Need SSD recommendation for ESXi unRAID build

[ashaneil]

Can anyone recommend a good SSD to use as a datastore for ESXi/unRAID build? Pretty much any SSD drive review you see on NewEgg has people complaining about it.

 

I am look at 60-120 Gb SSD drive. None of  the VMs will be running any I/O intensive operations - one exception may be that one of the VMs will be a Windows XP running FileZilla to get files from my seedbox to the cache drive.

 

One option is an Intel 80 Gb for $80. Another is an OCZ Vertex Plus 120 Gb for $99 or OCZ Vertex 3 60 Gb for $75. Both are with MIR.

 

Feel free to suggest any other drives if you have used them.

 

Thanks

[jumperalex]

running 60gb vertex 2 for well over a year now as a win7 OS drive on both my PC and my laptop ... love them.  several  no-wipe firmware updates, no trouble, speedy. 

[WeeboTech]

I've been running an intel 40GB for 2 years as a torrent machine without issues.

I have a few machines running the OCZ Vertex drives, but these are earlier then the Vertex 2,3 and Agility 2,3.

If I were doing it for my ESXi host I might pick the Intel.

I was able to score a 160GB Intel on black Friday for a sweet deal with rebate.

This is going to be my apps/local drive and my /home share on my unRAID server.

If you do go ocz, I would recommend frequent backups. it's true that you usually hear/read about the problems the most, but it certainly has made me pause on many SSD upgrades over the past year.

I might choose the Kingston SSDNOW line since I've read that it handles environments that do not support trim better.

I haven't researched it much, but its worth some time in researching.

Maybe someone else has more information about it.

 

[Johnm]

The OCZ had massive issues with the older firmware, this turned out to be bad firmware from sandforce. this has since been addressed and affect most vendors I believe.

I originally hated my OCZ's. Since the firmware upgrade, they have been fine.  Almost any brand/type will do the job.

the OCZ just seem to always be on sale and easy to get, so I went with those. I am not sure what I would get if I started over. I also have some older Mushkin 120's that I love. I would look at Intels and Kingstons also.

 

Just make sure you update your firmware on any SSD you get.

 

As far as using a consumer SSD for an ESXi box, the SSD vendors will frown upon it and say buy the enterprise SSD's. if you ever send them in for warranty, they will look at the drives and see it was not a desktop OS and might refuse the drive.

 

That said, I am running consumer 120's. I wish I had larger drives. my original plan was 3-4 120gig in raid0, so I went with smaller drives. since I am not currently in RAID0, I wish I had 2x 240's. I might still go that route with an m1015.

I believe i have one of each in my ESXi. OZC solid3, Agility3 and Vertex3. (I originally had matching drives that I since  repurposed).

 

once you feel the speed, it is hard to go back to spinners.  for non IO intensive  VM's, spinners will do fine in balanced moderation. it really depends on your build and usage.

 

 

you should never fill the drive all the way up. that is a sure way to speed up the death of the SSD. I forgot the recommended data usage,  I personally try to leave 30 gigs or more free on my 120's. If you get a 60GB I would only put one Windows guest on it. perhaps a few small *NIX guests.

 

I would  consider a small 30-60 for the ESXi dedicated cache they now offer with 5

 

 

[WeeboTech]

you should never fill the drive all the way up. that is a sure way to speed up the death of the SSD. I forgot the recommended data usage,  I personally try to leave 30 gigs or more free on my 120's. If you get a 60GB I would only put one Windows guest on it. perhaps a few small *NIX guests.

 

I would  consider a small 30-60 for the ESXi dedicated cache they now offer with 5

 

I'm glad you mentioned this, I was going to also.

It is also the reason I went with a 160GB for my local/home/apps drive on uinRAID.

I need about 120GB, but I knew I would need extra space for sector reallocation.

 

What is the ESXi dedicated cache ?

[Johnm]

you should never fill the drive all the way up. that is a sure way to speed up the death of the SSD. I forgot the recommended data usage,  I personally try to leave 30 gigs or more free on my 120's. If you get a 60GB I would only put one Windows guest on it. perhaps a few small *NIX guests.

 

I would  consider a small 30-60 for the ESXi dedicated cache they now offer with 5

 

I'm glad you mentioned this, I was going to also.

It is also the reason I went with a 160GB for my local/home/apps drive on uinRAID.

I need about 120GB, but I knew I would need extra space for sector reallocation.

 

What is the ESXi dedicated cache ?

 

I guess I should use the correct term “Swap to host cache”.

 

It was added with ESXi 5.0.

If you have an ESXi server that is short on RAM and/or your hypervisors are putting pressure on the host for "More RAM" you can use an SSD to help with this.

It is like a windows paging file for ESXi for lack of a technical description.

 

You need one SSD per host.

You can actually assign it to less then a full SSD. if you have a 120, you can give it say 28GB of cache space off that drive. I would guess there might be  a slight performance impact for the guests on the rest of the drive. I would just give it a dedicated SSD or share one with Low impact Guests (firewalls, unraid boot, etc).

 

we do use it at work but I have not really seen the performance boost with our set up.

[WeeboTech]

I would  consider a small 30-60 for the ESXi dedicated cache they now offer with 5

 

What is the ESXi dedicated cache ?

 

I guess I should use the correct term “Swap to host cache”.

....[snip]...

It is like a windows paging file for ESXi for lack of a technical description.

....[snip]...

 

OK I understand now, thanks for the explanation.