which USB stick for ESX3i

[acecia]

Hello, Bought a C3000 with 4 bl460 servers in it. I would like to use virtualisation for the operating systems. Do I need to buy a special USB stick for ESX3i server of can I use any stick that I have?

[chopper3]

No, pretty much anything that can be booted will be fine; that said I've stuck to the HP ones even though they're spectacularly bad value and come in vast packaging for their size.

[Shawn Scanlon HPM]

I have been told that you cannot use the USB ESXi 3.5 Version unless you purchase from an OEM such as HP (legally). You can however download and install the "Installable" version of ESXi 3.5 to the local hard drives. It's not to say that the USB key method will not work, I just do not think this is supported or possibly legal (by the EULA). Would love for someone from HP to confirm this.... Shawn

[mkendall]

Here is a partial response ... VMware does not make the USB (or other flash memory) available except through OEMs. This is largely because the OEMs may implement this differently. You are correct that the installable version can be downloaded and installed on the hard drive. However there could be a specific restriction in the EULA, so we will look at this more closely. Regards, Mike

[acecia]

Ok, Thanks everyone. I 'll contact my retailer for the desired USB sticks and hope it all isn't to expensive ;-) regards maarten

[acecia]

Hello, I've found a HP product on their site (465388-B21) which is a license with USB stick for esx 3i. Could this be the correct one? Found also a work around for installing esx3.5iU2 on a USB key in stead of installing in on a Hard disk (if interested I will put a link on this forum) You can find the work-around in the forum on the VM-ware website. regards maarten [Updated on 10/2/2008 2:34 AM]

[jin tang]

try not use the HP USB key(465388-b21). For some reasons, it will lost the your own configuration after you made few changes, or it response very slow to any chnage you just made which appears that your ESXi host are having problem to join back to the cluster sometimes. You also need to create a swap-file space (about 1GB for each ESXi) on your shared SAN, by default, otherwise, you will not be able to enable HA feature on the ESXi with USB key. HP has provided a list of 3rd party USB keys which certified for HP OEM ESXi USB key, so you can be sure that you'll be covered for their support. Make sure you'll upgrade the ESXi firmware on the HP USB key, using VMware Update Manager (either via the version from vCenter or VI client) it is very simple, and faster (less than 2 minutes it you update manager has directly internet access to pull down the latest version of ESXi.