Do you use a USB drive for ESXi 6.7 in Production?

[johnnyIsVirtual]

From what I have read in the VMware documentation, it looks like yes, ESXi Hardware Requirements .  But do any of you in practice use a USB drive that has the ESXi server on it, but maybe the scratch drive on the local disk (or in the RAM)?  It seems so foreign to me to put an OS on a flash drive, except in hobby type labs, but I think I am stuck in the olden days.  What if the flash drive dies?  Can you just put a new one in and install ESXi again and it mount the clustered datastore (or maybe you have a duplicate drive standing by).

I have local drives and iSCSI drives.  My local drives are 500GB, but I don't want to put ESXi on those, if I can use them for a datastore (mirrored and backed up, etc.)

[a_p_]

... but I think I am stuck in the olden days.

Agreed. I actually thought the same some years back, when ESXi was released. However, over time, I've set up lots of hosts using an internal SD/microSD cards.

Most major server vendors provide internal slots for such cards, or USB devices.

What you may want to take care of, is that you get such a device from a trusted manufacturer, i.e. not necessarily a NoName product.

Once booted, ESXi runs in memory, and writes configuration changes only once an hour, which results in minimal wear.

What if the flash drive dies?

If it dies, the ESXi host will continue to work until you shut it down. You will then need to reinstall ESXi on a new device.

Over the last few years, I never had any issues with such devices in ESXi host.

André

[daphnissov]

There are feelings both ways, both good and bad, but one thing I would recommend if you do end up using a USB flash drive to install ESXi is to use one of high quality from a reputable manufacturer. Do not install ESXi on that $4 flash drive you bought at a gas station as you will experience failure almost certainly.