waazdakka Posted October 3, 2022 Share #1 Posted October 3, 2022 (edited) Hello! I'm using baremetal XPEnology on my HPE microserver Gen8 since... I don't even know, but I made some mistakes with updates on Jun's loader, and now want to try the virtualization way. The plan is to install ESXI 7.0 on a SSD connected to the DVD SATA port (keeping the 4 internal ports for the big datas disks), have 2 disks in RAID 1 (for critical datas) and 2 others disks for non-critical datas, like I did with my baremetal XPEnology. > Is it the right way to think my setup? Would it be more efficient to make a baremetal installtion with my requirements? > How do I manage the RAID: from ESXI, or from DSM? Since I have to create datastores, I imagine I'll have to manage the RAID directly in ESXI (but I don't know how for now 😅) but how would DSM see the RAID? (Maybe adding 2 virtual hard drives on 2 different datastores? Probably a bit silly I guess) Or maybe I don't want DSM to manage the RAID? > May I add disks directly on DSM without registering them to ESXI, to manage the disks like with the baremetal install? (I guess not while DSM can't see directly the hardware, but maybe I missed a point) > And since I made some tests, I have some issues with the ESXI's installation: I installed it on a SSD connected to the DVD SATA port and it boots nicelly. But when I connect a new disk on one of the 4 internal ports, the bios bypass the SSD and ask me for an OS... (even if I try to force to boot on DVD port) Thanks a lot!! Edit: I keep looking for answers and good practices and... I figured out that lot of people installed a RAID card with a less cheaper RAID controller, like the P222 ( with a SAS connector..) to connect the SAS connector from the 4 internal disks? Soooo I'll have to manage the RAID directly from the controller, and it's ok that DSM will not see any RAID? (A ton of question, I know, sorry, I have to start from the very beginning...) Edited October 3, 2022 by waazdakka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiteWulf Posted October 3, 2022 Share #2 Posted October 3, 2022 You should have a read through this thread, where I worked through a very similar problem to yourself with help from other Gen8 users: Running on ESXi gives you a few advantages: - simplified hardware/driver support with Xpenology - use "spare" CPU and RAM resource for other VMs if you have any You're better off passing the HDDs (or the controller) through to the guest and letting DSM manage the RAID, imho. DSM's RAID options are very flexible. However, RDM (passing through individual HDDs) has slow performance. It works better if you pass through the SATA controller and let DSM access it directly. But, if you pass the onboard controller through you can't keep datastores on storage attached to that controller (as ESXi can no longer see it). This is why you need an additional storage controller: one to keep the ESXi host datastore on, and one to pass through to the Xpenology guest. Another performance element to bare in mind: only ports 1 and 2 on the onboard SATA controller are 6gb/s, the second two HDDs and the ODD port are only 3gb/s. As you've already read elsewhere: get a P222 (or similar HBA that can be operated on IT mode), move the HDDs to that and put the SSD(s) on ports 1 and 2 on the onboard controller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waazdakka Posted October 4, 2022 Author Share #3 Posted October 4, 2022 Thanks for your fast answer! Well I found your topic few minutes later and found it very interesting! I obviously lack of some knowledge about virtualization and different controllers modes, and not sure of the difference between HBA and IT mode 😅 I found another topic about the HBA cards, talking about the heat / noise of the P222, replaced by a LSI 9211-8i. I don't know which one to chose since I didn't do any test for now, but which one would you recommend? And I'm not sure why the P222 works with a battery but the LSI 9211 don't (answering to myself: because I don't need to use the battery and the 512Mo card if I let DSM manage the RAID I guess?) Sooo let's summup with your advices: I have to buy a SAS card (P222 or LSI), flash it into IT mode (have some digging to find out how to achieve that 😁), plug on it my drives I want to see in DSM and with which I'll manage my RAID, put my SSD with ESXI + DSM on the SAS onboard connector. Let's do this 😅 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiteWulf Posted October 4, 2022 Share #4 Posted October 4, 2022 Yeah, that summup sounds good. Just remember to configure the HBA as a passthrough PCI device in ESXi, otherwise your guest won't see it. What card you go for is up to you. I went with the P222 because: a) it was cheap (but there was obviously a reason for that, it was missing the battery and cache, which it wouldn't operate without) b) it's an HP device, and the HP firmware sometimes plays more nicely (particularly with power management/fans) with HP devices it recognises c) the P222 doesn't need refreshing to operate in HBA/IT mode, it's a just a command line setting in the management tools d) the P222 cards drivers and management tools are included in the HP custom ESXi images. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waazdakka Posted October 5, 2022 Author Share #5 Posted October 5, 2022 Sold! Thanks for all you tips, I guess I'll update this topic when I get my card! 😁 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waazdakka Posted October 25, 2022 Author Share #6 Posted October 25, 2022 Hello! The RAID card has finally arrived! Nasty things are coming... But do I need the memory extension card and its battery attached if I just want to use software RAID in DSM? (I will probably have tons of question about updating the card, modifying it in IT mode... 😅) Thaaaanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waazdakka Posted October 26, 2022 Author Share #7 Posted October 26, 2022 Hello all! I just put the card in my Gen8 Microserver, and I was wondering... 90°C for the P222 without any disk attached? I read everywhere it's kinda "normal" but is it the same thing when using IT mode? 😱 I can add fans but wtf? iLO is in 2.81 (and I found a guy who succeed to lower the temp downgrading iLO in 2.50 then reverting to the last firwmare, but I'm stuck when trying to downgrade mine), and I think I suceed to flash the P222 to the last firmware but I don't have any idea how to check it's in the right to IT mode... And for now the noise is not WAF at all, so I have to figure out another solution 😭 I'm giving a try to an old LSI 9240-8i I never used (so it's in the state I bought it), but I'm not sure of how to configure it. It appears it already has the IT firmware if I'm correct? But it hasn't SAS address, and I don't have a desktop computer with EFI Shell with me now... Could it work like this? (I put a small SSD on the card to see if the disk is seen...) Thanks for your help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiteWulf Posted October 27, 2022 Share #8 Posted October 27, 2022 Have a read of my post on using the P222 HBA in a Gen8 with Xpenology: tl;dr - yes, the P222 runs very hot - yes, you do need a cache module and battery for the P222 to work. It's completely disabled without one - you don't need to flash a different firmware to operate in IT mode, you can switch it with the HP command line tools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waazdakka Posted October 29, 2022 Author Share #9 Posted October 29, 2022 Yes I've read your post several times, it has been a nice source of reflection, thanks! (But I obviously missed the part where the P222 runs this hot and induce that much noise 😭) Well since the heat and noise has been rejected by the person I'm living with, I'm trying another combination: I saw my LSI 9240-8i (apparently flashed on IT mode but without SAS address) was only supported until ESXI 6.7 (https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=35108), so I reinstalled the 6.7 then successfully the TCRP Xpenology 🥳 I could have immediately my raw disks added to the Xpenology VM and manage my RAID into DSM. Don't know if I have to do something with the drivers or consider TCRP had all of them correctly installed? I ddidn't succeed to have my hard drives hibernate for now, I assume I missed something 😅 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiteWulf Posted October 29, 2022 Share #10 Posted October 29, 2022 Nice work! The higher fan speed on my Gen8 after installing the P222 also prompted me to change things; but in my case I'm lucky enough to be able to hide it away in a datacenter at work. I don't need that amount of storage/CPU at home any more, so I replaced it with a little Lenovo Tiny M7 for the tasks I need to carry out at home (a few docker containers and file share for backups). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al lex Posted November 25, 2022 Share #11 Posted November 25, 2022 (edited) On 10/29/2022 at 6:25 PM, waazdakka said: Yes I've read your post several times, it has been a nice source of reflection, thanks! (But I obviously missed the part where the P222 runs this hot and induce that much noise 😭) Well since the heat and noise has been rejected by the person I'm living with, I'm trying another combination: I saw my LSI 9240-8i (apparently flashed on IT mode but without SAS address) was only supported until ESXI 6.7 (https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=35108), so I reinstalled the 6.7 then successfully the TCRP Xpenology 🥳 I could have immediately my raw disks added to the Xpenology VM and manage my RAID into DSM. Don't know if I have to do something with the drivers or consider TCRP had all of them correctly installed? I ddidn't succeed to have my hard drives hibernate for now, I assume I missed something 😅 I just wonder why you do not get pure LSI HBA like 9217 if you need sot RAID. It is much cooler though still need some fan, it does not need battery and everything Edited November 25, 2022 by Al lex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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