ESXi5 Build

  • Thread starter Thread starter Deleted User 298457
  • Start date Start date

Deleted User 298457

Deleted User 298457

C+C appreciated. Running ESXi, need VT-d Passthrough.

Mobo: Intel BOXDQ67SWB3
CPU: Intel Xeon E3 1230 Sandybridge
RAM: Kingston HyperX Genesis 16GB (4x4GB)

Installing ESXi onto some kind of boot media (maybe old laptop hard drive) and I have some 1TB drives from my current install of WHS 2003.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I can't speak for all those components working together - that's not my bag.

What I can say is you'll probably have to buy a PCI NIC
I've struggled to find details on the actual model on that board except for it might be a broadcom chipset - but it's rare to have a desktop Motherboard NIC on the ESXi compatibility list.
 
ecksmen said:
Boot from USB pen drive, no point in bothering with a laptop drive or similar.
Click to expand...

Booting ESXi from the pen drive is fine but I'm passing the storage controller to my OI ZFS VM.

Therefore bought a SIL3124C card for a storage drive.
 
Afte the third post I am not sure what info you are after anymore.

Bottom line is that the DQ67XXXX will work with VT-d on and i5/i7/E3 but not a i3/GXXX. I have been running an ESXi server on the DQ67EP (mITX) board with a i5-2400. The network chipsets are not supported for the ESXi management network so you will need another card like the Intel CT nic or hack around with the driver files to get the nic working. The onboard nic will work for networking in ESXi, just not for the management network required to install ESXi. The DQ67SW board specs are here (PDF).

Booting off USB is usually the way a lot of people go including myself.

I have just moved on to the S1200BTL board (C204 chipset) with an E3-1230 and 2x8GB ECC ram. ECC unbuffered ram prices have dropped significantly recently with 8GB Kingston sticks coming in around 80GBP + VAT. That makes 320 + VAT for a full 32GB ECC unbuffered ram (4x8GB). Hopefully ECC will be getting a bit more mainstream with these sort of prices soon.

RB
 
Yeah, this post was a bit of a mish mash from other forums to be honest.

Thanks for the info regarding the network card, that lets me have a bit of breathing room in regards to the NIC hack. I have a CT card on its way from Germany (sigh, I wish sellers would state location on Amazon) for more long term management.

Q: Can I swap the management NIC and VM NIC around, as and when? Or is it a permanent setting/reinstall?

I ended up with a DQ67SW with an Intel Xeon 1230 and 16GB of RAM.

I was going to boot off of USB, but instead I'm going to use a SATA PCI-E card and use a 500GB 2.5" drive (spare). Then I'm going to pass the controller and use unRAID as ZFS doesn't let me expand like I want to.

Q: Do you know if the DQ67SW eSATA ports belong on the same controller as the internal SATA ports? I ask because I am passing the onboard controller, so 6 ports would be infinitely better than 4 ports.

Otherwise, could I add-in another PCI-E SATA card later on, and pass it over relatively problem free?
 
dLockers said:
Yeah, this post was a bit of a mish mash from other forums to be honest.

Thanks for the info regarding the network card, that lets me have a bit of breathing room in regards to the NIC hack. I have a CT card on its way from Germany (sigh, I wish sellers would state location on Amazon) for more long term management.
Click to expand...

If I cannot get the items from the local distributors at a competitive price I tend to source from the same place as you but the US version (OCUK do not sell to people located in Singapore). I have just had a Intel quad port ET network card delivered which was significantly cheaper than buying locally, even at distro prices. Unfortunately the ET cannot passthough the network ports as they sit behind a PCIe bridge on the card. The ET2 can do the passthrough and the dual port ET can also (used to have one). Bit of a pain but the virtual networking in ESXi5u1 seems to be better so no real complaints. I actually got a couple of CT cards from OCUK via an anonymous benefactor (ok my mother bought and sent them over for an urgent client build) and they were cheap and well packaged.

dLockers said:
Q: Can I swap the management NIC and VM NIC around, as and when? Or is it a permanent setting/reinstall?
Click to expand...

I have never tries but I would imagine you would need to keep the management nic available for ESXi server management. Saying that, you can share it for VM usage via the ESXi virtual networking. What I do not think it would be happy about is if you tried to use directed IO to pass that nic through to a VM for its exclusive use. For invoking VT-d on different devices you need to reboot and I can see ESXi complaining about a lack of nic for ESXi management network at that point.

dLockers said:
I ended up with a DQ67SW with an Intel Xeon 1230 and 16GB of RAM.

