ESXi is not supporting fake raid. You need to create 2 VMFS and add 2 disk each on one of the data stores and setup software RAID on the guest OS. You will have redundancy for VM, but not for ESX itself. RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. It is a way to virtualize multiple, independent hard disk drives into one or more arrays to improve performance, capacity and reliability. The RAID can be implemented either using a special controller (hardware RAID), or by an operating system driver (software RAID). Using the VSphere client or VSphere web client, enable SSH on the host that is to be setup. If using the regular client, click on the ESXi Host, go to the Configuration tab, and then Security Profile, then Services. Click on Properties (for Services) on the top right hand side. Find SSH in the list and click on Options, then start it. ESXi doesn't support software RAID. – Zac67 Oct 30 '17 at 12:07. If the host doesn't support software RAID, you can use software raid from the guest OS. Another solution would be to use Linux+KVM as host/hypervisor and create the software RAID. The servers we see for ESXi data recovery typically contain between four and one or two dozen hard drives. These drives are usually arranged in a RAID-5 or RAID-6 array, or a nested RAID-10.

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. It is a way to virtualize multiple, independent hard disk drives into one or more arrays to improve performance, capacity and reliability. The RAID can be implemented either using a special controller (hardware RAID), or by an operating system driver (software RAID).

Hardware RAID

Advantages:

Hardware RAID is dedicated processing system, using controllers or RAID cards to manage the RAID configuration independently from the operating system. The RAID controller does not take processing power away from the disks it manages. Thus, more space and speed can be used to read and write data. It can work on any operating system. Replacing failed disk is simple – Just plug it out and put in a new one.

Esxi Software Raid1

Disadvantages:

As hardware RAID requires additional controller hardware, the cost is higher than software RAID. If your RAID controller fails, you have to find a compatible one to replace in order to get the RAID system to perform the way you set it up.

Software RAID

Advantages:

Unlike hardware RAID, software RAID uses the processing power of the operating system in which the RAID disks are installed. The cost is lower because no additional hardware RAID controller is required. It also permits users to reconfigure arrays without being restricted by the hardware RAID controller.

Disadvantages:

Software RAID tends to be slower than hardware RAID. Since some processing power is taken by the software, read and write speeds of your RAID configuration, along with other operations carried out on the server can be slowed down by it. Software RAID is often specific to the operating system being used, so it cannot generally be used for partitions that are shared between operating systems.

Replacing failed disk in the software RAID is a bit more complex. You have to firstly tell your system to stop using the disk and then replace the disk.

Software RAID vs Hardware RAID: Which One Should You Choose

Choosing between software RAID and hardware RAID depends on what you need to do and cost.

If your budget is tight, and you are using RAID 0 or RAID 1, there will be no big difference between software RAID and hardware RAID. If you need top performance while using a compute-intensive RAID 5 and RAID 6, you should go for a hardware RAID, because software RAID can really hurt performance. Moreover, esoteric RAID levels such as RAID 10 are usually not supported by software RAID. Hardware RAID is required in that case.

Software Raid On Esxi

All in all, hardware RAID costs more than software RAID, but offers better performance and free you from the limitations of software RAID, giving you more flexibility in the way it is used and the types of configurations. If your budget allows, hardware RAID is definitely the way to go.

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I currently have a Dell PowerEdge R710 that I am trying to install ESXi 7.0 on to (currently 6.7u1 is loaded.) I worked around the legacy Westmere CPUs, but am still running into a compatibility issue with the PERC 6/I RAID module in the R710. It simply is not supported due to vmklinux drivers being dropped.
Some older RAID cards are supported, like the H310 and H345, but these cards seem to have different connectors than the PERC 6/I and don't look like they'd connect to the R710's backplane. Is there a supported RAID card that would connect, or perhaps some sort of adapter that could sit in between the RAID card and the old school R710 backplane?