Vmware and VMFS question - please advise!
I am planning to build a small test lab at our office running VSphere 4. I have a couple of questions.
From what I've been reading, I need a SCSI implimentation in order to run VMFS based features (ie HA, DRS, Vmotion, etc). So, does this mean I only need to run the VM's from an 'SCSI" storage device? My plan is this:
Running 2 physical machines to install ESX (using SATA HD's)
Running 1 box installing FreeNAS using SATA drives but setting up the iSCSI features.
Does VMFS need to be installed on the hosts or can I install the host OS like normal on SATA drives on the 2 phsical boxes, then setup FreeNAS on another workstation running RAID 5 with SATA drives, setting up iSCSI and then attaching it to the ESX hosts (using VMFS on the FreeNAS box). I'm hoping this will allow me to play with the VMFS features.
From what I've been reading, I need a SCSI implimentation in order to run VMFS based features (ie HA, DRS, Vmotion, etc). So, does this mean I only need to run the VM's from an 'SCSI" storage device? My plan is this:
Running 2 physical machines to install ESX (using SATA HD's)
Running 1 box installing FreeNAS using SATA drives but setting up the iSCSI features.
Does VMFS need to be installed on the hosts or can I install the host OS like normal on SATA drives on the 2 phsical boxes, then setup FreeNAS on another workstation running RAID 5 with SATA drives, setting up iSCSI and then attaching it to the ESX hosts (using VMFS on the FreeNAS box). I'm hoping this will allow me to play with the VMFS features.
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The VMFS partitions will reside on the NAS, not on the individual hosts.
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So what FS is used on the hosts?
So ok, so this sounds like it's going to work. I install ESX 4 on the hosts, cluster them, create my iSCSI initator, setup my NAS, create my iSCSI targets, connect them to the hosts, then format the NAS with VMFS, create my VM's then play? :)
So ok, so this sounds like it's going to work. I install ESX 4 on the hosts, cluster them, create my iSCSI initator, setup my NAS, create my iSCSI targets, connect them to the hosts, then format the NAS with VMFS, create my VM's then play? :)
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Thanks everyone!
So no, you don't need SCSI drives to run ESXi.