Unable to install Windows Server VM

[Another-Tech]

I have read several posts here regarding not being able to complete a Windows VM. My VM problem seems to be once Windows is into the setup process in the VM created for it I can not get past the point where a partition is designated for the installation. On a bare bones system this is the screen for deleting, creating and formatting the partition where Widows will be installed. I have 2 other Linux VM's that seem to work fine on the same server. I have allocated 24 gb of ram to each VM along with 500 gb of hard drive space. Total machine weight is 2 Xeon cpu's, 96gb of ram and 23 568gb hard drives. Each VM is assigned 5 hd's (raid z). Help please.....

 

[Ericloewe]

once Windows is into the setup process in the VM created for it I can not get past the point where a partition is designated for the installation

Why? Does it not show any disks?

Each VM is assigned 5 hd's (raid z)

You mean you have a separate RADIZ1 pool, composed of 5 mechanical HDDs, for each VM? That's a recipe for pain and terrible performance, but that's not directly related to your immediate issue.

 

[Another-Tech]

The box is a Dell C2100, configured to function as a high availability server. The hard drive config is for easy replacement in the event of drive failure. All hardware appears to function properly. What's directly related to my issue?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

If you create your virtual disk zvol as type VirtIO (which is recommended), you need to load the appropriate drivers for Windows at install time. Easiest method I found is to create two CDROM devices, one with the Windows install disk, one with the drivers. Then load the drivers from there.

Images with VirtIO drivers can be found here:

virtio-win-pkg-scripts/README.md at master · virtio-win/virtio-win-pkg-scripts

Scripts for packaging virtio-win drivers. Contribute to virtio-win/virtio-win-pkg-scripts development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

 

[Ericloewe]

The hard drive config is for easy replacement in the event of drive failure.

That is a completely orthogonal issue to how your storage is designed.

All hardware appears to function properly.

So do most things, until they don't - but that's not even the main concern right now. Using RAIDZ for block storage is likely to incur heavy penalties in the form of wasted space (high double digit percentages) and terrible performance (a single disk's worth of IOPS, which is not much with spinning rust).