ESXi compatible Mini-ATX build with Ryzen 5 1600

[magsrv]

Hey, planning to build a mini-server to run multiple VMs (none of which is for storage). Currently my build is this:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor	€147.90 @ Alternate
Motherboard	Gigabyte - GA-A320M-S2H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard	€56.85 @ Amazon Deutschland
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400 Memory	€106.00 @ Amazon Deutschland
Video Card	Zotac - GeForce GT 710 1 GB PCIE x1 Video Card	€51.90 @ Caseking
Case	BitFenix - Prodigy M Midnight Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case	€85.00
Power Supply	be quiet! - Pure Power 11 300 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply	€47.90 @ Caseking
Wired Network Adapter	Intel - EXPI9301CT PCI-Express x1 1000 Mbit/s Network Adapter	€35.72 @ Senetic
Other	Dawicontrol DC-624e RAID 4-Kanal SATA 6G Blister LP	€59.83
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	€591.10
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-27 16:24 CET+0100

Before I go any further, wanted to ask if anyone has better experience than me with Ryzen and ESXi compatibility, as well as compatible RAID Controllers. Not sure about the one I included in the build.

 

I'm open for any suggestions and recommendations

 

Thank you!

 

[joshuawi99]

The Raidcontroller hasnt to do anything with esxi. Before you install the hypervisior u have to create your Raid arrays. I suggest something like raid 5 or 6 depending on how many drives you have. SSD raid arrays are also a thing to have in mind. Ryzen itself works fine with esxi tho.

[NelizMastr]

7 minutes ago, joshuawi99 said:

The Raidcontroller hasnt to do anything with esxi. Before you install the hypervisior u have to create your Raid arrays. I suggest something like raid 5 or 6 depending on how many drives you have. SSD raid arrays are also a thing to have in mind. Ryzen itself works fine with esxi tho.

Worst case scenario, the RAID controller's chipset isn't ESXi compatible and won't show you any disks. It does matter. LSI controllers and their HP/Dell/Lenovo OEM brethren are safe bets. Lots of Highpoint cards are also good.

[magsrv]

3 hours ago, NelizMastr said:

Worst case scenario, the RAID controller's chipset isn't ESXi compatible and won't show you any disks. It does matter. LSI controllers and their HP/Dell/Lenovo OEM brethren are safe bets. Lots of Highpoint cards are also good.

That was what I thought. Thanks for the hint

[Jarsky]

Raid controller compatibility most certainly is important, otherwise you're not going to have datastores in this build. 

As NelizMastr pointed out, for ESXi I would stick with well known brands. LSI, Adaptec, Dell, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, etc...

 

You might want to check out their hardware compatibility checker: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io

 

On a quick search it seems the DC-600e doesn't work, so I wouldn't expect the 624e to work either. A lot of their controllers are fake raid (software) and only work in Windows so really I would avoid it all together. 

[magsrv]

22 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

Raid controller compatibility most certainly is important, otherwise you're not going to have datastores in this build. 

As NelizMastr pointed out, for ESXi I would stick with well known brands. LSI, Adaptec, Dell, IBM, Intel, Lenovo, etc...

 

You might want to check out their hardware compatibility checker: https://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=io

 

On a quick search it seems the DC-600e doesn't work, so I wouldn't expect the 624e to work either. A lot of their controllers are fake raid (software) and only work in Windows so really I would avoid it all together. 

Wow, thanks. That's definitely useful. Will change them for LSI probably.

 

I only had experience with "prebuilt" raid systems, like the HP Z workstations or HPE/Dell Servers, how does the integration of the controllers work? Will the Bios of the MB just detect it or...?

[Jarsky]

3 minutes ago, magsrv said:

Wow, thanks. That's definitely useful. Will change them for LSI probably.

 

I only had experience with "prebuilt" raid systems, like the HP Z workstations or HPE/Dell Servers, how does the integration of the controllers work? Will the Bios of the MB just detect it or...?

 

The ones from the big brands are all hardware controllers, so everything is done on the card. They will spin up and initialize the group during the computers post. 

VMware has driver support for most of the big brand storage chipsets and will just auto detect the storage from the cards.

[magsrv]

16 minutes ago, Jarsky said:

 

The ones from the big brands are all hardware controllers, so everything is done on the card. They will spin up and initialize the group during the computers post. 

VMware has driver support for most of the big brand storage chipsets and will just auto detect the storage from the cards.

Yeah, but how do I get in the menu to configure the disk? Is it an option pre boot?

[Jarsky]

1 minute ago, magsrv said:

Yeah, but how do I get in the menu to configure the disk? Is it an option pre boot?

management utility during POST, before boot. 

for LSI cards its Ctrl+H for WebBIOS, for Adaptec its Ctrl+A

[openPhiL]

Hi Magsrv, 

Quote

run multiple VMs (none of which is for storage).

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of VMs/work you do with such a combination? 

- It does not have enough graphics power to do rendering,

- it does not have enough ethernet ports for networking.. 

- it has a dedicated grafphics card instead onboard

- it has Raid but does not have main storage tasks