tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post7099915075178736981..comments2022-03-24T22:53:12.674+01:00Comments on Tim's Technical Thoughts: ESX 3.5 on a whiteboxTim Jacobshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-39593037294712296002009-07-13T10:18:26.110+02:002009-07-13T10:18:26.110+02:00Hey DM,
I blogged about how you can use the LSI t...Hey DM,<br /><br />I blogged about how you can use the LSI tools under VMware ESX to detect disk failures. For more information, see:<br /><br />http://timjacobs.blogspot.com/2008/05/installing-lsi-logic-raid-monitoring.html<br /><br />Bye!<br /><br />TimTim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-28199582223558718122009-07-13T03:46:54.705+02:002009-07-13T03:46:54.705+02:00How do you tell if a disk has failed?How do you tell if a disk has failed?DMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06044708376370631236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-52144216066866319122009-01-31T20:01:00.000+01:002009-01-31T20:01:00.000+01:00Tim,Nice machine. I have been putting a whitebox ...Tim,<BR/><BR/>Nice machine. I have been putting a whitebox together as well. This is my first experience with raid and a server quality machine. I am a web developer not really an expert in Systems or networks.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I also bought a perc5i off ebay. I have a question, I can definitely configure this via setup ctr+r, but what if I need to configure this remotely running esx 3.5? Do you know of a way?<BR/><BR/>Also, I configured mine raid 10 64k stripe. Do you have any performance tips for me? I do have the battery backup. I will be running only a few VMs - Centos Server, Window 2008, and mono firewall.<BR/><BR/>-Thanks<BR/>AdamAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-89598169655221237972008-12-17T17:25:00.000+01:002008-12-17T17:25:00.000+01:00Hi Hannes,I put in 8 Seagate Barracuda disks. 4 x ...Hi Hannes,<BR/><BR/>I put in 8 Seagate Barracuda disks. 4 x 7200.10 200GB series for VM storage and 4x 1TB 7200.11 series storage for data storage. <BR/><BR/>Bye!<BR/><BR/>TimTim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-22475198561863619372008-12-17T17:21:00.000+01:002008-12-17T17:21:00.000+01:00Tim, nice system ... may I ask what disk you built...Tim, nice system ... may I ask what disk you built in?<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>HannesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-8752170928938163892008-11-10T13:51:00.000+01:002008-11-10T13:51:00.000+01:00Keep up the good work.Keep up the good work.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-25988941518799543322008-09-14T20:37:00.000+02:002008-09-14T20:37:00.000+02:00Hi Thomas & anonymous poster,I have not explic...Hi Thomas & anonymous poster,<BR/><BR/>I have not explicitly tested the board with ESXi, but since the hardware compatibility list is the same for ESX 3.5 and ESX 3i, I do not expect any issues at all.Tim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-85872199042087264152008-09-14T18:46:00.000+02:002008-09-14T18:46:00.000+02:00Hello, I also want to know if you have tested this...Hello, <BR/><BR/>I also want to know if you have tested this setup with esxi?<BR/>Would appreciate an answer, as I am in the process of building an esx/esxi compatible system my self.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-46896863535824335412008-08-29T14:53:00.000+02:002008-08-29T14:53:00.000+02:00Hi timthis looks ideal for my requirements, have y...Hi tim<BR/><BR/>this looks ideal for my requirements, have you tested ESXi with this setup ?<BR/><BR/>cheersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-59027311365863766412008-07-14T14:48:00.000+02:002008-07-14T14:48:00.000+02:00Yes, this board uses an Intel ICHx SATA controller...Yes, this board uses an Intel ICHx SATA controller which is supported by ESX 3.5.Tim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-31188221727910727102008-07-05T11:00:00.000+02:002008-07-05T11:00:00.000+02:00Tim,Does ESX 3.5 also work with the local SATA con...Tim,<BR/><BR/>Does ESX 3.5 also work with the local SATA controller on this mainboard? I first want to use local storage and after a few weeks a dedicated RAID controller.<BR/><BR/>Thanks!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-60809087778347516182008-06-27T21:21:00.000+02:002008-06-27T21:21:00.000+02:00Tim,Where did you buy your P5BP-E/4L? The only si...Tim,<BR/><BR/>Where did you buy your P5BP-E/4L? The only sites online that have it are in Australia or the UK?