Esxi doesn't see local RAID 5 storage
Hi. I have a new dell r740. It has local storage in a RAID 5. Esxi cannot see it. I have another dell r740 with local storage but the local storage is not in RAID and Esxi sees it. Is there an issue with having local RAID? It has been a long time since I used local storage.
Thanks a lot.
ASKER
Yes - VMware-VMvisor-Installer-7.0.0.update02-18538813.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A07
Is it best practice to RAID local storage for esxi?
Is it best practice to RAID local storage for esxi?
Is this for storage of virtual machines or installation of the OS, in both cases yes, if you want redundancy.
So is this trying to install on the RAID controller ?
So is this trying to install on the RAID controller ?
ASKER
PERC H730P Mini (Embedded)
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for VMs only. 7 disks in a RAID 5 one hot spare
so where did you install ESXi?
ASKER
unfortunately limited storage so probably need to stick with RAID 5
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installed esxi on an SD card and a 480 GB local SSD
Which version of ESXi are you installing ?
ASKER
7.0.0.update02-18538813.x86_64-DellEMC_Customized-A07
Oh, yes sorry you posted before, well; sadly I've got bad news for you.
ESXi 7.0 is no longer supported being installed on USB flash drives or SD cards. It's deprecated because of changes in ESXi 7.0 it corrupts the installation on SD cards.
Both VMware and DELL have now stated this last year.
So I would remove the SD card, and re-install on the SSD, and when you have re-installed we can check what is going on with it not being able to detect or create a datastore on the Local Storage which is RAID5.
You have created the RAID (VD is what Dells calls them)
ESXi 7.0 is no longer supported being installed on USB flash drives or SD cards. It's deprecated because of changes in ESXi 7.0 it corrupts the installation on SD cards.
Both VMware and DELL have now stated this last year.
So I would remove the SD card, and re-install on the SSD, and when you have re-installed we can check what is going on with it not being able to detect or create a datastore on the Local Storage which is RAID5.
You have created the RAID (VD is what Dells calls them)
ASKER
got it. I read a VMware article where I thought it stated support for install on SD with scratch or something on an SSD/HDD. Nonetheless, these are not in production yet so I can reinstall without issue.
You are best now avoiding any installation of ESXi on SD or USB flash drive.
You can try and apply many workarounds, but the situation remains the same eventually it corrupts the SD installation.
SSD/HDD/NVMe/SATADOM/iSCSI
Best to get it right to start with, than try to fix later when in Production.
You can try and apply many workarounds, but the situation remains the same eventually it corrupts the SD installation.
SSD/HDD/NVMe/SATADOM/iSCSI
Best to get it right to start with, than try to fix later when in Production.
ASKER
ok thx.
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agreed thx again
ASKER
ok just able to get back to this and the esxi 7.0.2 installer does not see the local hard drives (I have a 480 GB SSD for the install). The controller is a perc h730p mini firmware version 25.5.8.0001. Any ideas? Thanks
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no. let me do that.
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wonderful Andrew. It is installing on the SSD now. I will get that done on both hosts and reply back here.
Though, ESXi did not see my RAID5 but I did that on the physical disks. Should I create a RAID5 virtual disk with the remaining disks? What is best practice here for a datastore?
Thanks as usual.
Though, ESXi did not see my RAID5 but I did that on the physical disks. Should I create a RAID5 virtual disk with the remaining disks? What is best practice here for a datastore?
Thanks as usual.
So if you've created a RAID 0 (single disk SSD) for ESXI installation OS.
Then create a RAID 6 or RAID 10 for a datastore later, when ESXi has been installed, but make sure VD is created first.
RAID 6 or RAID 10 is now considered enterprise ready not 5.
Then create a RAID 6 or RAID 10 for a datastore later, when ESXi has been installed, but make sure VD is created first.
RAID 6 or RAID 10 is now considered enterprise ready not 5.
ASKER
got it. thanks so much.
Always a pleasure to help, thanks for the kind words.
It needs to have the ESXi driver, which supports the RAID controller, and what RAID controller do you have installed in the R740 ?
Also RAID 5 is not considered enterprise ready anymore, due to disk failure, maybe RAID 6 or RAID 10 would be better, which can support 2 disk failures.