VSAN hardware compatibility for Cisco UCS-C240-M4

[AlanRaczek]

Hi-

Been banging my head against the wall trying to find out that this server supports VSAN 6.7U3. I am looking to upgrade

the servers from vSphere 6.5 to 6.7U3. I have looked at the VMware compatibility tool (where it has ReadyNodes and

the general compatibility guide but can't figure it out . I will be upgrading the BIOS and firmware of the servers to

CIMC 4.1.1.

..ar

[TheBobkin]

Hello Alan,

Welcome to Communities.

There are various configurations of 'UCS C240 M4' on the ReadyNode HCL - please have a look and indicate which one has the same hardware specs as yours (specifically controller, Cache-tier and Capacity-tier devices):

vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=vsan&details=1&vsan_type=vsanreadynode&keyword=UCS%20C240%20M4&page=1&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc

But, yes I can see that there are variants stating supported for 6.7 U1/U2 but none for 6.7 U3 (whereas M5 versions are listed for 6.7 U3 and 7.0) - whether this implies Cisco will no longer support them as 'ReadyNodes' on 6.7 U3 or later is a question best asked of Cisco (and/or the party you purchased these servers from).

That being said, all of the listed components - controller, Cache-tier and Capacity-tier devices - I can see from the models I checked (including the drives that have reached 'End of Sale') are on the HCL for 6.7 U3 and most 7.0. So from a VMware-supported perspective it is fine, but to get into the nuances of whether it is still considered a 'ReadyNode' or not (and thus things like SAS-Expander support) is beyond my station.

Bob

[AlanRaczek]

TB-

Thank you for the response. Being as I just came into maintaining these machines 3 months ago I am not sure of hardware specifics. I am trying to come up with some powercli/powershell that

will give me that info. AFAIK these are Cisco UCSC-C240-M4SX . I will take a loser look at the readynodes but that page sort of confuses me. Never worked with that guide before.

...Alan

[TheBobkin]

Hello Alan,

Getting the controller, Cache-tier and Capacity-tier disk model and part-numbers is generally most accurate from the Cisco UCS Manager.

However you can generally (as it depends) get this information from:

# esxcli storage core device list

# esxcfg-scsidevs -a

# vmkchdev -l |grep vmhbaX

Then search for the ID numbers and/or model/part numbers on the HCL directly or here:

https://hcl.captain-vsan.com/

The current (unsure about past) ReadyNode listings are also available in frequently updated pdf format:

https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/pdf/vi_vsan_rn_guide.pdf

Bob

[AlanRaczek]

Thank you that was helpful. I found most of the hardware and by and large it looks like our hardware supports vSphere 6.7U3. I am just curious about the chaching tier

and what I am looking for. See this output:

But as a whole I think I am good. It's hard to get hw info as these machines are not managed by UCS.

...Alan

[shakol]

Hi Alan,

As per below vSAN HCL,Cisco 12G SAS Modular Raid Controller (UCSC-MRAID12G) is supported till ESXi 7.0/vSAN7.0,however you looked into  Footnotes for vSAN 6.7 U3 stating  that

“Firmware 4.620.00-7322 is packaged within container 24.12.1-0433.Please use one of the following UCS releases for Storage controller firmware & Driver - UCS C-series Standalone releases – 4.0(2d) , UCSM-Managed C series releases – 4.0(2d)”

   https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=vsanio&productid=38642https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/detail.php?deviceCategory=vsanio&productid=38642

But as per Cisco compatibility Matrix, 6.7 U3 does not support current UCSC-MRAID12G controller for firmware version 4.0(2d) for C-series but Vmware Matrix says that use 4.0(2d) for ESXi6.7 U3/vSAN6.7 U3.

So have you managed/installed ESXi 6.7 U3 /vSAN 6.7 U3? Is it working fine ? since i m also planning to upgrade ESXi/vSAN to 6.7 U3 for C240-M4SX  server with UCSC-MRAID12G controller,but we are not using vSAN ready Node

Regards

Srk