ESXi 5.1: Attaching disk with existing data

[Zarathustra[H]]

Hey all,

I have an external eSATA disk which contains existing data, that I need to be connected to a guest on my ESXi server.

Is there a way to have the guest access the drive directly, or do I have to create a virtual disk image on the drive and transfer the data to it?

I see the options in the add disk menu, but I don't want to experiment too much for fear of wiping the disk. (yes, I have backups, but getting them would be a pain)

Appreciate any imput.

 

[stevebaynet]

you can use RDM (raw device mapping)

http://www.tumfatig.net/20120226/raw-device-mapping-of-local-sata-disks-on-esxi/
(hopefully [H] doesnt butcher this link)

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

you can use RDM (raw device mapping)

http://www.tumfatig.net/20120226/raw-device-mapping-of-local-sata-disks-on-esxi/
(hopefully [H] doesnt butcher this link)

Thanks for that link.

I was reading about this, but all the official documentations speaks only to using this with a SAN. I obviously don't have a SAN in my basement, so I didn't know if it would work.

This might wind up being really useful

 

[Vengance_01]

As far as I know, you can pass any device directly. Does not need to be SAN storage. RDM is an RDM

 

[lopoetve]

Not true. RDMs require remote storage - can't do it with local. eSATA - depends on how it shows up, but I'd bet money on "local" so it won't work easily. You could pass through the port though