<BR/><BR/>Thanks,Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01823113839526030292noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-8008444887577253382008-05-26T14:07:00.000+02:002008-05-26T14:07:00.000+02:00Regarding the speed of the Dell Perc 5i controller...Regarding the speed of the Dell Perc 5i controller: I've read <A HREF="http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-performance/2006-12/msg00008.php" REL="nofollow">people mentioning</A> write speeds of up to 250 MB/s on that controller, so the throughput capacity surely is there. It depends a lot on the disks you use on the controller and whether you put it in a 1x/4x/8x PCIe slot.<BR/><BR/>I regularly see peaks of 60MB/s write on a four-SATA-disk 7200 RPM RAID5 array (a network copy to a virtual fileserver), without any other virtual machine noticing anything of that load. That 60 MB/s is roughly the network throughput you can attain over a gigabit network. <BR/><BR/>By stressing a virtual machine itself, I can achieve write speeds of up to 150 MB/sec, again without any other virtual machine noticing performance loss. I suspect that even higher performance can be gained by using 10k/15k RPM disks in a real SAS setup.<BR/><BR/>Having said that, do realize that the Perc 5i is an "old" controller and that there are more performant controllers on the market. However, for a second hand $175 deal (which is already expensive if you look at some eBay bargains you can get today), you don't hear me complain at all :D.Tim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-68079548179235464852008-05-21T13:50:00.000+02:002008-05-21T13:50:00.000+02:00I've had my eye on that PERC5i SAS controller for ...I've had my eye on that PERC5i SAS controller for some time now. But I keep hearing rumors about it being slow. Care to comment how's the beast performing, from your own experience?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-13217278507416903562008-04-24T06:48:00.000+02:002008-04-24T06:48:00.000+02:00Regarding the ICH7 controller ESX will only recogn...Regarding the ICH7 controller ESX will only recognize drives connected in a non-RAID mode. That's the case with most of the embedded (low end) RAID controllers found on lower end motherboards, as they require a software component to function which ESX does not provide.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-61861166973035429482008-03-25T20:08:00.000+01:002008-03-25T20:08:00.000+01:00James,At the moment I am running 7 virtual machine...James,<BR/><BR/>At the moment I am running 7 virtual machines, which is quite a low load:<BR/> - Two Windows 2008 servers<BR/> - Two Windows 2003 servers<BR/> - Two Windows XP machines<BR/> - One m0n0wall firewall/router<BR/><BR/>The total CPU taken by these 7 virtual machines at idle is 440MHz, the total memory taken 2.65 GB (512Mb for the W2K8 machines, roughly 300Mb for the XP machines, the rest for the W2K3 servers).<BR/><BR/><BR/>Regarding the question whether the Intel ESB2 controller is compatible, the only answer I can give is to look at the official hardware compatibility guides (http://www.vmware.com/support/pubs/vi_pages/vi_pubs_35.html) which document the kernel modules that ESX supports. If it is not there, it is not supported. Feel free to provide a piece of hardware for testing :D.<BR/><BR/>Bye,<BR/><BR/>TimTim Jacobshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06131387085752434985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-34112223450154105262008-03-25T15:15:00.000+01:002008-03-25T15:15:00.000+01:00Do you know if 3.5 works on intel ESB2 controller?...Do you know if 3.5 works on intel ESB2 controller?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-32273633845646748972008-03-24T06:57:00.000+01:002008-03-24T06:57:00.000+01:00How many VMs are you running? How's the performanc...How many VMs are you running? How's the performance?<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>JamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-85042832822271873282008-03-20T21:37:00.000+01:002008-03-20T21:37:00.000+01:00One reason for an actual SAS/SATA controller is RA...One reason for an actual SAS/SATA controller is RAID support. If you don't have RAID I assume ESX 3.5/3i will see the the storage as JBOD. A drive failure could be bad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4834634390856475978.post-45270266838902336182008-03-11T21:53:00.000+01:002008-03-11T21:53:00.000+01:00Hi there, Just wanted to report that you do not ne...Hi there, <BR/><BR/>Just wanted to report that you do not need to create a raid in order to have the sata hdd recognized by ESX. I have tested this with an Asus barebone (V3-P5945GC@90 Euro)with a single samsung 750GB drive. ESX installs successfully the only issue I have is that the onboard nic is not recognized. Hope this helps. <BR/><BR/>Grtz, <BR/><BR/>Herc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com