) in Gen8. This is used on the e series systems (DL380e, ML350e, etc), which are the replacements for the 100 series.

These controllers are more entry level, however they use the exact same HP Smart Array software that is used on the P420. Meaning the tools to manage are the same, and you can even migrate a set of drives from one of the dynamic smart array controllers to a P series controller if it’s added later. They will have lower performance than the P420 used in the p series.
B120i:
• RAID 0,1,10 standard. Upgradeable to RAID 5 via 512MB cache.
• Supports up to 4 or 6 (depending on server) SATA drives only.
• This uses the host processors cycles to run.
• Used as the base controller on almost all the e series Gen8 servers

B320i:
• RAID 0,1,10 standard. Upgradeable to RAID 5 via 512MB cache.
• Supports up to 8 SAS drives (requires license for SAS drive support). Can also support up to 27 drives in the systems with and integrated SAS expander.
• Has it’s own chip on the controller, therefore not having to use host processor cycles.
• Upgrade option on the DL360e and DL380e only. Used primarily to support SAS drives without having to add a P420 (which costs more)
P420:
• RAID 0,1,10 standard. Upgradeable to RAID 5 via 512MB, 1GB, or 2GB cache.
• Supports up to 8 SAS drives (no license required). Can also support up to 27 drives in the systems with and integrated SAS expander.
• Also has it’s own chip on controller (ROC). Higher performance than the B320i (up to 220K IOPS).
• Standard option on the p series systems. Can also be added as a PCI card to any system.

Here are some quickspecs links:
Dynamic Smart Array: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14343_na/14343_na.HTML
P420: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14228_na/14228_na.HTML

Let me know if they need something else or have more specific questions."

Regards,

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King_Robert
Hot Shot
Hot Shot

The ESX Image does not contain the Smart Array driver of the server which you have purchased. the Generation 8 server of HP is new server and the ESX image you have is old one.

You have to arrange the newer HP customized ESX image which contained in-built drivers in it and there will be no issue of installation of ESX on G8 server.

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Intel233
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I have the HP image. If I use Intelligent Provisioning and set my 2 1TB drives as RAID 1 will VMWARE ESXi 6 install/work?

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