HP Server with VMWare ESXi bare bones

[b4u]

Hi,

I'm looking into the possibility of purchasing a used server.

I have 4 servers to choose from, and I have some questions I would like to ask you guys.

Servers are 3 HP Proliant ML3xx.

They all have different configuration of hard disks, but mainly all have Raid5 configurations. One of them has 2 Raid5 sets, with 300GB and 150GB aprox of space to do regular file sharing.

My intentions are to pick one, and format with a straight VMWare ESXi, for bare metal virtualization. Since the server has good power for my needs, I would create 2 servers to start with, and a 3rd one to play around with.

My question is: can I do that? I mean, the Raid5 setup is made in HP bios or some setup before OS start, right? That would be transparent to VMWare ESXi installation right?

At the time, there is an HP software installed check and config the raid setup, it's nice, when I select the raid, it flashes the lights on the disk units so I can identify them. Would I still be able to use that software if the OS is virtualized?


Thanks

 

[yuppiejr]

Hi,

I'm looking into the possibility of purchasing a used server.

I have 4 servers to choose from, and I have some questions I would like to ask you guys.

Servers are 3 HP Proliant ML3xx.

They all have different configuration of hard disks, but mainly all have Raid5 configurations. One of them has 2 Raid5 sets, with 300GB and 150GB aprox of space to do regular file sharing.

My intentions are to pick one, and format with a straight VMWare ESXi, for bare metal virtualization. Since the server has good power for my needs, I would create 2 servers to start with, and a 3rd one to play around with.

My question is: can I do that? I mean, the Raid5 setup is made in HP bios or some setup before OS start, right? That would be transparent to VMWare ESXi installation right?

At the time, there is an HP software installed check and config the raid setup, it's nice, when I select the raid, it flashes the lights on the disk units so I can identify them. Would I still be able to use that software if the OS is virtualized?


Thanks

I'd verify that the server and RAID card in question are on the HCL first, as long as the kernel includes drivers to support your RAID ESXi should see your local RAID volumes without issue.

I'd suggest reconsidering RAID5 in this case though... at least on the volume(s) on which you intend to host your VM's you should be looking at a 2 disk mirror or 4 x disk RAID10 arrays which will give you more IO/sec but less storage space. If you need a large volume of file storage you can always point to an external iSCSI target and present them to your virtual servers...

Not sure if you can use the HP RAID management utility within a VM on a specific host to interact with the controller directly - might have to test that yourself.

 

[yinan]

He would not be able to really use it from within ESX, unless they have a special version that is designed to be accessed remotely but still run in the service console. But, he could just present the RAID controller to a file server directly with vmDirectPath 😉

 

[b4u]

He would not be able to really use it from within ESX, unless they have a special version that is designed to be accessed remotely but still run in the service console. But, he could just present the RAID controller to a file server directly with vmDirectPath 😉

You mean that a Windows 2003 Server virtualized on ESXi (bare bone) will not access the raid controller? Even with HP software?


One more question, does the HP client configuration software (for raid config) is included in the foundation package? I ask this because all software/manuals are mixed in a single box :S

Thanks

 

[yinan]

No it will not access the RAID controller even with the software. It has no access to that level of detail about the underlying hardware. Virtualization would not work if it did. The RAID config can either be done by booting off of the CD or through the controllers firmware.

 

[dawks]

No it will not access the RAID controller even with the software. It has no access to that level of detail about the underlying hardware. Virtualization would not work if it did. The RAID config can either be done by booting off of the CD or through the controllers firmware.

Yea, the RAID needs to be configured before a Windows server is installed. You can place the virtual harddrives on the RAID partitions, but cannot change it from within a VM.

I'll just note, as said before, make sure your hardware is in the Compatibility list and you should be fine. I found my specific model of server (with a RAID card) in that list, and installed ESXi to a USB thumb drive. It almost took longer for the BIOS and RAID card to initialized than for the full install and boot to finish. Been working GREAT so far. Very happy with ESXi.

 

[b4u]

Yea, the RAID needs to be configured before a Windows server is installed. You can place the virtual harddrives on the RAID partitions, but cannot change it from within a VM.

