building white box lab test for vmware vsphere 6 essentials kit

[twisterice]

Hello guys,
i would like to build a whitebox lab test for support vsphere 6 essentials kit. What do you think about this configuration:

– Cooler Master Cosmos 2 atx case
– Corsair Psu AX1200i modular 80 plus platinum certified
– Cooler Master Nepton 240m for cpu liquid cooler
– Intel Xeon 2011 E5-2620v3 2,4Ghz
– AsRock motherboard X99 WS-E for socket 2011-v3
– LSI MegarRaid Sas 9240-4i SGL 4-PORT 6GB/s sata+sas
– Corsair Dominator Platinum Kit memory ddr4 2666mhz 32gb (4×8)
– Evga Video Card GeForce Gtx970 4gb ram
– 4 Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500gb mz-75e500b/eu
– Intel PRO/1000 PT dual port server adapter 10/100/1000base-tx

for storage i’ve alread a NAS Qnap TS-451 (with 2 gb port interfaces) about 4 tb based on raid5 (here i have 4 hd wd caviar for a total of 8tb)

Sure i would like also to reduce energy consumption...ok i want too much thinks
overall stay in a budget not exceeding to 2,500 euro...so with this configuration (hoping that it’s sufficient to run a good lab test), do you suggest me to install directly the vcenter or a nested...before windows 2012 (for example) and after vcenter etc…?
in any case i would like to have a your general opinion about to use at the best this hardware at least in the lab test. Thank you for all your suggestions.

 

[bambiboom]

Hello guys,
i would like to build a whitebox lab test for support vsphere 6 essentials kit. What do you think about this configuration:

– Cooler Master Cosmos 2 atx case
– Corsair Psu AX1200i modular 80 plus platinum certified
– Cooler Master Nepton 240m for cpu liquid cooler
– Intel Xeon 2011 E5-2620v3 2,4Ghz
– AsRock motherboard X99 WS-E for socket 2011-v3
– LSI MegarRaid Sas 9240-4i SGL 4-PORT 6GB/s sata+sas
– Corsair Dominator Platinum Kit memory ddr4 2666mhz 32gb (4×8)
– Evga Video Card GeForce Gtx970 4gb ram
– 4 Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500gb mz-75e500b/eu
– Intel PRO/1000 PT dual port server adapter 10/100/1000base-tx

for storage i’ve alread a NAS Qnap TS-451 (with 2 gb port interfaces) about 4 tb based on raid5 (here i have 4 hd wd caviar for a total of 8tb)

Sure i would like also to reduce energy consumption...ok i want too much thinks
overall stay in a budget not exceeding to 2,500 euro...so with this configuration (hoping that it’s sufficient to run a good lab test), do you suggest me to install directly the vcenter or a nested...before windows 2012 (for example) and after vcenter etc…?
in any case i would like to have a your general opinion about to use at the best this hardware at least in the lab test. Thank you for all your suggestions.

twisterice,

Very good choices. A few comments and these are to direct the choices a bit more towards a workstation /server configuration:

1. CPU: If you are running the VMmware VSphere 6 Essentials with the 6-core license and not planning a 12-core license, and using a single CPU motherboard, you might consider using a Xeon E5-1650 v3 6-core @ 3.5 /3.8GHz. this will cost somewhat more than the E5-2620v3, but the clock speed is appreciably higher. There is a premium on E5-2600 series dual CPUs- they are always more expensive and somewhat lower clock speeds to have the dual configuration.

Another tactic that may be worthwhile is to use a dual LGA2011-3 motherboard, start with the single E5-2620v3 and if you need to add capability, a 2nd CPU and more RAM later. The dual CPU configuration will have more PCIe slots and add 40 more PCIe lanes so you can run more peripherals.

