Block bug in ESXi 5.5

C

Child of Wonder

2[H]4U
Joined
May 22, 2006
Messages
3,270
Anyone heard of this? A co-worker forwarded me an email he received from another co-worker who is heavy on the Netapp side stating that Netapp has found an issue with ESXi 5.5 on block storage (FC, FCOE, and iSCSI) across all hardware vendors. Currently there is no ETA on a patch but in the meantime Netapp recommends against running ESXi 5.5 on block storage.

The only thing I could find remotely close in Netapp KB's was a warning against multiple live Storage VMotions potentially causing stale file locks and crashing the guest and in the VMware KB an article about VMware and Netapp supporting NFS only in a Netapp Metrocluster.

Even the person that forwarded the original email can't say for sure where he got it from (he originally sent the email in October). :rolleyes:

I've got a client looking to go to 5.5 but wanted to chase down this wild goose (if it even exists) before moving forward.
 
Haven't heard anything. Lots of customers on 5.5 using block. Sounds like a very corner-case type bug.
 
I've been working on compatibility between NetApp and VMware for the last few days, I think you need 8.1.4 for iSCSI and 8.2P4 for FC as minimum for VMware 5.5. FC protocal might still have issues unresolved.
 
My clients considering upgrades to 5.5 are using EMC and Nimble storage so I'm not worried about Netapp in particular.

Lopo, you heard anything? I'm thinking this "issue" isn't really an issue at all and it's totally fine going to 5.5.
 
I'm thinking this bug doesn't actually exist since everyone I've asked knows nothing about it.

Thanks guys.
 
I have lot of TBs running on 5.5 and it's running smooth compared to our 5.1 stuff.
No netapp though.
Nick
 
No idea. The warning sent by my co-worker was vague and he can't even cite a KB article referencing it. I think it's bogus.
 
Child of Wonder said:
No idea. The warning sent by my co-worker was vague and he can't even cite a KB article referencing it. I think it's bogus.
Click to expand...

It's not a bug in ESXi 5.5, it's a compatibility issue with NetApp prior to 8.1.4 or 8.2P4.
ESXi 5.5 changed block device handling internally, it could be optional in earlier ESXi version that NetApp chose not to implement, but now enforced in 5.5. NetApp had to make code change to comply with the change in ESXi 5.5.
 
dilidolo said:
It's not a bug in ESXi 5.5, it's a compatibility issue with NetApp prior to 8.1.4 or 8.2P4.
ESXi 5.5 changed block device handling internally, it could be optional in earlier ESXi version that NetApp chose not to implement, but now enforced in 5.5. NetApp had to make code change to comply with the change in ESXi 5.5.
Click to expand...

Nice detail on a somewhat obscure issue. If I could award reputation there you'd totally get a bunch of it for this answer! :)
 
dilidolo said:
It's not a bug in ESXi 5.5, it's a compatibility issue with NetApp prior to 8.1.4 or 8.2P4.
ESXi 5.5 changed block device handling internally, it could be optional in earlier ESXi version that NetApp chose not to implement, but now enforced in 5.5. NetApp had to make code change to comply with the change in ESXi 5.5.
Click to expand...

This could be it. My co-worker claimed it affected all block devices, not just Netapp, but I'd be willing to bet this was the issue.
 
we run on a 8.0 code with 5.5 iscsi and not had a single issue in the 5 months it's been upgraded to 5.5
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top