ESXi on ASUS PN64-E1 Hi, So it seems my HP microserver Gen 10 plus isn’t on compatibility list for esxi 8.x and therefore wont do win11 OS on a VM, meant to be a...

[kev2021]

Hi,

So it seems my HP microserver Gen 10 plus isn’t on compatibility list for esxi 8.x and therefore wont do win11 OS on a VM, meant to be a work around to add a virtual TPM but mine doesn’t show it and I think I need to have vcenter in order to config a cert and maybe then get the option but looking at a video of vcenter 7, it seems vcenter wants 12GB ram and around 500-600GB space, albeit it appears it will install with less disc space, however server max memory is 16GB.

So Vcenter was 12GB

SQL DB server was 12GB

Windows servers, MECM etc not enough ram in the box to do it, let alone disc space is not enough for 500GB for sure.

So I was thinking *maybe* getting a new box and I saw this:

ESXi on ASUS PN64-E1

Sems to imply it runs esxi 8 and can run the new 48GB ram chips and make a total of 96GB ram all o with no issues, just need to turn off e-cores in bios to prevent BSOD and need a vPro one to get proper TPM.

However, to my knowledge, esxi has always needed hardware raid and I don’t think this box has software raid so I’m a little unsure how the have got round this requirement as in articles I’ve not seen them mention adding in raid cards etc.

Anyone have any ideas? I know some are running esxi off USB plugged in to USB port internally but i prefer not to do this as mine is on 24/7 and I’d sooner it be on a drive and not USB stick.

Not seen a price for it anywhere yet in UK, assuming it is coming to UK and not a US only device.

Thanks

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Is there any good HPE ProLiant MicroServer Gen10 Plus v2 server on Ebay or simular selling sites that will resolve your problem whilst still keeping an eye on budget

Could not determine if v1 would also be suitable ?

ESXi on ASUS PN64-E1 seems great value but not as established as say HP etc.

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[kev2021]

The Gen10 plus v1 isn’t on vmware esxi 8.x compatibility list BUT v2 is.  However, v2 is basically the same price as the v1 :( which has immediately put me off and made me look elsewhere.

The problem with HPE stuff seems to be that it only works for the current version of vmware ESXi, once a new one comes out, it doesn’t meet the spec..

For example, I have microserver gen8 runining esxi 6.5, when esxi 7 same out, gen8 wasn’t supported and they have gen10, only difference was i had the gen8 for a while as they didn’t bring esxi7 out for a couple of years or so.

I think  bought the Gen10 last year, just after xmas so i’ve only had it 1 year and now esxi8 is out and seems i need different hardware again…

In comparison, supermicro have a devices out that seem to work with newer versions… for example…

Supermicro Computer, Inc SYS-E300-9D-8CN8TP Intel Xeon D-2100 Series
ESXi
8.0 U2
8.0 U1
8.0
7.0 U3
7.0 U2
7.0 U1
7.0
6.7 U3
6.7 U2
6.7 U1
6.7
6.5 U3
6.5 U2

Not sure why HPE can’t do the same.  I realise the supermicro devices are more costly but by having to keep buying new hardware to run it, its costing probably the same or more.  I know HPE needs hardware raid controller which isn’t included so that’s additional cost, not sure if supermicro has built in raid or is still additional cost and of course then there is buying the memory you want and supermicro can have much more memory, that model I posted as an example is up to 128GB ram… so much better than the 32GB max in the HPE gen 10 plus v1, although I have heard you can put in up to 64GB but its not recommended by HPE and as mine is on 24/7, I don’t want to risk any damage etc so leaving as recommended. which doesn’t take long to run out of unfortunately.

Also Gen10 plus v1 doesn’t have TPM and I believe v2? plus the gen10 v2 doesn’t seem to be much different to v1, slightly better CPU but I’ve read not massively difference performance, other thing is it can now officially take 64GB ram in v2 so thats a plus but I’d essentially be buying it for the inbuilt TPM and the ability to have 64GB ram but it seems still only 2 RAM slots so I’d have to ditch my 2 x 16GB and by 2 x 32GB modules at additional expense and *maybe* be able to sell my 2 x 16GB modules.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

HPE looks better on the CV than say Supermicro but I do sympathize with your dilemma.

As your set-up is a test environment, and of no commercial value / consequence. is there not any registry changes that can allow you to use Gen10 plus to support esxi8 ?

 

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[kev2021]

Not that I’m aware of. I’ve also not seen anyone online try installing esxi 8 on gen 8.

hence why I’m reluctant to do it as it will mean having to effectively move all my VMs off to a different drive to store them incase the upgrade goes wrong plus there is no support for it if it goes wrong as not on compatibility list.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Are the prices that much different between the Gen10 plus v2 vs Supermicro Computer, Inc SYS-E300-9D-8CN8TP ?

 

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[kev2021]

From when i was looking the supermicro was around £1.8k – 2k and then gen 10 was around 800 – 1.2k depending on exact spec you wanted so HP is cheaper BUT given it seems you have to upgrade every time a new esxi version comes out, you paying the similar price or more than the supermicro.

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Ouch! more than I had realised.

As Windows 12 is due this year, some say by June, best to plan ahead

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[kev2021]

Yes, I suspect esxi8 wont have support per se for win12 but you may be able to use work around my selecting win11 and installing win12 so will wait till that occurs first.

Issue atm is to create a vTPM on esxi7, i need to create/add a cert but all instructions imply doing it via vcenter and i don’t have the memory for that to run,,,,

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Time to invest in new kit

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[kev2021]

Yes but what.. apparently esxi 8.0.2 update will require XSAVE support or you wont be able to update to it…

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

There is a registry change recommendation over at https://kb.vmware.com/s/article/2146361

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[kev2021]

That’s for workstation it seems, I’m running esxi vsphere client – which is directly installed on microserver, my VMs are then windows machines.  I don’t load windows and then launch VMware workstation to start a virtual machine etc, mainly due to overhead, esxi vsphere is much smaller and doesn’t require as much ram etc

Kev

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[UK Sentinel]

Understood, thought it might be useful for reference

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[kev2021]

Thanks, always helpful, just shame not for esxi vsphere :)

Kev

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