2. RAM: With a Xeon on this kind of system, I would recommend ECC RAM. With DDR4, the latency is not much different.

3. GPU: It's not possible to say without knowing more about he use, but if the proposed system is intended for visualization, or scientific use perhaps consider a Quadro M4000 (8GB) or if the budget is difficult, find a good used Quadro K4200 (4GB) in place of the GTX 970.

4. Drives: It's apparent that you're serious about drive performance, but my tendency would be to avoid any RAID 0 configuration on the OS /Application drive and instead use M.2, specifically Samsung 950 Pro. Samsung quotes Max "Sequential Read: Up to 2500 MBps / Max Sequential Write: Up to 1500 MBp" .and no conventional SSD in RAID 0 can do that as far as I know. The main system disk is simpler and the cost is decreasing on a daily basis. If necessary, a second one could be added as a scratch /caching disk.

I'm quite frightened by RAID 0 mainly because I can't work out the hexadecimal analytical RAID rebuild, not like the idea of the 20 hour rebuild time.

5. RAID Controller: The LSI 9240-4i is very good, but an older design. Have a look at the 9300 series and the performance may be better even at a lower place in the product range. they have some inexpensive "12GB/s" designs but I don't know how well developed they are and the actual performance.

6. CPU cooling: if you do use the E5-2620 v3, it's 85W and I don't believe liquid cooling is necessary for that thermal load, plus liquid cooling can be quiet noisy. Check the thermal efficiency of good fan /heatsinks and also the noise specifications.

Interesting project and going in a very good direction.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

With Quadro K2200:
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D= 3463 / Mem= 2668 / Disk= 4764

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

with Quadro K4200:
[ Passmark system rating = 3585 / CPU = 9346 / 2D= 683 / 3D= 4708 / Mem= 1850 / Disk= 2202]

With Quadro 4000
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Pending upgrade: PERC H310 PCIe SAS /SATA RAID controller, 2X WD Black 1TB (RAID 1)(Converts disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s)

 

[twisterice]

Hello guys,
i would like to build a whitebox lab test for support vsphere 6 essentials kit. What do you think about this configuration:

– Cooler Master Cosmos 2 atx case
– Corsair Psu AX1200i modular 80 plus platinum certified
– Cooler Master Nepton 240m for cpu liquid cooler
– Intel Xeon 2011 E5-2620v3 2,4Ghz
– AsRock motherboard X99 WS-E for socket 2011-v3
– LSI MegarRaid Sas 9240-4i SGL 4-PORT 6GB/s sata+sas
– Corsair Dominator Platinum Kit memory ddr4 2666mhz 32gb (4×8)
– Evga Video Card GeForce Gtx970 4gb ram
– 4 Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500gb mz-75e500b/eu
– Intel PRO/1000 PT dual port server adapter 10/100/1000base-tx

for storage i’ve alread a NAS Qnap TS-451 (with 2 gb port interfaces) about 4 tb based on raid5 (here i have 4 hd wd caviar for a total of 8tb)

Sure i would like also to reduce energy consumption...ok i want too much thinks
overall stay in a budget not exceeding to 2,500 euro...so with this configuration (hoping that it’s sufficient to run a good lab test), do you suggest me to install directly the vcenter or a nested...before windows 2012 (for example) and after vcenter etc…?
in any case i would like to have a your general opinion about to use at the best this hardware at least in the lab test. Thank you for all your suggestions.

twisterice,

Very good choices. A few comments and these are to direct the choices a bit more towards a workstation /server configuration:

1. CPU: If you are running the VMmware VSphere 6 Essentials with the 6-core license and not planning a 12-core license, and using a single CPU motherboard, you might consider using a Xeon E5-1650 v3 6-core @ 3.5 /3.8GHz. this will cost somewhat more than the E5-2620v3, but the clock speed is appreciably higher. There is a premium on E5-2600 series dual CPUs- they are always more expensive and somewhat lower clock speeds to have the dual configuration.

Another tactic that may be worthwhile is to use a dual LGA2011-3 motherboard, start with the single E5-2620v3 and if you need to add capability, a 2nd CPU and more RAM later. The dual CPU configuration will have more PCIe slots and add 40 more PCIe lanes so you can run more peripherals.

2. RAM: With a Xeon on this kind of system, I would recommend ECC RAM. With DDR4, the latency is not much different.

3. GPU: It's not possible to say without knowing more about he use, but if the proposed system is intended for visualization, or scientific use perhaps consider a Quadro M4000 (8GB) or if the budget is difficult, find a good used Quadro K4200 (4GB) in place of the GTX 970.

4. Drives: It's apparent that you're serious about drive performance, but my tendency would be to avoid any RAID 0 configuration on the OS /Application drive and instead use M.2, specifically Samsung 950 Pro. Samsung quotes Max "Sequential Read: Up to 2500 MBps / Max Sequential Write: Up to 1500 MBp" .and no conventional SSD in RAID 0 can do that as far as I know. The main system disk is simpler and the cost is decreasing on a daily basis. If necessary, a second one could be added as a scratch /caching disk.

I'm quite frightened by RAID 0 mainly because I can't work out the hexadecimal analytical RAID rebuild, not like the idea of the 20 hour rebuild time.

5. RAID Controller: The LSI 9240-4i is very good, but an older design. Have a look at the 9300 series and the performance may be better even at a lower place in the product range. they have some inexpensive "12GB/s" designs but I don't know how well developed they are and the actual performance.

6. CPU cooling: if you do use the E5-2620 v3, it's 85W and I don't believe liquid cooling is necessary for that thermal load, plus liquid cooling can be quiet noisy. Check the thermal efficiency of good fan /heatsinks and also the noise specifications.

Interesting project and going in a very good direction.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

1. HP z420 (2015) > Xeon E5-1660 v2 six-core @ 3.7 / 4.0GHz > 32GB DDR3 ECC 1866 RAM > Quadro K4200 (4GB) > Intel 730 480GB (9SSDSC2BP480G4R5) > Western Digital Black WD1003FZEX 1TB> M-Audio 192 sound card > 600W PSU> Logitech z2300 > Linksys AE3000 USB WiFi > 2X Dell Ultrasharp U2715H (2560 X 1440) > Windows 7 Professional 64 >
[ Passmark Rating = 5064 > CPU= 13989 / 2D= 819 / 3D= 4596 / Mem= 2772 / Disk= 4555] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 1014 OpenGL= 126.59 FPS] 7.8.15

Pending upgrade: HP /LSI 9212-4i PCIe SAS /SATA HBA RAID controller, 2X Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB (RAID 1)

With Quadro K2200:
[ Passmark Rating = 4918 > CPU= 13941 / 2D= 823 / 3D= 3463 / Mem= 2668 / Disk= 4764

2. Dell Precision T5500 (2011) > Xeon X5680 six -core @ 3.33 / 3.6GHz, 24GB DDR3 ECC 1333 > Quadro K2200 (4GB ) > Samsung 840 250GB / WD RE4 Enterprise 1TB > M-Audio 192 sound card > Linksys WMP600N PCI WiFi > 875W PSU > Windows 7 Professional 64> HP 2711x (1920 X 1080)
[ Passmark system rating = 3490 / CPU = 9178 / 2D= 685 / 3D= 3566 / Mem= 1865 / Disk= 2122] [Cinebench R15 > CPU = 772 OpenGL= 99.72 FPS] 7.8.15

with Quadro K4200:
[ Passmark system rating = 3585 / CPU = 9346 / 2D= 683 / 3D= 4708 / Mem= 1850 / Disk= 2202]

With Quadro 4000
[ Passmark system rating = 3339 / CPU = 9347 / 2D= 684 / 3D= 2030 / Mem= 1871 / Disk= 2234]

Pending upgrade: PERC H310 PCIe SAS /SATA RAID controller, 2X WD Black 1TB (RAID 1)(Converts disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s)

wow seems that your configuration is very good....ok i’ve changed my configuration…look this, what do you think about it?


– Cooler Master Cosmos 2 atx case
– Corsair Psu AX1200i modular 80 plus platinum certified
– Nottua NH-D15 for cpu cooler
– Intel Xeon 2011 E5-2620v3 2,4Ghz
– AsRock motherboard X99 WS-E for socket 2011-v3
– LSI MegarRaid Sas 9340-4i LSI00419
– Corsair Dominator Platinum Kit memory ddr4 2666mhz 32gb (4×8)
– Video Card PNY Quadro K2200 vcqk2200-pb 4gb ram
– 4 Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500gb mz-75e500b/eu
– Intel PRO/1000 PT dual port server adapter 10/100/1000base-t

with this configuration, i can stay on my budget…if i try to change you suggested with cpu intel Xeon E5-1650 v3 3,5 ghz and ECC memory, it’s much more expensive about for 500 euro….and i’ve seen that the power consumption go up from 85/90w to over 150/160w

in any case this configuration should support 3 max 4 server 2008/2012 and 1 or 2 w7 or w10 client…after all is a lab test….however i need also to think to a good backup ... veeam seems the best otherwise there is some cheaper alternative?

unfortunately i need to stay on my budget…so generally what do you think about my choice? vmware 6 can run decently?

 

[twisterice]

i forgot....4 ssd samsung are intended to build at least raid5...so if i've phisically about 2 tb (4x500gb), should become about 1,5tb

 

[bambiboom]

twisterice,

I think the overall performance should be very good and the disk performance probably fantastically good- prima ausgezeichnet as we say in Los Angeles. There are 3 systems on Passmark using the ASRock motherboard X99 WS-E and one with a Quadro K2200:

Rating = 4297
CPU = 11428
2D = 1105
3D = 3432
Mem = 2728 (32GB)
Disk = 2003 (Corsair Force GS)

The average CPU score for the Xeon E5-2620v3 on Passmark is 9987.

The graphics performance is good enough for medium sized projects in 3D modeling using Solidworks, 3ds, or Maya. I had very good results with a K2200 over one year. I'm guessing that the disk score for your configuration will be possibly 4X the one above or higher. The 4 systems using the LSI 9341 have disk scores up to 15785 and that system is a Levovo S20 using a Xeon W3580- 4-core LGA1366 from 2011 with a CPU score of 5746. The lesson from these tests is that the GPU and disk performance is somewhat independent of the CPU performance.

Some other comments:

1. I'm not certain that you need a 1200W PSU. The CPU is 85W, the mother board perhaps 30, the K2200 is 68W , the RAM no more than 20W , and say each drive was 10W and there are 8 including the NAS stack, that's still only about 300W. For comparison, the HP z420 has a 600W power supply and that is a 130W CPU, 108W GPU and rated to have 2X 175W graphics cards. Unless there is a very substantial upgrade path, I think that a 750W would cover every possibility of changing to very high powered GPU, to a 150W CPU and so on. PSU's are most efficient when running at about 75% of load capacity.

2. The CPU cooler is an excellent one and probably unnecessarily effective for an 85W CPU, but for cooling in this use I think it's OK to go too far.

Yes, very, very good system. You must tie down the drives or they will fly off into space!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[twisterice]

ok as i'm a young padawan... that the Force be with me, Jedi Master

 

[twisterice]

Thanks for all your information and support on my project....when the server will be in action, i will update you on the first impressions and various tests...Thank you again....live long and prosper

 

[twisterice]

