ramdrive caching v8

barrysmoke · Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:34 am

hardware info/specs
vmware esxi 5.1 update 1/vsphere 5.1 update1, installed on usb flash drive, internal:
INTEL : Intel R2224GZ4SAS
2 x INTEL : XEONE5-2650 2.0GHZ 20MB 95W 919841
Intel hardware raid card dedicated to san os virtual machine(windows 2k12, with starwind v8 beta2 newest build)
KINGSTON : 120GB SSDNow V300 SATA 3 2.5 raid 1 mirror on intel card.
LSI : 8-Port Int., 6Gb/s SATA+SAS, PCIe 3.0, 1GB DDRIII; In the box: MR SAS 9271-8i, QIG, LP bracket
the 9271-8i is passed through to the san os virtual machine, using vmware directpath.
latest lsi dirver, and megaraid management software installed in the vm.

24x KINGSTON : 16GB 1333MHz DDR3L ECC Reg CL9 DIMM DR x4 1.35V Intel for 368 gigs ram

tested using 8 x 1tb seagate hybrid drives, and 8 x 1tb seagate constellation drives for comparison.

barrysmoke · Tue Dec 10, 2013 2:05 am

further troubleshooting on my own, I installed windows 2012 r2, and no difference, still same thing on vmfs5 ramdisk.
my next step would be to upgrade my vsphere environment to 5.5, should I do that next, or wait to see if we can resolve the bug under 5.1?

Tue Dec 10, 2013 12:00 pm

We're looking @ VAAI related issues and yes please definitely upgrade to 5.5 as it could be a common compatibility issue (we cannot reproduce it here). Thank you!

barrysmoke wrote:further troubleshooting on my own, I installed windows 2012 r2, and no difference, still same thing on vmfs5 ramdisk.
my next step would be to upgrade my vsphere environment to 5.5, should I do that next, or wait to see if we can resolve the bug under 5.1?

barrysmoke · Tue Dec 10, 2013 6:30 pm

Bohdan helped me test several things, then showed me how to turn off vaai. Everything started working, so there is definitely an issue with the current build, and vaai as you said.
anyone testing v8, doing anything with ramcache, or ramdisk, make sure you turn off vaai until the new build is out.
can't wait to do more testing, now that I have a working ramdisk

Tue Dec 10, 2013 10:46 pm

Uppdated build (release candidate) should face this issue. Already fixed. Need confirmation from your side. Thanks!

barrysmoke wrote:Bohdan helped me test several things, then showed me how to turn off vaai. Everything started working, so there is definitely an issue with the current build, and vaai as you said.
anyone testing v8, doing anything with ramcache, or ramdisk, make sure you turn off vaai until the new build is out.
can't wait to do more testing, now that I have a working ramdisk