USB as a Main Storage device
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@Dashrender said:
What's the problem? Does ESXi not see the drive as a place you could put a VMDK?
Well, XenServer specifically tells me that Virtual Drives aren't enabled when I attempt to install to it. IT sees the USB just fine.
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Hmmm... so, maybe it's not supported?
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How hard would it be to just get a single HD to put the OS on and then use the SAN for the datastores, or whatever Xen uses?
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@Mike-Ralston said:
Well, XenServer specifically tells me that Virtual Drives aren't enabled when I attempt to install to it. IT sees the USB just fine.
Oh, this is new information. It is XenServer telling us this? We've been trying to diagnose the Dell hardware up until now. This might be a XenServer issue.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Mike-Ralston said:
Well, XenServer specifically tells me that Virtual Drives aren't enabled when I attempt to install to it. IT sees the USB just fine.
Oh, this is new information. It is XenServer telling us this? We've been trying to diagnose the Dell hardware up until now. This might be a XenServer issue.
Dell Hardware AND XenServer are telling us this.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Mike-Ralston said:
Well, XenServer specifically tells me that Virtual Drives aren't enabled when I attempt to install to it. IT sees the USB just fine.
Oh, this is new information. It is XenServer telling us this? We've been trying to diagnose the Dell hardware up until now. This might be a XenServer issue.
Give this man a cookie!
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@scottalanmiller XenServer works up until the point of selecting which drive to install on. It then says that Virtual Drives is not enabled, and tells me to go to BIOS to enable it. The Dell AutoInstall in the UEFI, does fine up until you select where to install the media, and it says that Virtual Drives is either not enabled, or not supported.
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I'm lost - what the heck is a virtual drive in this instance? is that what XenServer calls the datastore (ESXi speak)?
What is the Dell AutoInstall in the UEFI? Are you saying there is installer code in the UEFI itself to help you install OSs?
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@Dashrender said:
I'm lost - what the heck is a virtual drive in this instance? is that what XenServer calls the datastore (ESXi speak)?
What is the Dell AutoInstall in the UEFI? Are you saying there is installer code in the UEFI itself to help you install OSs?
Yeah, that is catching me too. I have no idea what that term is supposed to mean here. It is not a useful term and isn't the right technical term for what is going on. It's not what XenServer calls a datastore, that would just be a datastore. It's a reference to something odd.
And I wasn't aware of this AutoInstaller product either. Not sure what that does.
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I think that the next step is trying this with a normal desktop first. Get that working then take the USB stick to the server. Just do the install as if you were going to do it on the server, on a desktop.
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Considering that UEFI is a full out OS just embedded in the hardware, I wouldn't be surprised if it could/did/does include Dell's OS install media to make it easier to install all the drivers, etc.
But I still don't know what it means by Virtual Drive.
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@Mike-Ralston, when you get this error in XenServer, are you booting from the XenServer install media?
Can you grab a picture with your cell?
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@Dashrender said:
@Mike-Ralston, when you get this error in XenServer, are you booting from the XenServer install media?
Can you grab a picture with your cell?
That might help.
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@Dashrender said:
Considering that UEFI is a full out OS just embedded in the hardware, I wouldn't be surprised if it could/did/does include Dell's OS install media to make it easier to install all the drivers, etc.
But I still don't know what it means by Virtual Drive.
That would wreak havoc with an unexpected OS, though.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
Considering that UEFI is a full out OS just embedded in the hardware, I wouldn't be surprised if it could/did/does include Dell's OS install media to make it easier to install all the drivers, etc.
But I still don't know what it means by Virtual Drive.
That would wreak havoc with an unexpected OS, though.
It would only be invoked if you called for it - otherwise it just lies dormant.
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@Dashrender sure, I Just meant that as he called it for XenServer, it might have had problems just from that. It was probably expecting Windows.
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@Dashrender Virtual Drive - Using a USB as a Storage device. AKA, using not just as a 1-time boot media, but using it to effectively replace the HardDrive. @scottalanmiller Can I just toss in a HardDrive from a dead NTG machine? An 80gb will do fine if an 8gb USB will.
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@Mike-Ralston said:
@Dashrender Virtual Drive - Using a USB as a Storage device. AKA, using not just as a 1-time boot media, but using it to effectively replace the HardDrive. @scottalanmiller Can I just toss in a HardDrive from a dead NTG machine? An 80gb will do fine if an 8gb USB will.
If you can physically do so, then yes. Do you have a drive sled for that?
