Poweredge R510 and ESXi 4.1

rwmidlrwmidl Member Posts: 807 ■■■■■■□□□□
in Virtualization
Hey guys. Ok in need of some help here. We just purchased/received a new PE R510 that we are/were planning to install VMWare ESXi (free) version on. Well come to find out when we ordered it, we configured it to include the PERC s300 SAS controller. Come to find out now, Linux kernel OS' don't recognize software based controllers, so needless to say we might be screwed.

Has anyone encountered this before? Is there a possible work around so we can use the current configuration? I know I could run Hyper-V on it but I'm sure my boss will want to stick with ESXi since our other VM's run on that core. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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  • StarkeStarke Member Posts: 86 ■■□□□□□□□□
    Yep same issue with XenServer, they don't like "fake" RAID as it's nicknamed. Why not have your boss spend a few hundred dollars and pick up a PERC 6/i card?
    rwmidl wrote: »
    Hey guys. Ok in need of some help here. We just purchased/received a new PE R510 that we are/were planning to install VMWare ESXi (free) version on. Well come to find out when we ordered it, we configured it to include the PERC s300 SAS controller. Come to find out now, Linux kernel OS' don't recognize software based controllers, so needless to say we might be screwed.

    Has anyone encountered this before? Is there a possible work around so we can use the current configuration? I know I could run Hyper-V on it but I'm sure my boss will want to stick with ESXi since our other VM's run on that core. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
    MCSA: Windows Server 2012 - MCITP (SA, EA, EMA) - CCA (XD4, XD5, XS5, XS6) - VCP 4
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  • jibbajabbajibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□
    You're out of luck there. You need at least a PERC6 to be able to install it. Another option might be to disable Raid and use external storage for the VMs.
    My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com :p
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  • vColevCole Member Posts: 1,573 ■■■■■■■□□□
    Use ESXi embedded and install on a flash drive if you're only using the internal storage to install ESXi.

    You can try, not sure if it will work, but after installing ESXi embedded, create the RAID and see if you can present the datastore to ESXi within the VI Client.
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  • StarkeStarke Member Posts: 86 ■■□□□□□□□□
    This won't work.
    vCole wrote: »
    Use ESXi embedded and install on a flash drive if you're only using the internal storage to install ESXi.

    You can try, not sure if it will work, but after installing ESXi embedded, create the RAID and see if you can present the datastore to ESXi within the VI Client.
    MCSA: Windows Server 2012 - MCITP (SA, EA, EMA) - CCA (XD4, XD5, XS5, XS6) - VCP 4
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  • StarkeStarke Member Posts: 86 ■■□□□□□□□□
    I also agree with Gom. If you have more than ESXi host at this point then you should be running a SAN. You can get something inexpensive like an HP P2000 for $18,000. Purchase Essentials Plus and you'll have HA/vMotion. Pitch the benefits to your boss.
    Gomjaba wrote: »
    You're out of luck there. You need at least a PERC6 to be able to install it. Another option might be to disable Raid and use external storage for the VMs.
    MCSA: Windows Server 2012 - MCITP (SA, EA, EMA) - CCA (XD4, XD5, XS5, XS6) - VCP 4
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  • rwmidlrwmidl Member Posts: 807 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Starke wrote: »
    I also agree with Gom. If you have more than ESXi host at this point then you should be running a SAN. You can get something inexpensive like an HP P2000 for $18,000. Purchase Essentials Plus and you'll have HA/vMotion. Pitch the benefits to your boss.

    This is in our test lab so using a SAN really won't do us any good. I'm already working on obtaining a PERC 6i card.
    CISSP | CISM | ACSS | ACIS | MCSA:2008 | MCITP:SA | MCSE:Security | MCSA:Security | Security + | MCTS
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  • jibbajabbajibbajabba Member Posts: 4,317 ■■■■■■■■□□
    rwmidl wrote: »
    This is in our test lab so using a SAN really won't do us any good. I'm already working on obtaining a PERC 6i card.

    If its just a lab then a 2008 Server with free iSCSI target would do :p
    My own knowledge base made public: http://open902.com :p
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  • rwmidlrwmidl Member Posts: 807 ■■■■■■□□□□
    Further to the above, I'm getting ready to order two more PE R510's this time with the PERC H700 cards. I called Dell this morning and they said their HCL is showing the H700's are compatible with ESXi 4.1 (I'm using the "free" version). Apparently the Perc 6i cards are now being replaced with the H700's - you can order the card as a stand alone item but it's not a configurable item with a new build.

    From what all I can find I see no reason why the H700's would have a problem with the "free" version of ESXi 4.1, but wanted to see if any of you have in fact installed ESXi 4.1 on a box with the H700 controller card.
    CISSP | CISM | ACSS | ACIS | MCSA:2008 | MCITP:SA | MCSE:Security | MCSA:Security | Security + | MCTS
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  • vColevCole Member Posts: 1,573 ■■■■■■■□□□
    rwmidl wrote: »
    Further to the above, I'm getting ready to order two more PE R510's this time with the PERC H700 cards. I called Dell this morning and they said their HCL is showing the H700's are compatible with ESXi 4.1 (I'm using the "free" version). Apparently the Perc 6i cards are now being replaced with the H700's - you can order the card as a stand alone item but it's not a configurable item with a new build.

    From what all I can find I see no reason why the H700's would have a problem with the "free" version of ESXi 4.1, but wanted to see if any of you have in fact installed ESXi 4.1 on a box with the H700 controller card.

    Great way to find out compatibility, is the VMware Compatibility Guide . I've had Dell tell me a certain network card would work, and didn't - so always double check with VMware. icon_thumright.gif
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  • rwmidlrwmidl Member Posts: 807 ■■■■■■□□□□
    vCole wrote: »
    Great way to find out compatibility, is the VMware Compatibility Guide . I've had Dell tell me a certain network card would work, and didn't - so always double check with VMware. icon_thumright.gif

    I did check it and I "think" the combination will work - however the HCL doesn't say anything about controller cards....

    Edit: Ok I found how to check the IO Devices. Yes the PERC H700 Integrated shows compatible with ESXi 4.1
    CISSP | CISM | ACSS | ACIS | MCSA:2008 | MCITP:SA | MCSE:Security | MCSA:Security | Security + | MCTS
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