ESXi question

Hi,

After seeing a lot ESXi thread I suddenly got interested in this. I just assemble my unraid server 9 mos ago. Now I am not sure If I can get Xeon and supermicro board from where I am and I think my motherboard (Asus P8H77-M PRO) can run an ESXi but not my CPU which is G630. I have been playing with Virtualbox as of the moment and I don't think my cpu can support for atleast 3 VM (pfsense to act as my router/firewall/vpn, win7 and unraid) simultaneously. I am just wondering incase I get i5-3570 or i7-3770 can I run ESXi and unraid without any problem? Can I still use my existing hard drive with data without losing it? Currently I have 6TB of data and 2TB parity with 750GB cache. Also I have Back-UPS CS 650 that I want to use as well. Can I still use my license key? Since VT-d is the one of important thing to keep in mind. Is there anything else to add?

Thanks

You need to make sure your motherboard and CPU support vt-d (for hardware passthrough)

I'm a bit out of date but believe most i3-7s don't. So have to pay close attention to that. Usually best to go with a xeon

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2

Thanks. Pretty much the i7-3770 support VT-d and my motherboard support it as well http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/list.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=1&m=P8H77-M%20PRO&hashedid=2pL58aQ3FL0YShJP Is there anything to keep in mind?

i bought the i5-3570 and install esxi 5.1 with my motherboard asus p8h77-m pro. directpath shows supported. now i manage to run my unraid using atlas. i havent tried but i think I can passthrough my onboard ahci controller but the problem with that i wont be able to have a datastore since the x6 sata will be assign to the unraid vm. any suggestion? should I buy a m1015 instead and use my onboard for datastore or just buy a 1-2 port sata controller that works in esxi? hope someone help me. thanks

i bought the i5-3570 and install esxi 5.1 with my motherboard asus p8h77-m pro. directpath shows supported. now i manage to run my unraid using atlas. i havent tried but i think I can passthrough my onboard ahci controller but the problem with that i wont be able to have a datastore since the x6 sata will be assign to the unraid vm. any suggestion? should I buy a m1015 instead and use my onboard for datastore or just buy a 1-2 port sata controller that works in esxi? hope someone help me. thanks

Most of the time it is suggested to leave the motherboard ports alone and use those for datastore or RDM drives.  You are going to want to passthrough a control for use with unRAID.

On my ESXi setup I have an M1015 passed through and that is hooked to a Chenbro Expander.  I have my datastore drives on an areca arc-1222 that are in a RAID 5.  The only thing I have on the motherboard ports right now is a Blu Ray drive that is hooked up to my Windows 7 VM.  I may eventually add more drives to the motherboard ports but for right now they are mostly unused.

thanks prostuff1. i think I should end up with m1015. I am just not sure if its compatible with my motherboard..

Nice to know that an H77 motherboard can run ESXi => there are quite a few boards not on the VMware list that will run it okay.

Since you've got two PCIe x16 slots, your board should be fine with an M1015.  The real question is whether pass-through works okay with that setup and an i5/i7.  Please post a follow-up so we'll all know the answer to that 

I would love to update this with my progress. However I dont think I can buy a m1015 since I am having a hard time looking for one here in my location. 

  Not sure if it is still there, but look at this for a source where you are for the M1015

http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/classifieds+directory/q/IBM+ServeRaid+M1015?x=2

If that one is no longer available, look here for the nearest athorized dealer:

http://shopap.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/phweb/LenovoPortal/en_%7BCOUNTRY%7D/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/AP/Partner/Bplocator

  All the dealers there, SHOULD be able to special order one for you.

Hi electron yeah i already contacted that guy and will meet him up hopefully this weekend. after that I can probably start this project. is 8gb mem enough for the meantime? I need to buy atleast 2 500gb and do a raid 1 for my datastore using my onboard raid controller is it doable? thanks

Hi electron yeah i already contacted that guy and will meet him up hopefully this weekend. after that I can probably start this project. is 8gb mem enough for the meantime? I need to buy atleast 2 500gb and do a raid 1 for my datastore using my onboard raid controller is it doable? thanks

has to be a hardware raid so I highly doubt your motherboard RAID is going to work.

  I have not used ESXi, but, from what you plan to run as VMs, I would think that 8GB of RAM should work, but will likely not be as much as you will want to use.  Depending on how much you will be wanting the Windows VM to do, you may really need extra memory there, if you are going to be running 64-bit Win 7 that is.  If just using 32-bit Win 7, you may actually be very happy with the 8 GB amount of RAM.  The other VMs should be fairly memory efficient.

  Bottom line, 8GB should be good for testing, and then deciding later if you want more.

ic.. anyway I already got my IBM M1015 and the cables are on the way. Can't wait to try it! By the way do I really have to cross flash this to IT mode?

Yes, you will need to cross-flash the M1015 in order to use it with unRAID.

The original FW is that of a hardware raid card...unRAID does not supply drivers for it.

The reason why everyone recommends the M1015 is, that it is a good deal (...still, I remember getting two pcs. for 75 bucks total)

and of good quality. You will have a hard time getting the same as an original HBA (LSI 9211-8i) for the same price.

Yes, you will need to cross-flash the M1015 in order to use it with unRAID.

The original FW is that of a hardware raid card...unRAID does not supply drivers for it.

