ESXi 8 boot from DOM/NVMe/USB/SATA ?

[Operations]

I run ESXi 8 on a Supermicro X11SCL-IF for my PfSense and some other stuff (Nextcloud, Unifi, domain controller etc).

I run ESXi from a SATADOM from SM. ESXi tells me this disc is in Error plus it doesn't hold my changes so it is problem right

My VM's are on a 2TB NVMe M.2 drive.

I am trying to decide what to do next, i have a couple of options:

- A new SATADOM (have got a couple)
- put ESXi on same disc as VM's
- put in 100GB SATA Intel MLC SSD (i have one left)
- USB stick
- USB enclosure with SSD

I know USB support is almost out of the window, could still use it now though.

I don't have to buy anything, i have all the options "in stock"

What would you guys do? I like the idea of OS and VM separate, but don't have a really good reason for that. SATADOM broke pretty soon, could be bad luck of course.

 

[Operations]

No ideas?

 

[Stephan]

SATADOM only if you have like 10 servers and taking one out of a cluster for a reinstall is no problem.

USB... never. There are just too many bugs on either side of the connection. I want stability where a system would run for 5 years without hiccup if necessary.

In your case I'd go for more reliable, which probably is the 100 GB SATA SSD.

On same storage like VMs also never, one upgrade gone wrong and your VMFS is toast.

 

[986box]

I have used a 8GB USB drive for years. When upgrading to Esxi 7, I performed a refresh install on a new 8 Gb drive. Kept for old as a standby.
Going to reuse it for Esxi 8 install when I have some time.

 

[mophk]

i'd go with the ssd 100gb. it should live for about 10 years so plenty of time to upgrade or change it out.

 

[i386]

I prefer sata doms; they have a small footprint and don't take up a precious drive bay, (usually) don't need additional power cables and are fast enough for os tasks

 

[scobar]

Did a SSD(500gb) for esxi volume/boot. Will probably be naughty, ignoring better practices and put a VM or two on that drive, too.

 

[986box]

Just tried to install Esxi 8 on a USB drive and it is no longer supported. Shopping for either a SSD or SataDom drive

 

[mrpasc]

It is still supported, but you need to provide an additional persistent OSD volume.
See https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/85685

 

[986box]

Unfortunately, for my setup the other drives are for datastores.

either way I need another drive for OSData.