[Best setup -> ESXi -> XPENology (DSM5.2)]

Thick disks aren't really faster then thin anymore (even much slower in 4K writes, especially with flash) also I'd recommend use the correct virtual nic (VMXNET3) and virtual controller (PVSCSI).

Passthrough will give you best performance (throughput and lower CPU) and best power savings as the disks can spindown.

 

Best way of doing XPENology on ESXi 6:

1) Boot ESXi from other controller (SATA/PCIe/USB) if using passthrough. SATA/PCIe recommended as you can use that as datastore for other VM's and the XPENology boot vmdk.

2) Passthrough extra SATA controller or the onboard (requires map file edit, nothing else can be on that controller) if using passthrough.

3) Modify image to block IDE and set NIC mac.

4) Modify VM to use VMXNET, PVSCSI (when not using passthrough) and set MAC.

 

How to do step 2 for onboard Intel controller:

1) Login to ssh console and run 'esxcli storage core adapter list'

2) In the description between parenthesis you'll see your pci id, something like: (0000:00:11.4) Intel Corporation Wellsburg AHCI Controller

3) Run lspci -n |grep 0000:00:11.4

4) After the last colon you'll see your pid, something like 0000:00:11.4 Class 0106: 8086:8d62 [vmhba0]

5) Now put '8086 [PID] d3d0 false' at the bottom of /etc/vmware/passthru.map, my full file:

# passthrough attributes for devices                                                                                                                                                                         
# file format: vendor-id device-id resetMethod fptShareable                                                                                                                                                  
# vendor/device id: xxxx (in hex) (ffff can be used for wildchar match)                                                                                                                                      
# reset methods: flr, d3d0, link, bridge, default                                                                                                                                                            
# fptShareable: true/default, false                                                                                                                                                                          

# Intel 82598 10Gig cards can be reset with d3d0                                                                                                                                                             
8086  10b6  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
8086  10c6  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
8086  10c7  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
8086  10c8  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
8086  10dd  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
# Broadcom 57710/57711/57712 10Gig cards are not shareable                                                                                                                                                   
14e4  164e  default  false                                                                                                                                                                                   
14e4  164f  default  false                                                                                                                                                                                   
14e4  1650  default  false                                                                                                                                                                                   
14e4  1662  link     false                                                                                                                                                                                   
# Qlogic 8Gb FC card can not be shared                                                                                                                                                                       
1077  2532  default  false                                                                                                                                                                                   
# LSILogic 1068 based SAS controllers                                                                                                                                                                        
1000  0056  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
1000  0058  d3d0     default                                                                                                                                                                                 
# NVIDIA                                                                                                                                                                                                     
10de  ffff  bridge   false                                                                                                                                                                                   
# Intel Wellsburg AHCI                                                                                                                                                                                       
8086  8d62  d3d0     false                                                                                                                                                                                   
8086  8d02  d3d0     false

6) Reboot, put device in passthrough, reboot and attach to VM.

 

For step 3 see 'Modify the bootimage' here: https://idmedia.no/projects/xpenology/installing-or-upgrading-to-xpenology-5-2-or-later/

 

In your case I'd use an extra SATA controller (LSI based) as you don't have an Intel controller.

[Best setup -> ESXi -> XPENology (DSM5.2)]

edit: double post