FreeNAS on ESX(i)

[melloa]

Got tempted by the last FreeNAS News Letter to build a test box and maybe consolidate two servers in one.

Started looking around the junk room and found:

- 1 Asus z97-ar
- 1 i-7 4790
- 32 GiB RAM
- 1 H200 flashed to IT mode with p20
- 1 x 3TiB and 4 x 2TiB HDs
- 1 dual Intel NIC

Stuffed them on a SM chassis with six bays and started installing ESX(i) 6.5 to play with it. All working fine.

Started step 2 to change the HBA configuration to allow pass through and isn't capable.

Did some digging on the box and found out that the HBA is supported:

Code:

HBA1 (LSI)

0000:01:00.0 1000:0072 1028:1f1c vmkernel vmhba1
			 VID :DID  SVID:SSID

VID: 1000
DID: 0072
SVID: 1028
SSID: 1f1c

Code:

Model:Dell 6Gbps SAS HBA AdapterDevice Type:SASDID:0072 Brand Name:DELL SVID:1028 Number of Ports: 0SSID: 1f1c VID:1000 Notes:

Device is not compatible with VSAN
Firmware versions listed are the minimum supported versions. Refer to http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2030818 for additional information on other supported driver and firmware combinations
- See more at: http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=io&productid=12513&deviceCategory=io&details=1&releases=338&VID=1000&DID=0072&SVID=1028&SSID=1f1c&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc#sthash.N6FBYk6u.dpuf

The only thing that jumped to my eye was the Device is not compatible with VSAN.

At this point I'm still researching if it is CPU or BIOS not supporting/ESX(i) drivers or configuration.

Any tip will be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[RickH]

The VSAN message isn't your issue - you're going to see that on any HBA running an IT mode firmware...
The issue is the Intel Z97 chipset doesn't support VT-d:
Intel ARK: Z97 Chipset

That being said, I've seen people on some different forums claiming that they're using VT-d with a Z97 chipset on an ASRock MB - Either ASRock has possibly done something to enable it (although I'm not sure how they would overcome the chipset limitation) or the users are confusing regular virtualization support for VT-d support.

I would suggest making sure you're running the most current version of your BIOS, but if that doesn't cut-it I think you're going to have to use a different MB - the rest of your parts list should be compatible.

Good luck!

 

[melloa]

Yeap ... I'm getting to the conclusion that either the motherboard BIOS and/or the CPU doesn't support VT-d. Looked everywhere for it and didn't find. Replacing the motherboard with an Gigabyte that has VT-d for sure (I saw it in the BIOS) and an i-3 (the box is already assembled with a SSD, M1015, some 2TiB HDDS), so will reinstall and test there.

Thanks for the reply ... it seems that when the IRS check comes I'll need to re-think my plans and upgrade one of the FNs with SM/Xeon :)

so far:

Code:

1 × SUPERMICRO MBD-X11SSL-O Micro ATX Server Motherboard LGA 1151 Intel C232
Item #: N82E16813182998

1 × Intel Xeon E3-1245 v5 SkyLake 3.5 GHz LGA 1151 80W BX80662E31245V5 Server Processor
Item #: N82E16819117615

SAMSUNG 16GB 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Server Memory Model M393A2G40DB0-CPB

Are been considered ;)

 

[RickH]

I'm in the process of combining my multiple different machines into a combined ESXi / FreeNAS box...

I'm building it all into an IBM ThinkStation D20 that I already had...
Dual X5670 Xeons & 72 GB ECC DDR3 .

It'll burn a little more power than the newer Xeon's (but far less than the 4 servers it's replacing) and while those X-series are a little older, they still have more than enough to run everything I'm looking at doing...

 

[melloa]

I'm in the process of combining my multiple different machines into a combined ESXi / FreeNAS box...

I'm building it all into an IBM ThinkStation D20 that I already had...
Dual X5670 Xeons & 72 GB ECC DDR3 .

It'll burn a little more power than the newer Xeon's (but far less than the 4 servers it's replacing) and while those X-series are a little older, they still have more than enough to run everything I'm looking at doing...

I've noticed that I run 1st out of memory than CPU. My ESX(i) was on an i3 using 70% on the CPU and 16GB RAM, so replaced the CPU with an i-7 I had and added memory, now runs fine. My goal is tha same as your, at the end of the yellow brick road, to get to one box running FreeNAS 10 and ESX(i), but it seems that I'm looking for some upgrades ;)

I did find locally R710 for about $180, but the noise .... oh, the noise! So, nope :)