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brashquido
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 am
Posts: 96
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 ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Hi All,
So just wondering if the new ESXi 5 release supports LUN sizes larger than 2TB? I couldn't see anything in the FAQ's on the VMWare site.
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| Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:59 am |
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vChad
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:13 pm
Posts: 49
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? I haven't seen anything, but I suspect it hasn't changed. VMFS in vSphere 5, as far as I know, still uses the same 32bit block address scheme (SCSI command set). It's this 32bit part that limits the size to 2TB. There might be other factors, but I'm not aware of them at this time.
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| Thu Jul 21, 2011 11:45 am |
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_griswold_
Joined: Sat Apr 25, 2009 5:53 am
Posts: 32
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Hi, the maximum LUN size in vmfs5 is 64TB. You can read this interesting document about Storage in vSphere 5: http://www.vmware.com/files/pdf/techpaper/Whats-New-VMware-vSphere-50-Storage-Technical-Whitepaper.pdfA collection of "Whats New" documents is here: http://www.yellow-bricks.com/2011/07/20/whats-new/
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| Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:09 pm |
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vChad
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:13 pm
Posts: 49
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Nice. Not that I will ever get to 64TB in my home lab, mind you, but still nice  I've been hit by the 2TB limit in my home setup for ages now. It'll be nice to finally have that limit gone.
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| Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:33 pm |
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brashquido
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 am
Posts: 96
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Excellent! I had read pre-release rumours that this would be the case, however just wanted to check. I've read that 4TB drives are due later this year, so when that happens I'll be upgrading my RAID controller and disk to 8 x 4TB (24TB RAID6)  .
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| Thu Jul 21, 2011 3:09 pm |
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Dave.Mishchenko
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 3874
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? One thing to note is that virtual disks are still limited to 2 TBs. That will have to wait to the next version to change.
_________________Dave Mishchenko VMware vExpert 2009-2012  Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and SecurityAlso available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
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| Mon Jul 25, 2011 9:39 pm |
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brashquido
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 am
Posts: 96
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Dave, does that 2TB virtual disk limit apply to RDMs as well?
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| Wed Aug 03, 2011 8:39 pm |
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Dave.Mishchenko
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 3874
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? A physical RDM can be up to 64 TB.
VMFS5 supports greater than 2TB disk size for RDMs in physical compatibility mode. The following restrictions apply:
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You cannot relocate the RDMs to datastores other than VMFS5.
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You cannot convert the RDMs to virtual disks, or perform other operations that involve RDM to virtual disk conversion. Such operations include Storage vMotion, migration, and cloning.
_________________Dave Mishchenko VMware vExpert 2009-2012 Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and SecurityAlso available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
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| Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:53 pm |
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brashquido
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 4:45 am
Posts: 96
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Ok, sounds like it will still work for me. I currently have several RDMs in physical mode connected to a VM running Windows Storage Server. The 2TB limit in this senario as I understand it was VMFS. So now with ESXi 5 I should be able to create a 24TB LUN and then map the entire LUN as a physical mode RDM and connect it to a VM?
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| Thu Aug 04, 2011 12:53 am |
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Dave.Mishchenko
Site Admin
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:13 pm
Posts: 3874
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Re: ESXi 5 maximum LUN size? Yes - as long as your using physical (and not virtual ) RDMs.
_________________Dave Mishchenko VMware vExpert 2009-2012 Now available - VMware ESXi: Planning, Implementation, and SecurityAlso available - vSphere Quick Start Guide
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| Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:50 am |
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