Hello, I came back and unfortunately the news is not good ... it starts badly
yesterday after receiving all the parts to assemble the pc, I found that does not run properly
i've assembled this motherboard Asorck x99 ws-e with cpu and fan cooler Noctua, video card pny nvidia k2200, 32 (4x8) dominator ram, and one only samsung 850 evo ssd (just to test) and chassis fan default installed on Corsair Carbide Air 540 (it's very a good case).
I try to push the power on button...seems to be run because the power is on, but after few seconds, everything seems to be frozen in a sort of stand-by....doctor debug (a dispaly on motherboard used to check issues with hardware) is off and not appears any code....the chassis fan, the cpu fan and the power supply seems to work, but for the rest there is no other sign of life. I've tried also to unplug the video card and put only two ram modules (instead of 4)...but nothing to do, no sign of life, no changes...i'm sure to put the ram in the right place (A1, B1, C1, D1) for quad-channel...so in other words where the socket is black...i've also to put only 2 ram modules (just to understand if the ram are ok or not and test the dual-channel)...nothing to do...no other changes. What's wrong? do you think that motherboard is defective? or cpu intel xeon e5-2620 v3? or both?

twisterice,

I think the overall performance should be very good and the disk performance probably fantastically good- prima ausgezeichnet as we say in Los Angeles. There are 3 systems on Passmark using the ASRock motherboard X99 WS-E and one with a Quadro K2200:

Rating = 4297
CPU = 11428
2D = 1105
3D = 3432
Mem = 2728 (32GB)
Disk = 2003 (Corsair Force GS)

The average CPU score for the Xeon E5-2620v3 on Passmark is 9987.

The graphics performance is good enough for medium sized projects in 3D modeling using Solidworks, 3ds, or Maya. I had very good results with a K2200 over one year. I'm guessing that the disk score for your configuration will be possibly 4X the one above or higher. The 4 systems using the LSI 9341 have disk scores up to 15785 and that system is a Levovo S20 using a Xeon W3580- 4-core LGA1366 from 2011 with a CPU score of 5746. The lesson from these tests is that the GPU and disk performance is somewhat independent of the CPU performance.

Some other comments:

1. I'm not certain that you need a 1200W PSU. The CPU is 85W, the mother board perhaps 30, the K2200 is 68W , the RAM no more than 20W , and say each drive was 10W and there are 8 including the NAS stack, that's still only about 300W. For comparison, the HP z420 has a 600W power supply and that is a 130W CPU, 108W GPU and rated to have 2X 175W graphics cards. Unless there is a very substantial upgrade path, I think that a 750W would cover every possibility of changing to very high powered GPU, to a 150W CPU and so on. PSU's are most efficient when running at about 75% of load capacity.

2. The CPU cooler is an excellent one and probably unnecessarily effective for an 85W CPU, but for cooling in this use I think it's OK to go too far.

Yes, very, very good system. You must tie down the drives or they will fly off into space!

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[bambiboom]

twisterice,

That's a conundrum.It sounds as though you've been quite methodical so far.

I had a quick glance through the AsRock motherboard X99 WS-E User Manual and I hope I can add some ideas. I'm not a great diagnostician, because I've never had this kind of fundamental problem in which there is not enough information- error messages.

Here's a couple of things to start eliminating:.

1. Are you able to view the BIOS setup screen?
_A. If you can enter BIOS setup, go through and
____i. Check that all the CPU cores, RAM modules, and drives are recognized.
____ii. Check that SATA 0 is enabled
____iii. Check for AHCI mode

2. If BIOS is not visible, I suggest clearing CMOS to default and trying again.

3. If there is no effect of clearing CMOS
_A. Go through every wiring connection
_B. Especially, If there is absolutely no video output, my thinking is that there is a problem with power to the motherboard.
______i. Do you have any spare power supplies known to be good that might be substituted?

There's a couple of ideas. I hope others will offer some more informed thoughts.

Meanwhile, I'll look some more at the manual.

Let us know what happens.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[twisterice]

ok after having installed correctly the cpu power cable on 8-pin atx, now the motherboard starts but dr.debug show an issue....06 or 60 code....i read code 60 watching the motherboard with reading the words asrock.

looking to the error codes it show this:
01 - 54 (except 0d), 5A- 60Problem related to memory. Please re-install the CPU and memory then clear CMOS. If the problem still exists, please install only one memory module or try using other memory modules.
cpu is installed correctly.....the ram module are instelled in four-channel mode as described in the manual (installed in the black socket)

well, as indicated i try to clear cmos and start again....

