SATA controller links for ZFS and ESXi
Posted by jpluimers on 2016/04/08
Some useful links:
M1015 is still used a lot, but there are many choices for SATA/SAS HBAs that are compatible with ESXi and ZFS.
SATA passthrough for many things seem to have stopped with ESXi 5.5 (5.1 and below should work). Some links related to that:
- How do you passthrough native SATA drives to a guest on ESXi? – Server Fault.
- ESXi 5.5 appears to break ANY and ALL on board … | VMware Communities.
- ESXi can’t pass-through.
- VMware Front Experience: How to make your unsupported SATA AHCI Controller work with ESXi 5.5.
- Cheap SATA III PCI-E card for ESXi 5 – [H]ard|Forum.
- ESXi 5.1: Using Raw Device Mappings (RDM) on an HP Microserver | Forza IT.
IDE and USB passthrough of CD/DVD devices seem to be fine though:
- vGeek: VM settings: CD/DVD drive.
- vGeek: Fixing CD/DVD stuck on connecting on VM console.
- vSphere Documentation Center: Add USB Devices from an ESXi Host to a Virtual Machine in the vSphere Client.
- VMware vSphere 5.1: Add a CD or DVD Drive to a Virtual Machine in the vSphere Web Client.
- VMware KB: Cannot connect to the Client CD/DVD drive by using Passthrough IDE mode.
- VMware Vsphere Client on Windows 7 – Cannot Connect to the Client CD/DVD Drive by Using Passthrough IDE Mode | HP® Support.
OEM adapters:
- IBM 46M0831 (FRU 46M0861 aka M1015) basically is an OEM of LSI 9220-8i / LSI 9211-8i.
- It provides 8 internal SAS/SATA connections through two SFF-8087 mini SAS connectors providing 4 SAS/SATA connections each.
- IBM 46M0907 (FRU 68Y7354 aka IBM 6 Gb SAS Host Bus Adapter) basically is an OEM of LSI 9212-4i4e.
- Some say it provides 16 internal SAS/SATA connections through four SFF-8087 mini SAS connectors providing 4 SAS/SATA connections each.
- It doesn’t: it provides 4 internal regular SAS/SATA connectors.
- It provides 4 external SAS/SATA connections through one SFF-8088 mini SAS connector to connect an external enclosure.
- opensolaris – ZFS SAS/SATA controller recommendations – Server Fault [WayBack]
- From 32 to 2 ports: Ideal SATA/SAS Controllers for ZFS & Linux MD RAID [WayBack]
There are many SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 adapters.
–jeroen
via
- SAS and SATA HBA options for NAS and Servers – brycv.com.
- LSI RAID Controller and HBA Complete Listing Plus OEM Models | ServeTheHome and ServeThe.Biz Forums.
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