I'll just note, as said before, make sure your hardware is in the Compatibility list and you should be fine. I found my specific model of server (with a RAID card) in that list, and installed ESXi to a USB thumb drive. It almost took longer for the BIOS and RAID card to initialized than for the full install and boot to finish. Been working GREAT so far. Very happy with ESXi.

Well, I can live with configuring RAID on BIOS only, and have no software way to access/change it.

I want to have ESXi to virtualize 2-3 servers, with RAID to support it behind, so if I have 1 disk failing, I don't loose data. But I'm new to this, how does it warn me if I have no software to monitor the RAID?

I was expecting a popup with bells and whistles telling me a disk died, or was about to die, but I need some software for that to happen ... it could warn me on startup, but this will be a 24/7 server ... with (hopefully) no startups.

When you say compatibility list, you mean Windows or ESXi? Or both? Because Windows if compatible for sure, as it is the OS installed at the moment, but I have not seen the ESXi yet. Is there any? I'll google for it first, and ask if I don't find it 🙂

Thanks for your messages.

 

[MiniDoom]

Well, I can live with configuring RAID on BIOS only, and have no software way to access/change it.

I want to have ESXi to virtualize 2-3 servers, with RAID to support it behind, so if I have 1 disk failing, I don't loose data. But I'm new to this, how does it warn me if I have no software to monitor the RAID?

I was expecting a popup with bells and whistles telling me a disk died, or was about to die, but I need some software for that to happen ... it could warn me on startup, but this will be a 24/7 server ... with (hopefully) no startups.

When you say compatibility list, you mean Windows or ESXi? Or both? Because Windows if compatible for sure, as it is the OS installed at the moment, but I have not seen the ESXi yet. Is there any? I'll google for it first, and ask if I don't find it 🙂

Thanks for your messages.

an amber led on the disk will indicate it's failed. You also get a post warning that a disk has failed. you may also want to run memtest for a few days to verify you don't have any bad modules. little things like that can drive you crazy trying to figure out. There will also be some bios settings you may have to change to support virtualization.

 

[rudder]

You mean that a Windows 2003 Server virtualized on ESXi (bare bone) will not access the raid controller? Even with HP software?


One more question, does the HP client configuration software (for raid config) is included in the foundation package? I ask this because all software/manuals are mixed in a single box :S

Thanks

You can goto HP and get the latest version anyway so you don't need what is in the box. But for RAID configuration you enter the controller BIOS during post and configure it from there. For more control over settings you would need to boot from the smart start CD where you can optimize for read/write, block size, etc. BIOS config just gives you the defaults.

 

[rudder]

At the time, there is an HP software installed check and config the raid setup, it's nice, when I select the raid, it flashes the lights on the disk units so I can identify them. Would I still be able to use that software if the OS is virtualized?

And forgot to mention the array config software (the one you use with OS running) will be deleted when you install Vmware. You can get a vmware version from hp.com, you will just need to reinstall.

 

[rudder]

an amber led on the disk will indicate it's failed. You also get a post warning that a disk has failed. you may also want to run memtest for a few days to verify you don't have any bad modules. little things like that can drive you crazy trying to figure out. There will also be some bios settings you may have to change to support virtualization.

The newer proliants have little pullouts that indicate hardware troublespots like which ram bank is having trouble. You can also look at the motherboard directly. But I think the vmware agents will also let you access hardware reporting as well so you can do it from the PC you use to manage the server.

 

[yinan]

VMware does report back on individual failed components. Just make sure to install ESX/i update 1 for better functionality.

 

[MiniDoom]

The newer proliants have little pullouts that indicate hardware troublespots like which ram bank is having trouble. You can also look at the motherboard directly. But I think the vmware agents will also let you access hardware reporting as well so you can do it from the PC you use to manage the server.

yeah, I still had some g5's with green lights on the bank that fail a memtest burn in. it may be preemptive and will eventually turn amber but in a production environment with several hundred vm's running, i cant wait until it fails. if op's just dicking around with esx i guess that doesn't matter much.