 

[twisterice]

ok now is good...it was a power cable defective...now all starts correctly and now i see the bios....all parameters seems to be ok...cpu and ram....i've just enable intel vt-x and wake up on lan...restart and see the right changes on the bios...and now seems to be ok

 

[twisterice]

however i still waiting the mega raid controller..so the first setup is posponed

 

[bambiboom]

however i still waiting the mega raid controller..so the first setup is posponed

twisterice,

OK. Well done.

As you continue, as soon as is practical, begin periodic monitoring of temperatures.


Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[twisterice]

ok thank you for your suggestions...however at the moment, i've connected: cpu, cpu fan, 3 fan chassis 140 mm, video card, 4 ssd drive, second fast ethernet card, 2 hdd sata and 1 dvd-rom, i've only 29/30 c°....cpu is only 28c°.....seems to be a good temperature....and everything is very quite

 

[twisterice]

i will test and get more results, when everything will be installed and run....then with corsair psu software i will monitor specific area and device, thanks to one or more specific sensors....i will update my experience in the next few days

 

[twisterice]

Hello,
back again....I think I made a mistake on the choice of the LSI MegaRaid Sas 9341-4i card...seems to be compatible with vmware esxi 6....but this card is compatible with ASrock X99 WS-E? i've spoke to LSI support and they said this:

as this card does not have built on-board cache, it needs to use the motherboard to cache to. That being said, if the motherboard does not support some Interrupt 15 for the PCI card slot (and another number i cant remember) then the motherboard do not caching for the RAID card and the drivers can't be loaded properly. He said typically server motherboards allows you to do this.

So in this case, in order to use vmware vcenter or generally esxi 6, do you suggest me to use this raid card, or another with specific memory cache built-in, or build the raid 5 directly from X99 ws-e motherboard sata controller built-in?

I posted this question to the asrock support on the forum ... let's see what they reply...but it seems as if this is a raid system more software than hardware, i do not understand the real utility of this card... virtually loses its usefulness. In case of failure, or if the card fails, at which point the raid configuration data is saved on the SSD disks or not? in practice, whether as a result of future failures change the raid card with a different one, can i recover the whole system (or better the data raid) exactly as it was at fault? what do you think about it?

however i still waiting the mega raid controller..so the first setup is posponed

twisterice,

OK. Well done.

As you continue, as soon as is practical, begin periodic monitoring of temperatures.


Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[twisterice]

here there is a similar problem...
https://communities.vmware.com/thread/480907?start=0&tstart=0

 

[bambiboom]

Hello,
back again....I think I made a mistake on the choice of the LSI MegaRaid Sas 9341-4i card...seems to be compatible with vmware esxi 6....but this card is compatible with ASrock X99 WS-E? i've spoke to LSI support and they said this:

as this card does not have built on-board cache, it needs to use the motherboard to cache to. That being said, if the motherboard does not support some Interrupt 15 for the PCI card slot (and another number i cant remember) then the motherboard do not caching for the RAID card and the drivers can't be loaded properly. He said typically server motherboards allows you to do this.

So in this case, in order to use vmware vcenter or generally esxi 6, do you suggest me to use this raid card, or another with specific memory cache built-in, or build the raid 5 directly from X99 ws-e motherboard sata controller built-in?

I posted this question to the asrock support on the forum ... let's see what they reply...but it seems as if this is a raid system more software than hardware, i do not understand the real utility of this card... virtually loses its usefulness. In case of failure, or if the card fails, at which point the raid configuration data is saved on the SSD disks or not? in practice, whether as a result of future failures change the raid card with a different one, can i recover the whole system (or better the data raid) exactly as it was at fault? what do you think about it?

however i still waiting the mega raid controller..so the first setup is posponed

twisterice,

OK. Well done.

