Dell PERC H7xx Series Controller: vSAN 8 Compatibility Alert

Products

• VMware vSAN

Issue/Introduction

After upgrading to vSAN 8, environments using the PERC H7xx series controller may observe compatibility warnings in vSAN Skyline Health.
This article explains the root cause and provides recommended actions.

• vSAN Skyline Health displays compatibility alerts for the storage controller.
• Dell PERC 7xx series controller models, such as:  PERC H730/H730P and H755 Front do not appear in the Broadcom Compatibility Guide for vSAN 8.x.
• A vSAN cluster upgrade to version 8 completes, but a Skyline Health check shows a "SCSI controller is VMware Certified" warning:
  
  

Environment

• VMware vSAN 8.x

Cause

• The issue occurs because the PERC H7xx series controllers are not certified for vSAN 8.x.
• Details:
  
  
  1. Although PERC H7xx series are certified for ESXi 8.x, this certification covers only ESXi usage (e.g., ESXi installation, local VMFS datastore), not vSAN usage.
  2. The certification details for the controller can still be found in the vSAN HCL I/O Devices (IO Devices)
  3. The vSAN HCL shows maximum certified version of vSAN 7.x (e.g. H730/H730P) or it is not present at all (e.g. H755 Front)
  4. Hardware vendor did not submit certification for vSAN 8.x or later, and therefore the controller is not included in the vSAN 8 Compatibility Guide.
  5. According to information obtained from hardware vendor, the H7xx series is End-of-Life (EOL). The hardware vendor also recommends transitioning to the HBA330 series for vSAN workloads.

1.  

Resolution

• To run vSAN 8.x without compatibility warnings and to ensure a supported configuration: Replace the controller.
• Contact the server vendor to replace the controller with one that is certified for vSAN 8.x, such as the HBA330, HBA345, HBA350, HBA355, or other supported controllers listed in the vSAN I/O Controller Compatibility Guide.

 

Additional Information

• See also Dell documentation: VMware vSAN on Dell PowerEdge Servers Dell vSAN Getting Started Guide
  
  
• To check vSAN compatibility for an I/O controller:

1. 1. Visit the Broadcom vSAN Compatibility Guide (vSAN I/O Controller Compatibility Guide).
   2. Select the vSAN I/O Controller category.
   3. Refer to  KB323110  to confirm the HBA's Vendor ID (VID), Device ID (DID), Sub-Vendor ID (SVID), and Sub-Device ID (SDID) and record them.
   4. Search the above Broadcom vSAN Compatibility Guide for the ID's obtained in Step #3
   5. Alternatively, search by manufacturer, model, or driver/firmware version.

• This method ensures you always reference the most up-to-date vSAN hardware compatibility information.