XServe Question: ESXi + Complete Power Off.

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XServe Question: ESXi + Complete Power Off.

I have a XServe 2,1 (Early 2008) model.

I was able to boot into storage selection using ESXi CD.

I understand that I am not able to select my storage as long as I have a XServe Raid Controller ?

So what should I do in order to install ESXi ? Am I able to take out the raid controller and use the standard controller ?
Will that work with ESXi ?

I just want to run Multiple VM's and I dont want something like OS X to be the main OS because I believe it is resource intensive.

As for 2nd question, I am not able to completely power off XServe.
I can click "Shutdown" and it shuts down the XServe, however, some lights are still on and the fan is still running.

Is it suppose to be like that ?

Any help/suggestion on the previous two question would be greatly apprecieated.

Posted on Jan 7, 2013 9:05 PM

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Answer 1

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Camelot

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Jan 8, 2013 4:12 PM in response to john1231

So what should I do in order to install ESXi ? Am I able to take out the raid controller and use the standard controller ?
Will that work with ESXi ?

It should do. Other users in the VMWare community report success running on XServes without the RAID card, so it does appear to be a compatibility issue with the RAID card and not the XServe, per se.

I can click "Shutdown" and it shuts down the XServe, however, some lights are still on and the fan is still running.

Is it suppose to be like that ?

Yes. the XServe has a built-in LOM (Lights Out Manager) that lets you 'tickle' the machine remotely, including powering up/down the server. This is always running, so the PSUs will always indicate power, and the NICs are active (the LOM is attached to the NICs and the NICs need to be active in order for the LOM to detect management traffic)

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Answer 2

john1231 Author

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Jan 8, 2013 4:56 PM in response to Camelot

Thank you very much for your reply.

Do you think LOM is taking away a lot of power/Putting a wear on the psu ?

The reason I am asking is because the server stays off a lot more than on.

Therefore, if it's off, I would not like to put extra wear on the PSU nor waste electricity.

Thank you for your answer again.

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Answer 3

Camelot

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54,333 points

Jan 9, 2013 12:05 AM in response to john1231

I don't know off hand what the power draw of the LOM is, but I wouldn't expect it to be high.

Personally I'd be more worried about frequently power cycling the machine at all. These things are designed to run 24/7 and I still have XServes in my network that have been running 24/7 for years, with no indication of PSU failure. In fact, for all the servers (XServe and other) that have experienced PSU failures, the majority of them have been associated with a power cycle (turning off, then on again). I can only think of one or two cases where a PSU has failed in an operating machine.

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Answer 4

john1231 Author

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Jan 9, 2013 3:03 AM in response to Camelot

Oh I see, thank you for the information.

I guess i'll just leave it plugged in then for the sake of proper power cycle...

It just seems a little wierd to be becuase I'll never use the LOM feature since i'll be next to the server and the server will be on only about once a week. I guess better safe than sorry.

Thank you for all the help.

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