Hello,
I am having trouble getting my ESXi boxes to see a PowerVault MD3200 Direct Attached Storage array. This does not appear to be a very common setup, as I have had a difficult time finding documentation that is helpful, nor have I found a thread in the forums. So I am hoping someone here can help.
My setup:
2 Dell Powervault R710 servers
1 Dell Powervault MD3200 SAS storage array
vSphere Essentials v 5.0.0
vCenter Server v 5.0.0
Both R710s are running ESXi 5.0.0 and have mutiple VMs on each
my vCenter Server is one of the VMs
Here are the steps I took:
Installed an application server as a VM (2003 Server, fully patched) on one of the ESXi boxes. The application server has no role besides managing the MD vCenter Plug-in.
Launched the MD vCenter Plug-in installer from the application server, providing my vCenter Server ip and login information as needed.
Opened vSphere Client and confirmed that the Dell MD Storage Array vCenter Plug-in is listed and enabled
Added administrative login to the Storage Administrator Role
Upgraded the SAS SMI-S provider on both ESXi hosts, then rebooted the hosts as requested.
Powered the R710s down, and installed the SAS Adapters that came with the MD3200 Array, plugged them in, powered up the MD3200 then powered up the R710s. Went into the setup on the SAS Adapters on the R710s at boot and confirmed that they can see the array.
Went back into vSphere Client, right clicked the host, and started the Configure ESX Host to Storage Array for the ESXi hosts.
Everything stops here because the SAS Interfaces are not detected. I suspect that the I may have to do something in the setup of the SAS Interfaces, but I am not sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated!