Accessing or creating a VMFS datastore larger than 16TB fails when using EqualLogic

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Cannot access or create a VMFS datastore larger than 16 TB in ESXi 5.5
• Accessing or creating a VMFS datastore larger than 16 TB in ESXi 5.5 fails
• EqualLogic Group Manager reports device is created with 4K bytes per sector, not default 512 bytes
• Equallogic Group Manager displays an Experimental Flag for this setting
• Creating a VMFS datastore on a very large device stops at disk geometry section of the Add Storage UI wizard
• Previously created VMFs on a very large device suddenly becomes inaccessible
• Running the PartedUtil getptbl shows an output with a 4K sector size error
• You see the error:
  
  Warning: Device /dev/disks/naa.6090a0180000d06c9a33757cad063075:1 has a logical sector size of 4096. Not all parts of GNU Parted support this at the moment, and the working code is HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL.
  
  *** glibc detected *** < unknown >: double free or corruption (!prev): 0x0804f200 ***
  *** glibc detected *** < unknown >: malloc(): memory corruption: 0x0804f440 ***

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7
VMware vSphere ESXi 5.5

Cause

With the latest generation of data storage devices, it is possible to create 4096 byte sectors instead of the traditional 512 byte sectors. However, such sector sizes are not supported in the VMware vSphere 5 storage software and may result in datastore stability issues.

Resolution

To resolve this issue, VMware does not recommend to create sectors with 4k (4096) byte volume in vSphere 5.

Additional Information

For more information, see the VMware Communities thread File system error, cannot erase.


EqualLogic 社製ストレージで 16TB 以上の VMFS データストアの作成およびアクセスに失敗する
FAQ: Support statement for 512e and 4K Native drives for VMware vSphere and vSAN