As you continue, as soon as is practical, begin periodic monitoring of temperatures.


Cheers,

BambiBoom

Twisterirce,

 

[twisterice]

Hello again ,
i'm trying to install my esxi6 boot usb (i'm sure that is good because start from boot) on the raid manage from raid controller on x99 ws-e motherboard.
i've 4 ssd samsung evo 850 each 500 gb.
I've installed the last bios...
but i cannot run the raid config during the boot...i should see to set making ctrl+I but it doesn't works and during the boot return to the bios uefi...what's wrong?


in uefi bios i've configured as follow:

under Advanced:

Storage Configuration

- hard disk smart (disabled)
- marvell 9172 controller (enabled)
- marvell 9172 operation mode (raid mode)
- bootable marvell 9172 sata3 (none...because the manual suggest to do not enable for best and fast performance)

SATA3 Storage Configuration

- Sata controller (enabled)ù
- Sata Mode Selection (raid)
- Sata Aggressive Link Power Managemen (disabled)

Intel Rapid Storage Technology

- here i've created the Raid Volume that becomes 1,3 tb (that's correct because the ssd disks are 4)
in the Raid Volume Info, i see Bootable (yes), Strip Size 32kb, Raid Level 5, Status (normal)

CPU Configuration

- Intel Hyper Threading Technology (enabled)
- No-Execute Memory Protecion (enabled)
- Intel Virtualization Technology (enabled)

CPU Chipset Configuration

- VT-d (enabled)

What do you think about it?
thanks,
Luca

Hello,
back again....I think I made a mistake on the choice of the LSI MegaRaid Sas 9341-4i card...seems to be compatible with vmware esxi 6....but this card is compatible with ASrock X99 WS-E? i've spoke to LSI support and they said this:

as this card does not have built on-board cache, it needs to use the motherboard to cache to. That being said, if the motherboard does not support some Interrupt 15 for the PCI card slot (and another number i cant remember) then the motherboard do not caching for the RAID card and the drivers can't be loaded properly. He said typically server motherboards allows you to do this.

So in this case, in order to use vmware vcenter or generally esxi 6, do you suggest me to use this raid card, or another with specific memory cache built-in, or build the raid 5 directly from X99 ws-e motherboard sata controller built-in?

I posted this question to the asrock support on the forum ... let's see what they reply...but it seems as if this is a raid system more software than hardware, i do not understand the real utility of this card... virtually loses its usefulness. In case of failure, or if the card fails, at which point the raid configuration data is saved on the SSD disks or not? in practice, whether as a result of future failures change the raid card with a different one, can i recover the whole system (or better the data raid) exactly as it was at fault? what do you think about it?

however i still waiting the mega raid controller..so the first setup is posponed

twisterice,

OK. Well done.

As you continue, as soon as is practical, begin periodic monitoring of temperatures.


Cheers,

BambiBoom

Twisterirce,

 

[twisterice]

ok seems that finally i've build the raid from motherboard controller..and now it's 1,3 tb...ok but when i boot the esxi 6 installer it show me the storage device for 4 ssd samsung disks with each capacity and not as a whole volume raid created....why it does not read the raid config?

 

[bambiboom]

ok seems that finally i've build the raid from motherboard controller..and now it's 1,3 tb...ok but when i boot the esxi 6 installer it show me the storage device for 4 ssd samsung disks with each capacity and not as a whole volume raid created....why it does not read the raid config?

twisterice,

I apologize as I see that the long post I wrote I wrote about 4 hours ago has disappeared only leaving your moniker- a mystery.

Looking at the problems of the LSI 9341-4i, it appears that there is no onboard cache to hold the drivers. The 9240-4i has 128MB and the higher end models now have 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB and a battery BIOS / driver backup can be added. Apparently, the 9341-4i depends on the "server" motherboard to configure this cache on an open "18 or 19 open interrupt". I wonder if this refers to an IRQ. Workstation motherboards are designed similarly to server boards but the ASRock X99 WS-E motherboard does not have this feature. Anyway, that's a possible explanation of the reason the LSI 9341 was not working.

