The (un)Official VMWare ESXi thread.

Ok, another question: Is it possible to make a ramdrive directly in ESXi that can be added as a datastore, or is it better to simply assign the amount of ram needed to a VM and create a ramdrive from there?
 
BlizzardX said:
Ok, another question: Is it possible to make a ramdrive directly in ESXi that can be added as a datastore, or is it better to simply assign the amount of ram needed to a VM and create a ramdrive from there?
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Not directly on ESXi, no. You can do it from a VM, which is what Atlantis do.
 
That's what I thought, just wanted to ask as I wasn't sure which was more efficient, the actual memory controller on the host, or the virtual one.
 
Mine is used in two ways;

1) For centralised windows backups, file storage and domain services and as a TVServer for Sky and FTA using MediaPortal TVServer with DJBlu modifications (Server 2012 R2 with Essentials Role)
2) MS Exchange 2013 for my home emails (Server 2012 Standard)


This is all for home use and combines a number of servers I had running in to one central place.

Setup is:
AMD FX 6100 6 core cpu
970A-UD3
many HDDs
2 x TBS 6981s DVB-S/S2 dual tuner cards
14Gb Ram (want to expand out to 32Gb in time to create a 12GB ram disc for MediaPortal).

Uses around 90w in total when everything is in use.
 
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Mine runs

Pfsense Firewall As Squid Proxy (caching Web and Updates)
Untangle UTM in Bridge Mode running Lite Package
Windows 2008 + DVB Viewer recording TV off 3 tuners also Procon server
XPEnology Basically Synology as Nas duties serving iscsi clients and backup + Plexmedia server and other apps
Windows 2008 Sage server for business use RDP access

Intel DQ77MK
Intel i5-3470T
16 GB low Voltage Ram (1600)
1 * Dual Intel Network PCI-E (Gives 4 in total available)
3 * Corsair 40Gb SSD
1 * Samsung 256GB Pro SSD
1 * 4T Seagate Nas Drive (RDM attached to Xpenology)
2 * Kworld KW-UB450-T (SD Viewing)
1 * PCTV nanostick T2 290e (HD Viewing

Uses 50w in total.
 
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I use my ESXi server for TV use, using the pass through from my consumer based motherboard. The biggest issue is the noise as ESXi doesnt appear to be able to instruct the fan headers to slow down based upon temp or other loads like a native OS install can.

Two questions really:

IS there anyway I can get ESXi to control the fan speeds based on hardware load on a consumer board?

If not, are there any AM3+ server grade motherboards that accept an FX chip (rather than an opteron) with 4 x pci-e x1 (needed for my tuner cards) and the correct controls for ESXi to use?
 
Gigabyte GA-990XA-UD3 v1.x and v3 are well supported (including IOMMU). The BIOS provides the usual temperature based fan speed controls as well as power management options in ESXi (although the latter seems to be a recipe for instability on all but the high performance setting). I use these boards in my lab servers with FX6300 chips.

I'm not sure ESXi is capable of controlling fan speeds by itself. It's certainly not something I've ever seen on the DELL servers I've ran it on in the lab or production, it's always handled by the underlying hardware. I'm surprised your current motherboard BIOS isn't able to control your fan speeds.
 
Ok strange then, the motherboard is IOMMU capable and works fine in ESXi 5.5; the pwm always seemed not to work though and the fans are on full speed. CPU is now controlled by a simple fan controller to make that quiet but the PSU is on full pelt for some reason.

I might have to revisit the BIOS when the missus isn't watching TV and have a wee peek.

Is it worth having a server class motherboard for a home use system for things like IPMI etc or would that be overkill?
 
Generally with stuff like fan speeds etc it is usually because the driver you need isn't a native part of the ESXi install (that's why they have a compatibility list!)
 
Just a quickie - do you only get the Update Manager options in the vSphere client when you put the host it into Maintenance Mode?

I need to install Dell OpenManage Server Administrator on our ESX host and I'm just wondering if the Update Manager option only becomes available once in Maintenance Mode as I can't see it anywhere in the vSphere client whilst it's up and running or is it a completely separate bit of software altogether?
 
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