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VMWare ESXi 5.1 Raid installation into Vmware ESXi 5.1

Hi,

I have got a question regarding installing a Adaptec RAIDOk 7805 driver.

Ok what I wanted to find out is if I can add the RAID later.

So here are the steps I am thinking of doing.

1. Slipstream the Adaptec Raid 7805 driver into the Vmware ESXi 5.1 disk.
2. Install ESXi 5.1

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At a later stage after the inital ESXi install.

1. Put an Adaptec 7805 Raid controller into the sytem.
2. Vmware ESXI will detect the driver (plug and play? kind off)
3. Create the RAID datastores for ESXi to use.

So is Vmware ESXi "smart" enough to do that or do I really need to
have the RAID card in there before the install?

Thanks,

Ward.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

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whorsfall

ASKER

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

My plan was to install it with non-raid disks first - install everything first on local SATA disks.

Then put the raid card in then create the RAID disk with the Adaptec utility - reboot the machine - and add the new (raid disk) as a single datastore.

So would that work?

I assume from what you say ESxi would then detect the new drive?

Thanks,

Ward

Andrew Hancock (VMware vExpert PRO / EE Fellow/British Beekeeper)

If ESXi installer finds compatible storage e.g. SATA it will install, if it does not like your storage it will abort.

later you can drop in the Adaptec card, and add the drivers.