A strange listing in the ASRock X99 WS-E specifications:

- 10 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors, support RAID (RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and Intel® Rapid Storage 13), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug*
- 2 x SATA3 6.0 Gb/s Connectors by Marvell SE9172, support RAID (RAID 0 and RAID 1), NCQ, AHCI and Hot Plug**

So,there are 10 SATA III ports supporting RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and apparently another 2 ports that support only RAID 0 and 1. One thing you might check is if one or more of the drives are connected to the ports that only support RAID 0 and RAID 1. One or two drives may be on a different RAID channel.

Over the years I've noticed that LSI has an assumption that their potential buyers have comprehensively total knowledge and analytical skills plus the buyer will research the specifications in detail. There is an "interoperability report" for the 9341 listing the compatible servers, CPU's, drives motherboards, and even cables. As far as I can see, there are many listings for Supermicro, Intel, and a couple for ASUS, but no listings for X99 motherboards or any ASRock. See:

http://www.avagotech.com/products/server-storage/raid-controllers/megaraid-sas-9341-4i#documentation

I still refer to these cards as LSI but the maker is now "Avago" which I thought was a Mexican food company. Their motto: "The tacos of tomorrow -Today!"

This weekend I am installing a PERC H310 RAID controller (made by LSI) in the Dell Precision T5500. This will convert the disk system from 3GB/s to 6GB/s.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[twisterice]

ok don't worry...however i'm forced to get a new raid card...LSI 9240-4i...that was what I had planned at the beginning....in any case i discovered that the raid software versions are no longer supported by VMware...so may be the reason that esxi installer has not seen the raid volume on the motherboard controller.
However...yes lot of manufacturer card are based on LSI so in this case should be better to get a card tested with vmware...although it's a little bit outdated.
With Amazon Prime, i should receive within 2 days...in any case i've also purchased a mini fan Noctua NF-A4X10-FLX 5V to put over the heatsink card...because these cards get very hot...so in this way i throw down a lot of degrees.
I hope that this time lucky

 

[twisterice]

i'm pretty pissed off for the vmware answers ....I feel cheated...they could write clearly ... although in this case there is a raid controller on the motherboard which should easily detected....however i must go on

 

[bambiboom]

twisterice,

In retrospect I'm sorry to have mentioned the LSI 9300 series without differentiating the various models. The 9361 produces fantastic benchmarks, but the 9341 should have a warning label to study the caching design and motherboard and software compatibility. Again, there's this assumption that consumers are capable of fairly detailed system / software engineering analysis. I suppose the message is that RAID controllers are specialized and don't buy without serious study. It's a problem to have to make everything compatible with everything else from the beginning of time and I for one have gotten too casual.

The closer I've gotten to installing the PERC H310 in the Precision T5500, the more I begin to look for simpler alternatives such as a PCIe SSD or better, PCIe M.2 adapter.

Looking forward to news of progress.

Cheers,

BambiBoom

 

[bambiboom]

twisterice,

In retrospect I'm sorry to have mentioned the LSI 9300 series without differentiating the various models. The 9361 produces fantastic benchmarks, but the 9341 should have a warning label to study the caching design and motherboard and software compatibility. Again, there's this assumption that consumers are capable of fairly detailed system / software engineering analysis. I suppose the message is that RAID controllers are specialized and don't buy without serious study. It's a problem to have to make everything compatible with everything else from the beginning of time and I for one have gotten too casual.

The closer I've gotten to installing the PERC H310 in the Precision T5500, the more I begin to look for simpler alternatives such as a PCIe SSD or better, PCIe M.2 adapter.

Looking forward to news of progress.

Cheers,

BambiBoom