3ware 9650-4LPML SATA II RAID card is currently not listed on the Citrix Hardware Compatibility List - http://hcl.xensource.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductType=HBA&ProductName=9650SE%20SATA-II%20RAID
However, the Citrix XenCenter 6 Linux Kernel includes inbuilt drivers for this RAID card. Click here for this card on Amazon - AMCC 3ware 9650-4LPML SATA
You can locate and mount a RAID partition with a 3ware card on XenCenter 6 console as follows:
df -h
Shows only mounted / and .iso partitions
fdisk -l
This shows two disks - /dev/sda with 1000.2 GB disk containing the XenCenter installation and /dev/sdb with 999.9 - containing Raid10 configured on the 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card
cat /proc/partitions
I need to partition the /dev/sda3 to ext3 partition - this is the free space on the local Xen server installation disk - can be used to store backups or other test virtual machines which do not require RAID
The second partition will be /dev/sdb1 - this will be the RAID partition containing the Virtual Machine instances running on the server
ls -alt /dev/disk/by-id
This command shows me the Local disk ID, RAID card ID as well as the partitions
/dev/sda3 - shows the scsi-SATA_ST31000 local disk
/dev/sdb1 - shows the scsi-1AMCC - this is the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card - however the AMCC organization is now taken over by LSI corporation and LSI has not provided any drivers for these cards for the newer operating systems
Note: To get the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card working on Windows Server 2012 - download the Complete Code Set 9.5.4 ISO file, burn this ISO on a disk, boot from this disk and update the firmware of the RAID card. After reboot, the card and your RAID disk set will work in Windows Server 2012. ISO available here - http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/3ware9650SE-4LPML.aspx
The Xen support forum gives the following command to create an ext partition:
xe sr-create content-type=user device-config:device=/dev/disk/by-id/<scsi-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> host-uuid=<host-uuid> name-label=”Local Storage 2” shared=false type=ext
However, using following commands, I was able to create first - the local /dev/sda3 partition for test VM's - there was no need to specify /disk/by-id/ or host-uuid
xe sr-create content-type=user name-label=xen_os_1tb shared=false device-config:device=/dev/sda3 type=ext
And the second command to create a partition on the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card partition
xe sr-create content-type=user name-label=3ware_raid10_1tb shared=false device-config:device=/dev/sdb1 type=ext
df -h will then show me the new created partitions along with the available free space of 863GB and 870GB usable disk space
Creating the ext partition as opposed to LVM allows me to transfer the VM disks in and out of the server either through ssh or using WinSCP from a Windows computer.
Get more Citrix XenServer help here -> Citrix XenServer Book
However, the Citrix XenCenter 6 Linux Kernel includes inbuilt drivers for this RAID card. Click here for this card on Amazon - AMCC 3ware 9650-4LPML SATA
You can locate and mount a RAID partition with a 3ware card on XenCenter 6 console as follows:
df -h
Shows only mounted / and .iso partitions
fdisk -l
This shows two disks - /dev/sda with 1000.2 GB disk containing the XenCenter installation and /dev/sdb with 999.9 - containing Raid10 configured on the 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card
cat /proc/partitions
I need to partition the /dev/sda3 to ext3 partition - this is the free space on the local Xen server installation disk - can be used to store backups or other test virtual machines which do not require RAID
The second partition will be /dev/sdb1 - this will be the RAID partition containing the Virtual Machine instances running on the server
ls -alt /dev/disk/by-id
This command shows me the Local disk ID, RAID card ID as well as the partitions
/dev/sda3 - shows the scsi-SATA_ST31000 local disk
/dev/sdb1 - shows the scsi-1AMCC - this is the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card - however the AMCC organization is now taken over by LSI corporation and LSI has not provided any drivers for these cards for the newer operating systems
Note: To get the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card working on Windows Server 2012 - download the Complete Code Set 9.5.4 ISO file, burn this ISO on a disk, boot from this disk and update the firmware of the RAID card. After reboot, the card and your RAID disk set will work in Windows Server 2012. ISO available here - http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/3ware9650SE-4LPML.aspx
The Xen support forum gives the following command to create an ext partition:
xe sr-create content-type=user device-config:device=/dev/disk/by-id/<scsi-xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> host-uuid=<host-uuid> name-label=”Local Storage 2” shared=false type=ext
However, using following commands, I was able to create first - the local /dev/sda3 partition for test VM's - there was no need to specify /disk/by-id/ or host-uuid
xe sr-create content-type=user name-label=xen_os_1tb shared=false device-config:device=/dev/sda3 type=ext
And the second command to create a partition on the AMCC 3ware 9650SE-4LPML card partition
xe sr-create content-type=user name-label=3ware_raid10_1tb shared=false device-config:device=/dev/sdb1 type=ext
df -h will then show me the new created partitions along with the available free space of 863GB and 870GB usable disk space
Creating the ext partition as opposed to LVM allows me to transfer the VM disks in and out of the server either through ssh or using WinSCP from a Windows computer.
Get more Citrix XenServer help here -> Citrix XenServer Book
