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  • 1.  Raid 5 with build in raid contoller on Supermicro X9DRD-iF

    Posted Dec 21, 2012 11:49 AM

    Hello,

    i am going do by Supermicro X9DRD-iF motherboard and i was wondering do i have to buy raid contoller or build in will do.

    http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c600/x9drd-if.cfm

    I will use exsi 5.1

    Thanks.



  • 2.  RE: Raid 5 with build in raid contoller on Supermicro X9DRD-iF

    Posted Dec 21, 2012 02:12 PM

    Gringo1 wrote:

    Hello,

    i am going do by Supermicro X9DRD-iF motherboard and i was wondering do i have to buy raid contoller or build in will do.

    http://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c600/x9drd-if.cfm

    I will use exsi 5.1

    Thanks.

    Well for one that MB is not on the HCL for VMware, so all bets are off.  Built in controllers are all real basic, no battery cache, no true command queue (the documenation states it will work, but it's really just compatibility with the drive but not performance related).

    What you should do is buy a RAID controller that *IS* on the HCL, of course be prepared to spend around $1000.00 or more.  If you are TRULY interested in performance you will buy a SAS controller, which is around $3000.00 or more.. because SATA drives (your built in controller) are NOT performance friendly. 

    Yeah people use them, yeah people get "GREAT" performance.. but those are one offs, and probably only 1 maybe 2 VM's and not intense disk IO.

    I will defy anyone that shows me their system, and I can run 2 tools to bring any SATA controller \ DISK to it's knees to prove my point.  SATA drives offer capacity not performance.  SAS is the best, SATA will not be good for multiple operations at the same time, especailly running multiple VM's.

    In the mean time, test it.. you probably have 4 maybe 6 SATA ports, hook up 6 SATA drives, put them in a RAID 5, and post your IOPS results.. it might look good in THEORY.. but when you start to use VM's try a IO performance program in around 3 VM's all running at the same time and compare the results.. you will see what I am talking about, you performance will take an extreme nose dive.  I would test it on your MB first, if you think you need a RAID controller, be prepared to spend LOTS of money.  You might be better off buying a low end enterprise server from Dell like a 210 or 310.. that will be less than your MB + a controller.. (That is if you want to do it right)



  • 3.  RE: Raid 5 with build in raid contoller on Supermicro X9DRD-iF

    Posted Dec 21, 2012 06:13 PM

    I'll second the motion for buying an add-in RAID controller. That motherboard uses an Intel chipset, and so the RAID is most likely to be Intel software RAID, aka "Fake RAID." Basically this means that the RAID only works under Windows, and it will not work with ESXi.

    The good news is you can get them for much less than $1000. The Dell PERC 6i supports SAS/SATA, comes with BBWC, is on the HCL, and only costs about $300. It's basically a rebadged LSI MegaRAID card and has been reported to work in many non-Dell systems. I'm sure SuperMicro has something similar, such as these http://www.supermicro.com/products/nfo/storage_cards.cfm. There are also tons of other affordable options from vendors such as LSI and Adaptec. The Dell PERC 5i is also supported.

    Take a look through the HCL here http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io

    The Dell PERC cards are under the I/O Device Type "SAS/SATA-RAID." You can also just search for SuperMicro and then work your way through the list.

    How many VMs are you looking to run, and what sort of performance do you need? That is what dictates the type of controller and drives you should use.