The reason why everyone recommends the M1015 is, that it is a good deal (...still, I remember getting two pcs. for 75 bucks total)

and of good quality. You will have a hard time getting the same as an original HBA (LSI 9211-8i) for the same price.

Whew scary.. I tried flashing it to IT mode how can I verify that it is working? 

Whew scary.. I tried flashing it to IT mode how can I verify that it is working? 

The original FW will show something like "MEGARaid" in it....the HB FW will not.

What procedure did you follow?...this: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=12767.msg121131#msg121131 or http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/29059-sas2008-lsi92409211-firmware-files/ or ....else?

If you followed one of these procedures and you did not receive an error, your card should post.

What is it showing upon boot?

Edit: ...and don't worry...all subsequent FW updates do not involve a cross-flash.

        It is an LSI-9211-8i after that and you can use the standard LSI toolchain to upgrade to newer versions of the FW.

I followed this one http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/ but without the mptsas2.rom

Tweaks

Of possible use to ZFS fanatics, when flashing the card to IT mode, do not flash the mptsas2.rom, this then will not load the boot BIOS

Any SAS or SATA IIIdrives added will just passthrough as normal, as there is nothing to see or do in the BIOS in IT mode, you may as well not load it. This makes boot and reboot time faster as it doesn’t have to load the BIOS and wait for a key press. BUT you will need it if you are booting from one of the drives attached to the IBM M1015. You will also need it if you are running IR mode to access to the BIOS to setup RAID functions. This might be of use to some users.

I haven't encountered a bricked device so I am not sure. But this is what the dmesg shows.

mpt2sas0: LSISAS2008: FWVersion(15.00.00.00), ChipRevision(0x03), BiosVersion(00.00.00.00)

I haven't tested it yet as well since I am waiting for the cable coming from Amazon. 

By the way upon connecting all my hard drive in the m1015 it will detect just like it is connected to the motherboard? Or the device name will change or do I need to reformat it again or? Thanks

I followed this one http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/ but without the mptsas2.rom

 

Tweaks

Of possible use to ZFS fanatics, when flashing the card to IT mode, do not flash the mptsas2.rom, this then will not load the boot BIOS

Any SAS or SATA IIIdrives added will just passthrough as normal, as there is nothing to see or do in the BIOS in IT mode, you may as well not load it. This makes boot and reboot time faster as it doesn’t have to load the BIOS and wait for a key press. BUT you will need it if you are booting from one of the drives attached to the IBM M1015. You will also need it if you are running IR mode to access to the BIOS to setup RAID functions. This might be of use to some users.

 

I haven't encountered a bricked device so I am not sure. But this is what the dmesg shows.

mpt2sas0: LSISAS2008: FWVersion(15.00.00.00), ChipRevision(0x03), BiosVersion(00.00.00.00)

That looks good....a M1015 with HBA FW (P15, IT by the looks)... and no card BIOS (which seems to be the standard method of that script you followed)

You should be perfectly OK.

I haven't tested it yet as well since I am waiting for the cable coming from Amazon. 

 

By the way upon connecting all my hard drive in the m1015 it will detect just like it is connected to the motherboard? Or the device name will change or do I need to reformat it again or? Thanks

The drives will show up as /dev/sdX, yes.

However, the drives will most definitely show up with different sdX numbers than before.

A recent v5RC should already be able to cope with that...but you should double check!!

I am not that familiar with unRAID and this procedure....I am sure there is something similar covered in another thread in this forum.

Thanks a lot! I will be updating this thread from time to time about the progress of my hardware with ESXi and unraid.

  Any pre-cleared drives, or any drives with data from unRAID previously, should work fine on the newly flashed controller card.  No re-formatting, or re-pre-clearing again should be needed.

  Just a matter of properly mapping existing data drives in pre 5RC unRAID installs, and should as already mentioned by Ford Prefect, re-mapping will be automatic with current 5RC versions.

    If something asks to be formatted, that should have data on it, or appears to have not been pre-cleared, even after it had been...  Something is likely wrong, and you should ask about it here before proceeding.

Thanks a lot! I will be updating this thread from time to time about the progress of my hardware with ESXi and unraid.

Don't setup esxi with your hard drives from unraid connected as it will want to format them.

Sent via a phone. Sorry for any typos.

Thanks a lot! I will be updating this thread from time to time about the progress of my hardware with ESXi and unraid.

 

Don't setup esxi with your hard drives from unraid connected as it will want to format them.

 

Sent via a phone. Sorry for any typos.

thanks for the reminder. I already have esxi installed on the usb. Since I have to wait for my controller I just installed it while waiting

good news! i managed to get my unraid into esxi! my current hardware works! i setup pfsense for my router/firewall. i installed win7 for my remote management like splashtop and teamviewer and then unraid. now i am trying to figure out how can i make my ups activate during powerloss. will keep this thread updated.

So far everything is working fine. pfSense + unraid + win7 in my ESXi however I am having strange issue. Whenever I transfer big data on my unraid using my other workstation my  local network will disconnect until I reboot pfSense. It is weird.

So far everything is working fine. pfSense + unraid + win7 in my ESXi however I am having strange issue. Whenever I transfer big data on my unraid using my other workstation my  local network will disconnect until I reboot pfSense. It is weird.

What do you mean by "disconnect"....what side will disconnect?

Is it that your desktop and unRAID are on different zones and pfsense is doing the routing in between?

...you happen to have only that single Realtek NIC of the ASUS mobo in that box?

...getting slightly off-topic, maybe?