C232 or C236 On a FreeNAS setup in ESXi

[bashywash]

So before I post my full detailed build setup for advice I'm at a fork on the planned setup. I'm looking at the usual FreeNAS (6x3TB), pfSense, Misc VM's setup using ESXi..

My options for MB are both from Supermicro but I'm still debating on either a C232 board X11SSL-CF which comes with the LSI 3008 SAS which I can flash to IT for pass through or a C236 board ie X11SSM-F and add M1015 for pass through.

The convenient option would be to get the board with the LSI 3008 however that board is a C232 which lacks some virtualization advanced features!

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[bigphil]

What virtualization features are you talking about? If you're talking about this link, I don't think that is correct...as far as it saying it lacks virtualization support...hogwash. Both chipsets support VT-d. The other virtualization tech is part of the CPU, and they both support the same CPU's. You dont really need the LSI 3008 unless you're going to support SAS disks. Either board will work. I will say that the X11SM-F has two more SATA headers on it, so you got that going for ya.

 

[bashywash]

What virtualization features are you talking about? If you're talking about this link, I don't think that is correct...as far as it saying it lacks virtualization support...hogwash. Both chipsets support VT-d. The other virtualization tech is part of the CPU, and they both support the same CPU's. You dont really need the LSI 3008 unless you're going to support SAS disks. Either board will work. I will say that the X11SM-F has two more SATA headers on it, so you got that going for ya.

Thanks for the response. Maybe a better way to put it was to say C236 supports more "advanced" features. http://imgur.com/rR0yIDz

the LSI 3008 is really just for having the ability to put in passthrough by Flashed to IT Mode and having Freenas have access as a VM. But in the end if both support the same Virtualization features I might just go with the X11SSL-CF C232 board and not have to buy additional SATA Controllers for passthrough!

 

[bigphil]

Advanced features that you wont use for home use. vPro is nice, but both boards have IPMI so who cares. You should be able to pass-through the built-in SATA controller to the FreeNAS vm...you dont need the SAS controller to do that. Having the SAS controller would allow you to have more disks without spending extra money on another controller. Either one will work.

 

[bashywash]

Advanced features that you wont use for home use. vPro is nice, but both boards have IPMI so who cares. You should be able to pass-through the built-in SATA controller to the FreeNAS vm...you dont need the SAS controller to do that. Having the SAS controller would allow you to have more disks without spending extra money on another controller. Either one will work.

My understanding was that it would not be possible to pass-through SELECTIVE SATA ports. In addition to the 6 NAS drives I'll be using 2 SSD drives in Raid1 for VM Image storage.

 

[bigphil]

Correct...it passes the entire SATA controller to one VM. Well...sounds like you should go with the X11SSL-CF then. Use the sata ports configured for RAID1 for vm disks, and passthrough the SAS controller to the FreeNAS vm. Make sure you buy the correct forward breakout cables for use with the SAS controller if you'll be connecting directly to SATA disks. Also...a good local resource for the X11 boards here.

 

[Ericloewe]

You should be able to pass-through the built-in SATA controller to the FreeNAS vm

Don't count on it. About 50% of configurations seem to fail to work like that. PCIe passthrough is much more stable.

 

[golfleep]

You should be able to pass-through the built-in SATA controller to the FreeNAS vm...you dont need the SAS controller to do that. Having the SAS controller would allow you to have more disks without spending extra money on another controller. Either one will work.

A little late to this thread, but in case it's useful information to anyone:
I have FreeNAS 9.10 virtualized within ESXi 6.0 on the X11SSL-CF, and am able to passthrough the onboard LSI3008 (flashed to IT mode, P12 firmware). However, the onboard Intel C232 PCH SATA controller is not available for passthrough, as least with my configuration.

Edit: realized this might be the case for me because I have a local ESXi datastore attached to the onboard SATA port

 

[darkwarrior]

Edit: realized this might be the case for me because I have a local ESXi datastore attached to the onboard SATA port

Yep indeed, you can't passthrough that controller because it's in use by ESXi already. ;)

 

[golfleep]

Yep indeed, you can't passthrough that controller because it's in use by ESXi already. ;)

Out of curiosity I removed my ESXi datastores from the onboard SATA ports (so the C232 SATA ports were all disconnected), and the SATA controller was still unavailable for passthrough. Not sure if it's something specific to my configuration though vs the C232 chipset. I do have multiple other PCIe devices (including onboard LSI3008, GPU, USB card) successfully passthrough to several VM's.

 

[ChrisNAS]

Hey guys. I just got in the same boat... X11SSL-CF, esxi 6.5u1. I've got everything updated to latest firmware and driver. I can pass through the 3008 controller but the drives connected to it don't show up in esxi under storage. Any of you have that problem?

 

[darkwarrior]

Hey guys. I just got in the same boat... X11SSL-CF, esxi 6.5u1. I've got everything updated to latest firmware and driver. I can pass through the 3008 controller but the drives connected to it don't show up in esxi under storage. Any of you have that problem?

Hello there,
from the moment on you pass-throuh the controller to a VM, it becomes invisible and unusable for the ESXi instance...

 

[curlyboi]

The C232 controller is not available for passthrough initially. But you can add it to /etc/vmware/passthrough.map and it will become available and you can pass it through. I have an ASUS P10S-M board and I have PCIE-to-M2 adapter in which I have M2 SSD that I use for ESXi. I also have the VMs there since they are few GBs only. Then I have modified the passthrough map file, rebooted, and passed the internal controller to FreeNAS VM. Works perfectly, SMART and shit, everything.

 

[Jessep]

The onboard intel controller is available to passthrough without modification in ESXi 6.7 U2 and up on my X10SRI-F. I'm using 6.7 U3.

Shows as (2) different devices, a 4 port and a 6 port.

11.4 is the (4) port
1f.2 is the (6) port

I actually have them passed into different VMs at the moment. I'm testing 11.2 U6 while I keep my main array on 11.1 U7.