I was going to boot off of USB, but instead I'm going to use a SATA PCI-E card and use a 500GB 2.5" drive (spare). Then I'm going to pass the controller and use unRAID as ZFS doesn't let me expand like I want to.

Q: Do you know if the DQ67SW eSATA ports belong on the same controller as the internal SATA ports? I ask because I am passing the onboard controller, so 6 ports would be infinitely better than 4 ports.

Otherwise, could I add-in another PCI-E SATA card later on, and pass it over relatively problem free?
Click to expand...

IIRC the board will us the same chipset for internal and external SATA but different for SATA II and SATA III. I am not by my machine so cannot check at the moment.

What I do is use my motherboard SATA for generic VM storage (ISOs of install disks, VMs themselves for WHS/SABnzb/LAMP/PFSense/Client builds) and use an addon card for drives to be passed through to my WHS VM for direct access to the disks. This keeps my data drives formatted as NTFS rather than having to format them to one of the virtual filesystems and so makes them transferable to any Windows machine should the VM or ESXi server fail.

For the addon card I use an IBM M1015 SAS controller which I am able to get and flash to the LSI 9211 or 9240 firmware for around S$160 (around 80 quid). Cables are extra but it allows the addition of 8 extra drives and is rock solid with FreeNAS/UnRaid etc. Works beautifully. For a step up then the HP P410 is also a very good card but more expensive. The advantage is that you can add cache and a battery or flash cache (no need for battery) and run raid 5/6 fairly safely. The M1015 really is, IMO, the best bang for buck SAS controller for for home builds if you get a new pull at discount rates.

RB
 
sorry to go slightly off topic.... but RimBlock - most of the stuff you can get from SLS or Funan anyway, i dont think ive had to order off amazon (international) since ive been here (admittedly Ive only been back for a couple of months but when i lived here 10 years ago was the same) oh and hi fellow Singapore dweller!!! we should organize a Singapore OCUK meet!!! :)
 
I am going to pass the internal ports. Many thanks for your help RimBlock.

One last question though, do you think unraid or freenas would be best?

I did want to use ZFS but I can't afford to expand drives pools at a time.
 
Angelos_n said:
sorry to go slightly off topic.... but RimBlock - most of the stuff you can get from SLS or Funan anyway, i dont think ive had to order off amazon (international) since ive been here (admittedly Ive only been back for a couple of months but when i lived here 10 years ago was the same) oh and hi fellow Singapore dweller!!! we should organize a Singapore OCUK meet!!! :)
Click to expand...

I dislike SLS TBH :). I started my own business and now sell retail as a 2nd part time job. Same user id on VR/hardware zone.

Distributor pricing (Ingram Micro) for a Intel CT network card would make me a profit at S$65, SLS are selling at at least S$75. SLS are good on CPU/MB combos as they have the volumes and sell at minimal profit due to it. Of course I only buy outside of SG for my own personal builds. For clients it is all local stocks due to warranties. I also concentrate on server builds more than PC builds and there are not a lot of stores selling whitebox servers (good for me ;)).

As for the meet, we have someone visiting and staying close to my in Tampines but they have not got in contact or replied to my email since arriving. There are a couple of other guys who I have details of around so I will try to arrange something. Send me an email (email in trust) and I will try to arrange something. It would be nice to immerse in a bit of Britishness after 5 years. Saying that I am back to the Uk in June so the kids can visit their grandparents oh and so I can get a few decent Steak and Kidney pies :D.

RB
 
dLockers said:
I am going to pass the internal ports. Many thanks for your help RimBlock.

One last question though, do you think unraid or freenas would be best?

I did want to use ZFS but I can't afford to expand drives pools at a time.
Click to expand...

FreeNas uses ZFS :D. Both are very popular but I do not have any experience in using either as I prefer the extra features WHS 2011 gives me. TBH is I was so concerned about data integrity to use ZFS then I would probably be more inclined to use a motherboard that takes ECC ram as well like the S1200KP/BTL/BTS models from Intel.

I would suggest posting another thread re: FreeNAS or UnRaid and I am sure lost of users will chip in ;).

RB
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom