December 2nd, 2009 
Simon Seagrave 
The much anticipated, at least by me 
, HP Proliant ML110 G6 server is finally here! Bringing up the rear of HP’s Proliant G6 server refresh the ML110 entry level server offers some improved performance and features over the previous Generation 5 (G5) model that I have been using extensively in my home virtualisation lab over the last 12-18 months.
*** IMPORTANT NOTE – MEMORY ***
A few readers have reported issues with using Corsair memory in the HP ML110 G6 as such I would recommend that you use official HP memory (though this is the most expensive option) or memory that others have confirmed will work in this server.
I have my HP ML110 G6 running 16GB (4 x 4GB ECC) Kingston memory, details below:
KINGSTON 4GB 1333MHz ECC
Manufacturer Part Code: KTH-PL313E/4G
Also it would be worth taking a look at Crucial’s approved memory for this server and this will also almost certainly work.
*** UPDATE *** (26/01/2010)
I have now managed to get my hands on an ML110 G6 and as mentioned below, can confirm that the CPU and network cards work just fine – as they are on the VMware HCL. Unfortunately the new B110i disk controller isn’t detected by ESX(i) at all when trying to install or run ESX(i) against it. Hopefully it will be added to the list of installed drivers sometime in the near future but in the meantime bear this in mind when going to purchase one of these new G6’s for a VMware ESX(i) host. Just to confirm, you can still run ESXi from a USB memory stick in the ML110 G6 which in turn can access VMs over an iSCSI connection to a NAS or SAN device – it’s just the local disk controller that doesn’t work with ESX(i).
So What’s New Under The Hood?
Here’s a summary of what’s new with the ML110 G6:
- Processor: Intel Xeon 3400 Series Quad Core Processor
- Memory: DDD3 PC3-10600E (>1333MHz) Memory (instead of DDR2 in the G5)
- Remote Management: Integrated LO100i Lights Out Controller (this was an optional component with the ML110 G4/G5)
- Power Supply: ‘Energy Efficient’ 300W PSU on all models
- Security: Optional Trusted Platform Module (TPM) module
- Case: The facia plate has been redesigned bringing it in line with the styling of other Proliant G6 servers.
So What’s Not New?
As would be expected there are a number of areas that remain the same with the server such as memory – a 16GB max would have been nice though this would mean the ML110 would start encroaching on the ML/DL300 Proliant Series server space.
- Memory: Maximum 16GB
- Disk: SATA Non-hot plug as standard (though can support SAS based disk)
- Disk Controller: SATA integrated
- Network: Single 1Gb NIC Port
- Expansion: 3 x PCI Express slots (Gen1 x4, Gen1 x8 and Gen2 x16) and 1 x 3.3 V PCI
- Warranty: 1 Year (Although the original ML110/115 G5’s came with a 3 year warranty this was scaled back about 9 months ago to a 1 year warranty)
For more technical details check out this HP Proliant ML110 G6 Data Sheet.
HP Proliant ML110 G6 Models:
The following table (click to visit the HP site) provides a summary of the various ML110 G6 servers:
VMware ESX/ESXi Compatibility?
With the increased range of devices now on the VMware ESX/ESXi compatibility list the news is good for the ML110 G6 with both the CPU and Network Adapter being on the list. Although the actual ML110 G6 is not on the ESX/ESXi systems compatibility list it will still work ok at least as far as the CPU and NIC are concerned. It is not clear from the ML110 G6 release documentation what onboard disk controller it is using so I am unable to confirm at this stage if it is compatible though worse case scenario boot it off of the internal USB port with ESXi installed.
Processor:
Network Adapter:
Show Me The Money!
So how much is the ML110 G6 I hear you ask? Well this is the downside in my opinion as where you could pick up a the Xeon based dual core ML110 G5 for about £250 inc VAT a new G6 model with a Xeon X3430 Quad Core CPU, 1GB memory and a 250GB SATA hard disk will set you back £409 ex VAT bringing it closer in price to a HP Proliant 300 series server (eg: ML330 or ML350) which is a couple of hundred pounds extra but more fully featured.
TechHead Final Thoughts…
The G6 release of HP’s ML110 comes with a decent increase in performance around the areas of CPU and memory and with the inclusion of an integrated LO100i remote management controller as standard being a welcomed addition.
From the perspective of purchasing one for use in a work or home virtualization lab the initial advertised price of over £400 makes me start looking at other alternatives. What always made the ML110, as well as the ML115, so special was its fantastic price (ie: sub £250). Another alternative would be to build a VMware ESX/ESXi compatible white box for less – though admittedly not it would not have with the same specification Xeon CPU.
The price of the ML110 G6 just emphasises the value of money that the HP Proliant ML115 G5 Quad Core currently offers at £230’ish, sure it is using DDR2 memory though this will be more than sufficient for most lab and small business production IT environments. Check out my ‘Hot Deals’ sections for some good pricing on the ML115 G5.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the ML110 G6 is a decent server for the money though there are other kids on the block offering similar, if not slightly better value for money on a comparable server offering. I just hope HP decides to drop the price a little to sway the balance back in the favour of the ML110 as the G5 has proven to be a fantastic little server and that when updating the ML115 to a G6 that they don’t bump up its price too much.
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My name is Simon Seagrave and I am a London (UK) based Senior Technology Consultant and vSpecialist working for EMC. 
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Thanks for the heads-up on this Simon – be interested to see how they perform compared to the quad-core ML115. But cost and only 8GB are dissapointing.
That said the PSU change and integrated iLO help – my ML115G5 uses about 140W, all else being equal the new PSU should save ~£25 a year. And the iLO is over £100 – over 3 years maybe the new machine is cheaper!
This new server support FT and VMDirectPath!
Xeon x3430 and x3440 support VT-x and VT-d
[img]http://img709.imageshack.us/img709/8104/x3430.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/8089/x3440.jpg[/img]
Good point Andrea – the FT and Direct Path are definitely are welcome additions and the Hyper-Threading will also be good.
I just need to save up enough money for one of these new ML110 G6′s now.
Cheers,
Simon
Thanks for the update
Has anyone yet tried to put 4GB modules into the machine?
This seller claims that 4GB modules are supported:
http://www.compuram.de/arbeitsspeicher,HP-Compaq,Server,Proliant,ML110+G6.htm (German)
I’d be awesome to get this baby to 16GB.
Sebastian
Hi Sebastian,
I’m not sure TBH. The ‘official’ HP line on the ML110 G6 max memory is:
“Memory:
Four (4) DIMM slots
2GB (1x2GB) or 4GB (2x2GB) Standard/8GB Maximum, using PC3-10600E DDR3 Unbuffered (UDIMM) ECC memory, operating up to 1333MHz”
I would be interested to know if the 4GB DIMMs > 16GB would work if anyone does try though it’d would be something of an expensive risk.
16GB would be great!
Cheers,
Simon
Just ordered two KVR1333D3E9S/4G. Let’s see if it works.
They work! Running with 2x4GB + the original 1GB module now
The Local Controller will work with ESX(i)4.0 by going into the BIOS and changing SATA MODE SELECTION from Compatible to RAID.
OK, I just bought the G6 with 8GB RAM (4 x 2GB) Do you have any idea if it will work I I add ONE 4GB module, (1 x 4GB and 3 x 2GB = 10GB)?
It would be the first step to replacing ALL the 2GB’s with 4GB’s giving 16GB, but there’s no point in wasting money of 4 x 4GB if the BIOS doesn’t handle it properly.
I’m going to order ONE and see what happens, unless someone has already tried it!
I assume it does work with mixed modules. I have 2x 4GB and the extra original 1 GB module. No troubles so far with the 9GB in total.
It’s always safest to use exactly the same modules in all slots. Anything else is try & luck.
Okay this does not help very much…
I’ve just gotten done loading vSphere U1 on the ML110 G6 and changed the disk to AHCI and had no issues with seeing the local disk. I did have to run the install from USB as it had trouble with the DVD.
I’ll be getting 2 of the KVR1333D3E9S/4G which should stick me up to 12GB which is just fine for a home setup.
Now I just need a 2nd to play with HA.
Confirmed. 12GB from 2 sticks of the KVR1333D3E9S/4G and 2 sticks of the stock 2G DIMMs.
[...] the newer G6’es are coming but seem to be much more expensive and less ESX compatible based on Techhead’s view of the ML110 G6 Good morning, I just wanted to let you know the latest info on the ever popular HP ML115 tower [...]
I was able to load esxi by using the non hp version.
Have you tested the newer ML110 G6 with G6950 processor? Is this any different to the Xeon model?
Hi Largerstars,
I haven’t managed to try one of the G6950 CPU ML110 G6 models as yet, though on paper the CPU should be fine for use as a virtualization lab server, it has Intel VT-x and is has 64bit capabilities.
I hope to save up for one to test and review sometime, though the ole TechHead lab budget is somewhat running low at the moment.
All the best,
Si
Hey Si,
regarding the G6950 version of the ML110 – it can be had now for £200 inc VAT so I was thinking of getting one.
What are the limitations compared to the quad core Xeon? Will I just be limited in the number of virtual servers I can run on the dual core? Sorry, new to all this so might be silly questions.
Thanks.
hello
i have a problem
i have hp ml110 g6
how i can setup raid @ crate raid ???
wich key ??
Hi,
Im looking into either purchasing a pre built or making a whitebox server and have been researching for days… I like the look of the ProLiant ML110 G6 but from experience the noise of these servers is pretty extreme for a home lab setup.
Ive also been looking into the home build based around the dual core atom processor. These have low power consumption. Has anyone some good tips/pointers as to the mobo/processor combination I should get? Looking to spend under £200 if pos?
Thanks
Simon
Hi,
I’m also interested in the ML110 G6 and I would also like to know the answers to Shareef’s questions regarding the cheaper G6950.
Thanks
[...] What do you mean by RAID mode? Just got that information from a comment on this website HP Proliant ML110 G6 Released – Still a worthy virtualization work or home lab server? | T… from on of the readers called Jose, they said The Local Controller will work with ESX(i)4.0 [...]
Guys, i am having probs with my ML110 G6. the VSphere installer seems not to like the sata disk, it recognizes it okay but will not install on it. Comes up with an error message “Please insert media”
Can anyone help/
Regards
Hi everybody,
Those results may help…
HP Proliant ML110G6 (P/N:585458-055)
Out of the box config.:
- Xeon 3430
- 1GB ECC (PC3-10600E)
- 250 GB HDD (ST3250310NS)
- DVD model DH20N (LGE-DMDH18NS20)
Local reseller price : 398 EUR (excl.VAT)
ESXi4.1 (260247) is running fine after those two issues :
- Not enough ram
>> 1GB-ECC chip replaced by 2x2GB non-ECC (PC3-10600U)
- CDrom not supported, installation image not found !
(explicit fatal error appearing after the destination selection screen)
>> internal DVD drive replaced by a Sony AD-7230S
No changes on BIOS were made
(SATA on Compatible mode, not RAID)
Installation passed on local HDD
Installation passed on a 2GB USB, local HDD fully usable for a Datastore
I will soon try 4x4GB non-ECC chips and let you know
Regards from France.
CONFIRMED !
ML110G6 works fine with 4x4GB non-ECC modules.
My ESXi4.1.0 is running with 4 x Corsair XMS3 CMX4GX3M1A1333C9 (PC3-10600U) bought 68 EUR (+VAT) each
Bye…
Hi everyone
has anybody tried to install a E200 controller in the ML110 G6 Server? Does it work?
cheers
ScottVega
Hi Sebastian,
Have you gone any higher than 9gb?
I’m looking at putting 16gb in for a lab server.
Cheers,
James
I haven’t done it, but the 4x4GB KVR1333D3E9S combination will work! I know at least 2 people who did that
Hi
I’ve been testing my ML110 G6 X3430 (purchased from serversplus) for a week. Two things are really bugging me:
- The CD-ROM is not detected on the ESXi4 host. I found this information in the ESXi install guide:
“You cannot connect a SATA CD-ROM device to a virtual machine on an ESXi 4.1 host. To use the SATA CD-ROM device, you must use IDE emulation mode.”
I have tried to change the settings in the BIOS, but it doesn’t seem to help. Anyone get the CD drive to work as a host device?
- The LO100i KVM is really really slow. You press a key and wait forever for the screen to update. I’ve got the latest BIOS, LO100i firmwares installed. Also, when accessing the web interface from my Mac 10.6.4 with Safari 5.0.2 I constantly get this message:
“Safari can’t open the page xxxxx because the server unexpectedly dropped the connection. This sometimes occurs when the server is busy….”
Oddly enough I don’t get this when I use Internet Explorer on a Windows XP vm running in VMware Fusion.
I have an older Proliant ML350 G4p with iLO and it is like night and day compared to the LO100i. Yes, I know the ML110 G6 is an entry level server, but I was not expecting such a crap experience when accessing the BIOS or ESXi DCUI. I have contacted HP and spent hours online searching for answers, but HP tell me this is a “feature”.
Any one else experiencing these issues?
Thanks
Try Esxi 4.0 & not 4.1
It will work
It happent to me too and i Try Esxi 4.0 & It worked ok
Hello,
I have the G6 now andwant to install 4x 2gb
But when I install the extra 2 gb module in the black slots
he doesn’t want to start up any more and beeps a few times.
When I remove the dimm and place it only in the white slots it works good.
What are i’am doing wrong ?
thanks for the help
Hello
I am considering the ML 110 G6, however is a bit concerned about the noise of this server as need a very quiet box with raid etc.
Any experiences please?
Hello Morten,
The ML110 G6 is not a quite box, you might consider a standard “silent pc” as available from many vendors and use that as a server.
That said, the ML110 is not terribly loud, so if you work environment isn’t quite anyway, that server won’t be the loudest thing in the room I guess.
Sebastian
Hello Sebastian
Thanks very much indeed for your quick reply.
Will search for a silent pc, but it is a jungle out there.(O:
Morten
Hi Sebastian and Morten,
Thanks for the comments.
I find my ML110 G6 pretty quiet. It is quiet enough that it can be running under my desk and I don’t notice that it is on.
There was an issue when updating the firmware of the ML115 G5 and the fans staying on constantly, making it sound like a jet engine, though the ML110 G6 doesn’t suffer from this issue.
For 95% of home/office lab environments I would consider the ML110 G6 to be quiet enough unless you are after perfect silence where a silent PC would definitely be best.
All the best,
Si
Hi Freerk,
It sounds like you may be mixing your memory module types. Are all of your memory modules the same make/model? Or are they mixed, if so what are they?
If I was to guess I would say you’re trying to mix some registered and unregistered memory DIMMs into the server.
Cheers,
Si
Hi,
I have the same issue installing ESXi 4.1 onto the ML110 G6. The problem is down to there not being correct CD/DVD drivers in the ESXi install process hence it not being detected. Once installed however the CD/DVD drivers used in the running and operation of ESXi 4.1 are available hence it being detected within the vCenter client.
Unfortunately the only way around it is to swap out the CD/DVD drive, which is probably a little drastic since you’ll only be installing ESXi occasionally, boot ESXi off of a USB memory stick or use an external USB based CD/DVD drive to perform the install.
Interesting feedback re: the ILO100i. To be honest I never bothered buying it as I bought one for my ML110 G5 and like you found it a disappointing experience. I expected a little more performance.
Thanks for the comments.
Cheers,
Si
Hi Scott,
I haven’t tried it though technically there isn’t any reason why it shouldn’t work as it just uses a standard PCIe connection. Unfortunately I have my e200 controller running VMs in my ML110 G5 at the moment so can’t remove it to confirm.
Cheers,
Si
“Once installed however the CD/DVD drivers used in the running and operation of ESXi 4.1 are available hence it being detected within the vCenter client.”
Hi Simon,
Can you please clarify what you mean. I have ESXi 4.1 running off a USB stick and when I try to add the CD/DVD as a host device from the vClient I get “No devices available”.
Regards
Jonathan
Hi Jonathan,
Unfortunately I won’t be back home for another week to double check, though from memory (so could be wrong
) the CD/DVD drive was detected by the ESX/ESXi host once installed. Admittedly the last time I tested that it was on a loan unit I managed to get my hands on when the ML110 G6 first came out.
I only just last week bought my own ML110 G6 Xeon – finally had enough money to splash out for one.
I’ll check when I get back home and will let you know.
Cheers,
Si
Does anybody know if 8gb modules are supported?
When this was first released, HP specs said a maximum of 8gb can be installed. When the 4gb modules became available, HP then changed the spec to a max support of 16gb which is what I have installed. Now I have a xeon 3470 processor which supports upto 32gb of registered ddr3 ram. Sissoft sandra also reports the same. Can somebody please confirm or know whether if this will work?
Not sure about the 8GB DIMMs TBH. Like yourself I am running 4 x 4GB DIMMS quite happily. I’ll talk to one of my contacts on the HP Proliant team to see if they can confirm one way or another.
Cheers,
Simon
Hi Si, specifically what DIMMS are you using? (Crucial memory product number?) Regards, Dunc
Hi Dunc,
I’m using Kingston memory:
Kingston Part No: KTH-PL313E/4G
HP Equiv. Part No: NL797AA
They cost me £75 each from Servers Plus though I notice that you can now pick them up cheaper from the likes of LamdaTek (£47.40 ex VAT!).
Cheers,
Si
Hi,
I am also running a M110 G6 with ESX 4.1.
The issues I have noticed besides having to install from a USB connected CD/DVD are:
In configuration/processors – Hyperthreading is disabled.
This is enabled in the BIOS, but can’t get it to enable in ESX.
In configuration/advanced “Host does not support passthrough” which doesn’t allow the use of the USB ports in the VMs.
-M
I’m a newbie to vmware and I just purchased an HP ML110 G6. I installed ESXi 4.1 with no issues from the onboard CD-ROM drive. Now if I could just figure out where to add the license key, I would be all set.
Hi Kiwi Si.
I was wondering if you have mixed up the Kingston modules with the original memory.
I have a spare original 1GB module from a lab server at work and I was hoping to be able to reach 10GB by mixing up 2x4GB and 2x1GB.
I guess it should work ok. We should see.
I have also bought a OCZ Vertex 2E 120GB SSD.
All this should make a nice home server.
Looking forward to set it all up by the end of the week when all the bits and pieces arrive.
Thanks
Hi Javier,
I have only ever used the Kingston DIMMs together as I have four of them and they fully populate the DIMM sockets. Depending on what type of memory DIMMs the 1GB modules are will determine if they will work alongside your Kingston DIMMs.
Adding the OCZ SSD will definitely give you a really nice lab server indeed. What are you intending to run on it?
Cheers,
Si
Si.
I will be using two of the original HP 1GB modules that come with the server.
I guess that by setting up the 4GB on slots 2 and 4 and the 1GB on 1 and 3 it will balance the memory correctly on both channels.
I plan to use the server for a vsphere lab running:
1 2003 DC with DNS
1 2008 R2 for vCenter
2 vESXi
1 vyatta v Router
Others on and off when needed.
The server with a macbook (with Kingston V+ V2 SSD) and IMAC with 2 TB external storage using FW should give me enough to play around
Cheers
Anyone can confirm if a Sapphire HD5450 ATI card can run on the PCI 16x slot? I am getting 4 beeps and no boot.
Simon and all.
I have setup the ml110 G6 with 10 GB: 2x KTH-PL313E/4G and 2x 1GB original memory and it all works well.
Just waiting for the SSD drive to arrive to set it all up.
Guys, I’m trying to decide on a home switch that supports all the standard stuff for virtualization.
Many people mentions the Cisco SLM2008 which it is very cheap considering the features.
However, reading user reviews, many people say that they don’t last long, normally breaking within the first year of life.
Could anyone share their experiences with it?
Thanks all.
I want to buy one of these; the CPU supports 32GB of RAM.
Anyone try an 8GB memory module? Working?
Thanks
Hi
Anyone put a cost effective additional Network Card in? If so please provide info on which, where and how much?
Thanks.
Hi Jay,
This NIC is supported in ESX(i)4.x
http://www.alternate.nl/html/product/Netwerk_PCI_Express/Intel%28R%29/EXPI9301CT/341448/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Netwerk&l2=Netwerkadapters&l3=PCI+Express
It is a Intel Gigabit CT Desktop Adapter, based on
the Intel® 82574L Gigabit Ethernet Controller.
In ESXi the adapter presents as aIntel 82574
I have two of these NICs running in HP ML110G5 and ML110G6
Hope this helps,
Regards,
Paul
Excellent blog. Thanks to Simon and others. I read this blog too many times to understand the things properly.
Please read my below statements answer/correct/comment on the same.
1. xeon x3430 and NIC 107i 1G LOM are listed in vmware HCL for installing esx 4(i). but entire box ML 110 G6 is not listed in vmware HCL.
2. ML 110 G6 is FT compatible. what are the other things I need to take care of to let FT fully functional.
(I am planning to buy 2 servers to build my home lab. I am desperate to test FT in my lab.)
3.I can also try VT-D, DPM (?), vcloud director but not vma.
4.People are facing some trouble installing esx(i) in to the local harddisk because of the raid controller is not supported. I want to install esx(i) in my local hard disk as well as in a USB. Please let me know the precautions to get rid of compatibility issues .
5. Generally Servers need cooling (Air Condition). I don’t have A/C machine at my home. Do you think this will impact my Lab Servers.
Thanks in Advance.
AJ
Hi
I can’t even boot my ml110 g6 with 2x4GB dimm (Corsair cmv4gx3m1a1333c9). Are there any tricks or operations to do in the bios or elsewhere that you can suggest me?
Thank you from an HP newbie
I get the same problem. Boots to BIOS with the original HP memory (ECC) but it I remove and put in the same Corsair memory 4x4GB (CMX4GX3M1A1333C9) I can’t get to the BIOS ans just get beeps!!!
Help?
Doesn’t actually seem that the server supports this memory at all
Hi Jamie,
Sorry to hear about the problems you’ve experienced with the memory in the ML110 G6. Thank you for taking the time to let us all know as I know it will help prevent others from also falling foul of the same issue. I have updated this post warning others about the potential memory compatibility issues they may experience.
I hope you now have the problem all sorted.
Thanks,
Simon
Hi, I am from Singapore. Got the HP Prolaint ML110G6 and 3 x KVR133D3N9/2G.
Same problem as some of you mentioned. Only hear beeps when booting up. I tried without mixing the new memory and the stock one, same problem as well.
Been through the BIOS setting a couple of times and still cannot find any setting for the memory portion.
If anyone has a solution, please share. Thanks.
That is because the KVR1333D3N9/2G is non ECC memory. Memory must be ECC compatible like KTH-PL313E/2G.
Just came back to this and you need ECC memory or will get just the beeps! Found out the hard way that this server does not support non-ECC memory. I have also purchased the Kingston memory and can confirm that does work (KTH-PL313E/4G).
To confirm the server does not accept non-ECC memory!
I confirm what mark and Jamie Richards told in their posts: memory need to be ECC. I’ve bought two dimm (kingston KTH-PL313E/2G) and the server boot with no problem (with 5 Gb RAM, 2×2 Gb + the 1Gb HP dimm present in the server).
Thank you very much
Hi, I ahve the same problem, with the same card. Did you come right with this card or another on the ML110 G6.
I’ve upped the PSU to 550W.
Keen on getting ML110 G6 but have been so confused what the difference is between models
(585458-035) 1GB RAM Svr/TV
(506667-031) 2GB RAM Server
Essentially the appear to be the same with one slight difference RAM.
The latter appears to be a standard base model.
The 585458-035 model is labeled Svr/TV! Can’t see that that means anything useful.
Any thoughts folks. What is the difference?
Hi, no even got HP to DOA it and replace it. But still no luck, I eventually sold it. They do have a list of tested cards and this was not listed. It does support the NVIDIA Quadro FX 580
& FX 380 (http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/DS_00178/DS_00178.pdf)
Good luck…
I have 3x 1GB sticks taken directly out of 3 ML110 G6 boxes (I’ve maxed these boxes out to 16GB each using the Kingston RAM listed at the top of Simon’s article). For those of you on a budget, anyone interested in these sticks at a reasonable price before I pop them on eBay?
I’ve bougt these dimms (now cheaper than ever!):
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/267176/kingston-valueram-kvr1333d3e9sk2-8g.html
Now running with 12 GB (got standard 2 Gb + 2GB action) on ESX4i.
I’ve als added an Intel pro GB nic (pci). Works like a charm.
The processor (xeon 3430) does not support HT.
I hope this can be helpfull for anyone on this fine website.
Hi Rene,
Thanks for letting us know about the good deal on the memory.
12GB should do the job nicely in your lab.
Cheers,
Simon
I’ve now got 3 ML110 G6s, all maxed out to 16GB each. Before I put them on eBay, can anyone on a shoestring budget make use of 3x 1GB original factory fitted DIMMs that I now have no use for?
Sorry if I’m asking a silly question but trying to build my home lab and before wasting money having an assurance would be really nice.
I don’t need any raid on the disks so if I disable the raid mode of the controller would I be able to use the local disks for installation/datastore? Unfortunately I still don’t have a dedicate storage so I have to live with local disks at least for the time being. Can anybody confirm this?
Otherwise my option would be getting an HP ProLiant ML150 G6, Xeon E5520 2.26 GHz, 4 GB, Tower which seems to be even on the VMWare HCL for ESX (so I supposes ESXi as well should not have problems) which is far way more expensive but yet my only other option…
Unofrtunately here in Swtizerland is not that easy to find good server deals
If anybody can advice me I would really really appreciate it.
Hello Fred,
As fas as I know the controller in my ML110 G6 (xeon 3430) doesn’t have raid options in the bios. I’ve read on the HP site that it is available as an option (about 175 euro). I guess you get a new bios with raid enabled. After all it’s just a Intel Ibex Peak (ICH10?) 6 ports SATA controller, with 2 ports for opticals and 4 for SATA disks.
You could always try to get a server from abroad (Germany) because prices in Switserland are way too high for hardware.
Good luck.
Hi Rene,
thanks a lot for your reply, and thanks to Simon for hosting the discussion
, after checking the vendor’s description I even found the server is not sold with the bi110(sp?) controller but with a HP Smart Array P212 (256 MB) Controller (RAID 0/1/1+0/5/5+0) which if memory serves should even be compatible with ESX. My main problem is/will be just installing locally as I don’t have any NAS available at the moment 
Yes i know prices up here are far from being great problem is I’m Italian and even would not know where in Germany look for a server (even if in the change EUR -> CHF the price in the end is almost the same…).
Again thanks for the reply, I will try to look around and see what comes out.
Cheers F.
Having some real problems trying to get a working ESXi system
* ML110 G6
* 2x4GB KINGSTON ECC RAM KVR1333D3E9S/4G
* 1xGB HP (SYSTEM) RAM
* P212 RAID with BBWC
* 4x1TB SATA in RAID 5 on the above controller
* Embedded B110i RAID disabled.
* Installed ESXi custom HP version.
ESXi boots and dies horribly with a VMK (purple shell screen) world 14 error after about 3mins after loading successfully.
Tried this 10 or so times now with varying configurations and settings – all with same end result. grrr
Thoughts anyone?
When When I look at he kernel log – I see a hp entry last on the log.
My final thoughts are to take out the 1GB HP memory, also try a non HP custom/standard ESXi image.
Only tried ESXi 4.1. Should I consider 4.0?
Paul
Hi Paul
The problem is the HP-Version of ESXi. It’s got some customized agents for hardware which is not present in the ML110 therefore it terminates with a PSOD (Pink Screen of Death). Use the standard VMWare ESXi 4.1 image. That will work. My ML110 has almost the same configuration and works like charm with the VMWare version of ESXi. The only bummer is that all the HP agents are not present.
I hope this helps!
cheers
scottvega
Hi,
This is a really useful site, thaks for it.
I struggling with a HP Proliant ML110 G6 and ESXi.
This is a new G6950 CPU server (with 1×2 GB ram, NC107i integrated PCIe nic, 2×250 GB SATA disks, B110i integrated raid controller). The original DVD was replaced to a Sony 7260S.
WHen I tried to install ESXi 4.0 I got “Unable to find a supportable device to write image to.” I tried to manipulate the Raid controller settings, but the AHCI and the Compatible mode got the same result.
In the next round I tried to install 4.1. It can be installed, but I get “Boot Failed” after restart.
The Raid controller was also used for some attempts, but it seemsuseless in ESXi; when only 1 disk was assigned to the array, the installer showed both of my disks…
I’d like to build a home labor for exam preparations only, so the RAID is not important.
For testing the hardware, I tried to install Hyper-V. It works well, but ESXi is the preffered solutions for me
Was anybody managed to install the ESXi (any version) to the local drives on the same hardware? Can the usage of USB disk solve the problem?
Thanks
Szilard
Gutted! Windows Server 2008 R2 FOUNDATION not supported as a guest OS – non ESXi HCL. After finally getting ESXi working (thanks folks), I tried to install the HP ROK version of the Windows Server above and it fails – saying unsupported platform. The Win OS is BIOS locked to only install on HP platform, natively it seems.
I was thinking of trying P2V but unsure of how this would work. I think the BIOS lock only applies at install, hopefully.
Anyone have any ideas for workarounds? I really wanted to virtualise.
#Lesson learned – check HLC for guest OS too!
Hi Paul
Just ask Google!
http://tinyurl.com/6zrvxga
It’s pretty simple!
Cheers
ScottVega
Yes, an USB connected disk resolved the problem.
The installed Hyper-V caused PSoD (two UUID in the system), but the HP disk erase utility solved the problem
Szilard
Hi,
Probably been asked before, but can ESXi run on the HP Proliant ML110 G6 Dual Core G6950?
If so, what are the limitations of dual core over quad?
How many very low demand lab type VM’s can I expect to run with 8GB RAM?
Apologies for the newb question, but I’m sure there’s a few other’s out there.
Many thanks,
Nick
Hi,
The G6950 works with VMware ESXi 4.0 and 4.1 on ML110 G6.
I will put some screens on my website when i have some time left
Greets,
I have similar situation. I have ML110 G6 with P212 raid card with 4 1TB WD RE3 hdds. I can install and boot ESXi 4.1 to the hdds in RAID 1. However, my goal is to install and boot from USB stick. I have the HP part number 608447-B21 2GB USB stick. I am able to install ESXi 4.1 to the USB easily but when I attempt to boot from USB I get “Boot Failed” message repeated every second. Did you have this problem when you install and boot from USB? Thank you.
Having been an owner of the ML110 series Servers for many years I too have just indulged in a G6 series.
My first unit being the G4 Xeon Dual-core 1.86Ghz. This machine has served well running SBS2003 and is the current “live” environment for me outside of work.
I also wanted to get to grips with ESXi so I purchased the series 5 dual-core Xeon 2.33Ghz. I went with 4.1 installed onto the internal USB slot via pen drive and this works well. Again the usual RAID controller wouldn’t identify so we’re talking JBOD and offline backups of images. Had several VMs on there, all of which were 2008 server incarnations. It works well but hasn’t quite the cpu horsepower for heavy load servers if running more than 3 or 4 demanding servers.
The G6 is the Xeon quad-core 2.4ghz variety and I’ll be doing something similar to the G5 except I’ll be trying out Exchange 2010 and Forefront. I have got my 8GB worth of crucial ECC ram ready to install and the aim is to ideally have 10GB ram in there (if someone has a 1GB HP module they’d like to sell on I may be interested).
Slightly disappointing that the G6 also doesn’t support ESXi and clearly isn’t a proper hardware and battery backed solution. I’ll stick with this for now considering a decent HBA will likely cost half that of the server!.
I’ll keep an eye on this interesting forum and also update if I have anything interesting I discover along the way with building the G6.
All the best,
Darren
Hi guys,
Some good posts on here but I’ve managed to confuse myself! I am looking at purchasing an ML110 G6 and max-ing out the ram to 16GB as well as installing ESXi 4.1. I currently run an ML115 G5 and have ESXi 4.1 running off a USB stick and I would be looking to do the same thing with the ML110.
Just to clarify will I be able to run ESXi 4.1 from a USB stick on the ML110? Also I’ve read a few things regarding the local storage, will I be able to address this purely for VM storage and ISO storage once ESXi 4.1 is actually up and running?
Cheers!
Pete
answer to your questions. Yes, it does run from USB stick (>2GB).
You will be able to use the local storage, but not in a RAID configuration with the onboard controller.
HTH – Mark
Hi Nick,
Good question, not a newb question at all. As Wallie has confirmed the Dual Core Intel G6950 will technically run ESXi v4.1 ok as it has the required Intel-VT and the Intel 64 instructions onboard the die. For more details see: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=43230
As for how how many low demand lab type VMs you can on it unfortunately leads to a “it depends” answer as this number will be determined on the number and type of disk(s) you’ll be running from along with things such as how many of the VMs will be of the same OS type so they can take advantage of the memory overcommitment/sharing feature.
However to give you an example, I could run 4 low workload VMs comfortably on my ML110 G5 with 8GB of memory. Any more than that I would expect the disk (assuming you’ll be running them from a single local hard disk) to be your bottleneck and then you memory.
The ML110 G6 can take up to 16GB of memory (which is what I’m running) and 4GB compatible DIMMs are relatively quite cheap at the moment – this would likely take care of any memory concerns you may have.
Hope this helps.
Simon
Hi Peter,
My main lab server is an ML110 G6 with 16GB of memory, I am running ESXi v4.1 off of a USB key which occupies the internal USB slot. I however don’t run my VMs from local disk, although I could, but rather from my Iomega IX4 SAN/NAS appliance. The reason I do this is that it gives me 4 spindles of IO in a RAIDED configuration which is able to be shared with any other servers I introduce into my lab environment.
Hope this helps,
Simon
Just thought I’d share with everyone a rather useful support doc for the Integrated ML110 G6 ILO features, capabilities and configurations.
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c02063205/c02063205.pdf
Hi Simon,
Thanks for your reply. Great to hear its doable with the G6950 and by the sounds of it perfectly adequate for what I need. Looking to install 4/5 MS VM’s including Exchange, simply to install, test and learn. Will try and get away with 8GB RAM to start with and see how I go, but an additional HDD certainly makes sense. Got the technet sub and the hardware’s on its way. Will let you know how I go.
Cheers, Nick
Hello Jim,
Sorry, but I didn’t try to install the ESXi to an USB stick.
But take a look at this site:
http://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1301340042750+28353475&threadId=1445457
And as I red, others could manage to install it to USB stick, so someone may help you.
Good luck!
Szilard
Hi Paul,
Useful doc – thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Simon
Hi Nick,
Excellent, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your new additional to your lab!
When buying your memory I would recommend 2 x 4GB modules as this will then leave 2 spare memory sockets which will allow you to take it up to 16GB at a later stage.
Look forward to hearing how you get on.
Cheers,
Simon
Hi guys, is the problem with the CDrom-drive already solved? Would like to install ESXi on the harddrive it self
Hi All,
I have worked as a Systems Administrator for last 11 years on Windows NT to 2003 and now slowly switching to Windows 2008. Implemented Exchange Server, ISA and Web servers ect.
However, I am completely NEW to this and I am in the process of learning VMWare and Citrix as the need has now arrived in the place where I am currently working.
I have convinced my company to buy the CBTs for VMWare and Citrix, but NOW I have realised that if I don’t have my own LAB at home its not easy to just learn this technology.
I am not sure whether I am asking a wrong question here, but just want to a try and would appreciate if you any one could answer this.
_____________________________
I am hoping to buy this server http://www.serversplus.com/servers/server_bundles/585458-035%23esxi#
Questions
=========
1) Could I install Citrix and VMWare on this Server?
2) If YES, is it necessary to upgrade the memory from 4GB to 8GB?
Thank you
Hi guys, just installed esxi 4.1 from CD on a ML110 G6 with a G6950 processors, works just fine. No USB needed.
Hi there,
I’m getting the beeps of death on my new ML110 when trying to boot with some extra RAM.
After (what I thought was) careful reading, I bought a couple of sticks of KTH-PL313/4G. Looking on the Kingston site it says this memory is ECC and registered. Reading the comments you guys have had success with KTH-PL313E/4G – which according to the Kingston site says ECC too.
I didn’t think reg’d memory should be a problem???
Thanks for any help!
Cheers
My ML110G6 X3430 4x4GB(KTH-PL313E/4G) installed smoothly with ESXi 4.1 with usb CD-ROM.
I was wondering since x3430 does not have hyper-threading, will it affect the ESXi performance? How about the features?
I also notice that ML110 G7 is coming out. It seems like E3-1230 and above will have support all ESXi feature with hyper-threading, VT-x, VT-d, etc.
Just hope the price will remain very affortable for home lab.
Hi there,
The Intel x3430 based ML110 G6 will in almost all circumstances be fine for most lab environments. I wouldn’t worry about it not having HT as in my experience you’ll almost always saturate your memory, even with 16GB installed, before you run out of CPU resource.
The HP ML110 G7 does sound like a nice unit, hope to get my hands on one to review sometime soon.
Have fun with your ML110
Simon
Hi Simon,
Thats interesting because i’m finding my Win2008R2 taking 100% CPU when just doing routine updates WSUS. When I look at at taskman I show only one core – despite being configured with 4 vCPUs. I looked for some answers from but didn’t find anything that clearly answered my question
http://communities.vmware.com/message/845000?tstart=0
Perhaps someone can advise here?
Hello Paul,
Did you finally get an answer about the difference between 585458-xx5 and 506667-xx1 models?
I am willing to buy the 585458-xx5 model which is much cheaper (at least in France). The problem is I can’t find this model in HP Quick Specs so I can confirm that supports 16 GO of RAM. However 506667-xx1 model seems to be supporting 16 GO
Thank you in advance for your answer.
have someone tried with this modul KTH-PL3/8GB I’m hoping to get 32GB ram in my server
I have a Xeon x3440 processor and heat sync I bought for another system. I’m wondering whether I can buy an HP ProLiant ML110 with the Pentium G6950 processor and switch the processor for the Xeon I have since they carry the same socket and most motherboards I see on the Internet that support the Xeon X3400 also support this same processor.
Does anyone know whether I can just upgrade the Pentium to the Xeon and if whatever heatsink etc is in the G6 would be compatible?
Thanks.
Hi Simon,
Thanks for the response. I’ll give it a try.
Hi,
I was wondering.
If using a near maxed out setup.
- 4 HDDs configured for four different datastores with VMs spread over those.
- 16Gb memory
How many VMs do you manage to crank?
Of course dependant on what actually running on the VMs, but looking for some real world examples.
Thanks in advance.
Max
Hiya all,
To answer my own question.
Currently I am running approximately 8VMs on a host, mix of OS’s and applications. Think I can add at least a couple more.
Loosing network connection.
Hi all ML110G6′ers
I have an issue where I keep loosing my network connection on the ML110G6 with ESXi.
It runs fine for somewhere between a couple of minutes to a few hours. The only way to restore network is to reboot. First i thought id had to do with the built in network card so I bought a supported one, but the issue is still there.
Have anyone else experienced the same?
Best Regards
Max
Hi!
I have a ML110 G6 Xeon 3430, Im trying to setup a RAID 1 to install the ESXi 4.1 on that, I have setup the RAID option in the BIOS, but when the ESXi install process prompts for the HDD to install it, I do not see the RAID 1, instead I see the disks even if I install it on a none RAID option I finally get a Boot Failed post.
Any Idea
Thank You
Hi,
There is a promotion avilable on ebuyers website for £110 cash back if you buy and get it delivered before the end of June.
So for £380 I got, ML110 Xeon 3430 G6, 1TB HDD, and 8GB RAM kit.
bargin! (i bought mine from Misco and used the voucher from ebuyers site)
I installed a DVD drive out of an old HP desktop (ill see if i can get the model later), and ESXi 4.1u1 installed with no issues at all. No changes made in the BIOS at all.
Also for those of you using older versions of ESXi, try using VMWare Go, its simply awesome for upgrading your servers! Requires .Net being installed but took all the hassle out of upgrading my old boxes.
cheers,
Jon
Hello Guys,
Did anyone try to boot on an ISO from the Lights-out ?
I mounted a virtual media (which is ESXi ISO image in this case) using the lights-out but I can’t get my ML110 G6 to recognize the virtual media. Actually it doesn’t even appear on the boot devices list in the Bios.
Is my Lights-out card damaged or you have the same issue?
HP reported that this problem could happen sometimes but in my case it didn’t even work once : http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&taskId=110&prodSeriesId=3984625&prodTypeId=15351&prodSeriesId=3984625&objectID=c02781676
And it seems to be working for this guy : http://www.tricksguide.com/use-virtual-media-applet-cd-dvd-hp-lights-out-100i-lo100i-hp-server.html
Could you please try and tell me whether you can boot from the Lights-Out before I contact HP support ?
PS : you need an Advanced license to get the Virtual Media feature. You can eventually get a 60-days evaluation license on HP website.
Thank you very much
Hi there,
Whilst doing a fair amount of research on this server, I came across this page. I’m considering the following:
http://www.serversplus.com/servers/server_bundles/585458-035%23esxi
Can anyone shed any light on how much power this draws ? As I’m thinking of using this as a combined storage server and VM platform it may well be on at least 16 hours a day if not 24×7. Therefore power consumption may well become a consideration.
Thanks
Rob
Hi guys,
Apologies in advance if this isn’t the right forum but I’m looking to sell an HP ML110 G6 X3430 (16GB RAM). I purchased it around 2 months ago but have just been provided with a full lab through work so it is now surplus to requirements.
Please let me know if you’re interested.
Thanks
Pete
does anyone know which slot the USB port on the motherboard is using?
there’s:
00:1a.0, Slot 26
00:1d.0, Slot 29
I want to passthrough the either the front or rear USB but avoiding the one on the motherboard where i’ve got a flashdrive with the ESXi installed
mucho gracias
Hey Pete,
How to get in touch with you? How much are you asking?
Hi All,
Via a post elsewhere about HP’s cash back offer I ended up here researching the unit. Bought one + extra ram as per the advice here & in contrast to other peoples experiences, have managed to load up ESXi 4.1 without problem.
Until now
The unit boots (completely) from the internal usb stick without errors but the whole thing coredumps after about 90 secs running.
Unit is standard except: 9GB ram (2x 4GB in 1+3 (Kingston KTH-PL313E/4G) & original 1Gb stick). Updated BIOS to 15/12/2010 as per HP’s instructions.
Anyone kindly got any suggestions please?
Thanks.
Hi Mark
Did you use the HP Version of ESXi? If yes, then it won’t work because the HP Agents included in that version are searching for Hardware that is not present on the ML110 only in ML350 and above. Thats why you get a PSOD. Use the standard VMWare Image. Then it will work.
Cheers
Scott Vega
Hi Scott,
HP ESXi, yes, freshly downloaded this morning.
Shall download the VMWare image now.
Many thanks for the reply, appreciated.
Regards,
Mark.
Hi Sam,
You can contact me on pvdhouten@gmail.com for further info.
Thanks
Pete
or follow this post deleting the sections which cause the PSOD
http://forum.lettronics.com/forums/thread/1273.aspx
worked for me
Hello,
It’s me again about the Lights-Out virtual media issue (posted on June the 20th).
Could you please tell me if anyone tried the virtual media of the Lights-Out ?
I did another test by mounting an ISO file using the virtual media but this time I installed Windows on my server to see if the virtual CD-ROM would show up(I installed a Windows Server 2008 R2 on my ML110 G6 to do the test). But nothing … It seems that the Virtual Media is not working for me. Am I doing anything wrong ?
Thanks a lot for your help
Thanks for the heads up Sid. While HP ESXi was still on the stick I had a look at your link, found & commented out the sections in two places & rebooted. Unfortunately same PSOD.
Did you edit the files prior to usb copy or on the stick as I did?
Cheers, Mark.
p.s. glad I got the VMWare image yesterday as their sites off-line this morning.
Ah i think that is because you’re probably still using the onboard chipset for RAID. I’ve got an E200 card.
In that case, follow Scott’s advice and use the vanilla non-HP image
thanks, Sid
just installed esxi HP proliant enabled version and have the same issue with an ML110 G6…now i know what to do
thx
Can anyone tell me the make and model of the sata disk in the ML110 G6 as I am unsure of what 1TB sata disks I should buy with the server. Any other sata disk recommendations would be great. Thx
The drive that came standard in the Pentium-based G6 is the HP 250GB 3G SATA 7.2K RPM (GB0250EAFYK).
I personally installed 2 Seagate 1TB 3.5″ Barracuda (ST31000524AS) SATA-III 6Gb/s Hard Drive – 7200RPM 32MB Cache in my G6. While I accept the server isn’t going to take advantage of the 6Gb/s, I got them at a pretty good price and I personally find them to be blazing.
You can check the HP’s PassMark results here: http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd.php?hdd=GB0250EAFYK and the Seagate’s here: http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd_lookup.php?hdd=Seagate+ST31000524AS.
Sam, Thx for replying so quickly. I subsequently found that serversplus.com had a number of disks in the ML110 G6 options pane (here http://www.serversplus.com/servers/server_bundles/585458-035%23esxi) that included Hitachi, WD & Seagate. Interestingly there were no Samsungs, which may tie up with a forum comment I saw saying that HP.de did not recommend the use of Samsung disks in this server!
I am definitely going to go for some Seagate Barracudas after your recommendation. Thanks again.
Hi,
I am having troubles installing ESXi on the Ml 110 G6 too.
I’ve purchased two so I can do FT and VMware Motion. I’m going to be using a third server as a SAN therefore don’t want to use local hard drive.
As stated above on the following quote, it’s exactly what I would like to implement. “You can still run ESXi from a USB memory stick in the ML110 G6 which in turn can access VMs over an iSCSI connection to a NAS or SAN device”
Unfortunately when I try to do this, and having followed many steps I still have not managed to implement it. ESXi loads, then installs, but the server reboots at the end (with prompt) and starts reloading it all again.
Any guide or process you too? I created the bootable USB stick using unetbootin windows version 494.
Any help, thoughts really appreciated.
(using Kingston 2GB Data Traveler card)
Hi All,
Im thinking of buying a ML110. What are peoples experience of building w2k8 vms on the server ? Does it take a few hours ?
My last vmware test box was a DL140 G3.
Cheers
Stuart
Problem sorted. ESXi was being stupid. Disconnected the local HD and ESXi installed on the USB perfectly.
Not that long.
I have a couple of ML110 G6′s (16GB RAM each) and an HP MicroServer with Openfiler installed as my SAN/NAS.
The ML110′s have ESXi 4.1 installed on the USB stick (I did this on a desktop via downloading the ESXi ISO, loading up VMware Workstation, mounting the ISO, pluging in the USB [allowing usb peripherals on Workstation] then instead of installing ESXi to the Virtual HD, I installed it onto the USB]
once the installation completed on the USB, I put this into the internal USB port of the ML110, booted up, configured accordingly and bobs your uncle.
Installing an OS, depends on network speed (if using SAN) and also your RAM/Processor, but should not take too long. Will be doing this tomorrow.
Thanks,
Gabi.
Hi Gabi
Nice setup..
Creating a new vm on my Dl140 can take 4 hours +_. Im guessing its the standard on-baord RAID controller.
Let me know how you get on with the builds.
Cheers
Stuart
Stuart,
Thanks, it’s not full, but I wanted a small production environment to play around with, should help towards the exam, Did a mock today and I only got 50%, which was a 30 question test, shamefull.
Anyhow, installation time.
I timed it from accepting the license terms and choosing the HD until it automatically restarts (does it a couple of times), continues saying “setup is preparing your computer for first use” then asks you to change the password. This took 52 minutes and 49 seconds.
On this test I used the the following equipment;
1 x ML110 G6 Quad core with 16GB RAM, 1 NIC. ESXi 4.1 Evaluation.
1 x HP Pro 3125 (desktop) running Windows 7 Pro 32 bit, 3GB Ram, 1 x HD @ 7200rm, with OpenFiler 2.3 32bit installed on VirtualBox as a VM with 512 RAM.
1 X Netgear Pro Safe 10/100 switch
Installing Server 2008 R2 64 bit on the shared OpenFiler storage, giving it 4GB of RAM and a 40 gig HD.
I must admit, starting up the OS isn’t the quickest, understandably, as I am running many things of the workstation as well as OpenFiler.
When using a dedicated SAN/NAS with an increased amount of spindles, there should be a great improvement on performance as a whole (I hope)
Hope this helps.
Thanks,
Gabi
[...] regularly receive new comments on blog post “HP Proliant ML110 G6 Released – Still a worthy virtualization work or home lab server?” and I notice that people often encounter problems while configuring the G6 or installing [...]
Hey
What did you contact at HP have to say about the 8Gb modules
Hello,
I’m thinking of buying a HP ProLiant ML110 G6 and have a few questions,
I’ve only seen people talking about ESXi, can you can install Windows Server 2008 R2 natively with no problems? The second question, can you put 2TB drives in?
Many Thanks
Sam
[...] Building your own VMware vSphere lab – A step by step guide. Part 1 – Lab Overview (TechHead) HP Proliant ML110 G6 Released – Still a worthy virtualization work or home lab server? (TechHead) VMware vSphere ESX: Install, Configure, Manage – Preparing your Test Lab (TechHead) [...]
ML110 g6 + an E200 card (from a ML115 G5) works, but you need to select GEN 1 PCIe in the Advanced Chipset features.
PLESE SENT WIN 7 DRIVERS ORNHOW TO CONFIGURE
A bit more testing and it seems that just changing the boot order so that the E200 card boots first is sufficient, I’ve reset GEN 1 to Auto now and seem to be having no further problems
Anybody test the 110 G7 with ESXi v5?
Hi Rixter,
Sure have and it can confirm it works fine. I have a ML110 G7 review coming up soon which may help.
Cheers,
Simon
Simon, that’s awesome. I was out pricing some whiteboxes today with Intel MB’s and I’m undecided if I should spring for an M110 G7 or go no-name and save a few $$$s. I’m looking fwd to your review.
Cheers
Ric
Hi Ric, If for a home lab type scenario have you considered a pair of HP Microservers, as HP are still running the HP £100 cash back deal on them. Let us know how you get on.
Cheers,
Simon
Simon, I’m over in Canada (across the pond) so no deals over here. What model are the ‘Microservers’. I noticed that the ML110 supports either Xeon or iCore processors. According to the VMware HCL they only ‘officially’ support Xeon processors if I filter through the list of Intel motherboards http://www.vmware.com/resources/compatibility/search.php?deviceCategory=server&productid=19508&deviceCategory=server&releases=76&systemTypes=4&page=4&display_interval=10&sortColumn=Partner&sortOrder=Asc
I would sure like to get an ML150, but when I start pricing out dual CPU and more than 16GB of RAM, I might as well buy another ML110
Simon, that’s awesome. I was out pricing some whiteboxes today with Intel MB’s and I’m undecided if I should spring for an M110 G7 or go no-name and save a few $$$s. I’m looking fwd to your review.
Cheers
Ric
I had 5 x 600GB HDD. Configure all 5 of them to a single RAID 5. After I installed ESXi 4.1, I saw the entire 2.18TB in LUN 0.
However, when I try to create a brand new datastore, I am unable to get the full 2.18TB to appear.
I deleted the datastore and tried to create a new datastore, but this time only with 1TB. However, when I tried to create a second datastore, ESXi is unable to detect the rest of the volume.
Really need some help here as this is my first time setting up ESXi 4.1
Thank you.
Don’t use RAID-5 for ESX(i), ever. You need a hardware RAID controller; the on-board controller in the ML11x servers will not work, and the controller *needs* battery-backed write-cache. Finally, the maximum datastore size for 4.x is just under 2TB.
I’d run 4x 600GB in RAID-10 and have the other one either as a hot-spare if the machine will be storing stuff you need, or perhaps use it on it’s own for example for backups or templates.
VMware has a limit of 2TB, which I’m guessing is your issue?
Simple fix might be to use one disk as a hot spare, so reducing the size of the disk?
But if you’ve got a HP Smart Array controller, get the “ACU” http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/software-management/acumatrix/
Which will allow you to split your physical array into a number of volumes. As long as all these are less than 2TB then you should good to go. You can even mix RAID levels – so a small RAID 10 array for the system, another for VMS, another for a RDM etc…
Paul
Thanks Paul & Jimbo. I deleted (as we are currently speaking) the RAID 5 volume and created a 1TB RAID 5 (3 x 600GB) and a RAID 1 (2 x 600GB). I lost 600GB with this implementation!
If I go RAID 10, what would the configuration be like as I never do RAID 10 before.
Regards
RAID 10 – 4 x 600GB + 1 hot spare – 1.2TB.
What controller do you have?
Paul
HP Smart Array P212
Excellent – get the Array Control Utility linked above, you can do more than via the bios, create a disk group, then multiple volumes each with different RAID levels. e.g. Volume0 – RAID 10 – say 5GB for VMware, then a another RAID 10 group for VMs, and another RAID 5 for data if you want
Paul
Don’t forget the block size that’s allocated impact how much disk can used for VMDK files.
1MB = 256GB
2MB = 512GB
4MB = 1TB
8MB = 1TB
I just got a reasonable price on a white-box. The specs are as follows:
Intel S1200BTS Socket 1155 Server Board
Intel Xeon E3-1225 3.10 GHz, 4 X 3.10GHz Processors, 1333 MHz FSB,
16MB L2 Cache, Socket 1155
4GB 1333MHz DDR3 ECC CL9 DIMM With Thermal Sensor
500W power supply
According to the VMware HCL, the Intel E3-1200 series motherboard, so I’m assuming the E3-1225 falls under that category. The big difference between this and the ML110-G7 is that this maxes at 32GB, whereas the ML110′s limit is 16GB.
I’d appreciate any comments you might have.
Thanks
Hi all,
Just something to share.
Yesterday I installed XenServer 6.0 Free edition on the ML110G6 x3430. It’s amazing !!! Installation from CD ROM went perfectly. With the free edition I have features such as snapshots, templates, … And for some reason starting a VM is much faster that with ESXi. It’s incredible (may be I was doing something wrong with ESXi because I don’t really know why Xenserver would be faster…)
Any way ML110 G6 seems fully compatible with Xenserver 6.0 even it’s not on the HCL list…
Cheers
Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to let us know. That definitely sounds like XenServer 6.0 is worth a try on the ML110 G6. I’m just getting my lab back together after it has been in storage (for a house move) for the past 5 months so will add trying this out to my list of lab “things to do”.
Cheers,
Simon
Has anyone tried ESXi on the ML110 G7? I just bought one and I can’t get ESXi to install. The install crashes and I get a pink screen of death.
I’ve read that the controller (B110i) might be the problem, but it seems that people have been able to install ESXi on the G6, which has the same onboard controller.
Same here I have a new g7 and am not able to install esxi 4.1 (non hp distro) or 5.0.
I’m just randomly trying stuff at the mo.
Esxi 4.1 up on the g7. Not sure what did it as part of my problem was to do with using a USB stick to run the installer. V5.0 installer progressing but said I need more memory. 2gb not enough apparently despite being min spec.
I’ll report more when I have better facts. Joe do you want to email?
Same here, ML 110 G7 runs will with 4.1, purple screen of death with 5.0.
I also have disk latency issues with my freenas (using nfs) on 4.1 .
Hints welcome.
Was your 5.0 PSOD on setup or runtime?
I’m not planning on using a NAS so can’t help with NFS.
@Rixter, bear in mind that to get an E3 board to 32GB it will need 8GB UDIMMs, which are not currently available (other than at very mad money). Dell’s T110-ii offers a similar spec.
Hi Matt, 5.0 crashed during install (while loading drivers).
Hello
Maybe I missed it above but has anyone noticed the new model 652011-S01 of HP ProLiant ML110 G6 Server? Seems to cost less everywhere I looked and still offers the same specs?
Is it still a good ESXI option under this new model?
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/sm/WF06b/15351-15351-241434-241646-3328424-3984625-5115861-5115862.html
Thank you
@Jimbo, thanks for the tip. My local dealer warned me of the same thing. If I get a lab going, its not something I can afford to upgrade yearly, but I would like to get a MB that doesn’t limit me to just 16GB. Thanks again
Hi guys,
Im really interested in buying this ML110 G6 server.
Some people are reporting memory issues (using non-ECC memory) but some other people are reporting no problems using the same non-ECC memory!
Checking the link below, this guy installed 2 x4G modules of non-ECC kingston memory and they work fine for him. So, anyone has tested non-ecc memory and can share its results?
Im not interested in using ECC memory since its very expensive and I really dont need the features.
link:
http://techlab2020.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/42/