The V200 installation tutorial video can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1t2eVkQ9ZU


The V200 is a CacheDrive running in a VM under ESXi.


Each CacheDrive virtual machine image is a custom OVA file with a unique identifier. The virtual machine runs on VMWare ESXi Server and contains a bootable disk image. 


VMware has disk size limitation of 62TB. However we have option to build RAID0 within CacheDrive to use larger data volume


Requirements

  • ESXi 6.5, 6.7, 7.0, 8.0
    The virtual hardware requirement for the V200.
     
  • SATA Controller
    The data disk needs to be attached to an SATA controller.

    Note: The Paravirtual SCSI controller (PVSCSI) is not supported.

  • Minimum Disk Space: 250GB
    The minimum disk space for the VM is 250GB. We recommend at least 500GB per CacheDrive (1 TB preferred).
     
  • EFI Boot Mode
    EFI boot mode is required.
     
  • DHCP Server
    CacheDrives use DHCP to obtain an IP Address. You can reserve the IP Address once a lease is established on your DHCP server.


Recommendations

  • 2 vCPU (more can be added for heavy workloads)
  • 2 GB RAM.  If you expect a large number of simultaneous users, we suggest 4 MB per user with 2 GB being the minimum recommended.
  • High-performance storage such as NVMe or SATA SSD for the OS disk. (see below)


To begin the installation process, download your custom OVA file and save it to a computer that has access to your ESXi server.


There are 3 steps to installing your V200:

  1. Create the Virtual Machine with a large enough disk size for the CacheDrive.
  2. Configure and start up the VM.
  3. Add the CacheDrive to your account.


Note: Please check the settings carefully. An incorrect setting may not prevent the virtual machine from starting, but it will prevent the CacheDrive from operating properly.


1. Create the Virtual Machine


  1. Login to your VMWare ESXi Manager.
  2. Click "Create or register a virtual machine".

  3. In the New Virtual Machine window, choose "Deploy a virtual machine from an OVF or OVA file".

  4. In the "Select OVF and VMDK files" menu, enter the VM name and select the downloaded OVA file.
  5. Proceed through the remaining steps and click "Finish" at the "Ready to complete" screen.

  6. After deploying the OVA file, the virtual machine will start automatically.

    Note: Because there is no data disk at this point, the VM may shutdown automatically.


2. Configure the Virtual Machine


Note: Do not install "VMWare" Tools for the V200 virtual machine.


Once the virtual machine is deployed, configure it as follows:


  1. Power off the virtual machine by clicking "Power off" if the device has not shutdown by itself.

  2. Add the hard disk(s).  V200 supports single and two-disk installations.  Note that Paravirtual SCSI controllers (PVSCSI

    Click Add hard disk, to add disk(s).


    For single-disk (lower performance) installations, add one disk that will hold both the OS and data volumes. The larger the disk, the larger the amount of data that can be cached. We recommend a disk size of at least 500 GB (1 TB preferred).

    For two-disk (higher performance) installations, add one disk for the OS and a larger disk for the data. We recommend using at least 128GB (larger for large file system) of the fastest storage available (NVMe or SATA SSD) for the OS disk to maximize database performance. The data disk will be used for the cache and can use slower storage if desired.

    For three-disk (high performance and large capacity) installations, add one disk for the OS and 2 disks for the data. The 2 disks for data should be of exactly the same size. (Below screenshot is an example taken on ESXi 8.0 for testing purposes.) For production, use the recommended sizes of at least 128GB (larger for large file system) for OS/Root partition and at least 512GB for each data disk.

    Disk can be provisioned in three ways, "Thin provisioned", "Thick provisioned, lazily zeroed", and "Thick provisioned, eagerly zeroed". It is recommended to avoid "Thin" provision. Thin provision is slower than Thick provision, because as actual disk usage increase, always need to allocate disk spaces. Also don't limit IOPs for better performance.

    Both OS and volume disks can be expanded later if required. For the 3-disk system, the two data disks should always be the same size.

    Note: Make sure the Virtual Device Node is set to SATA Controller and pick an appropriate SATA node.
  3. Set the boot mode.

    Make sure that EFI firmware is selected in the Boot Options section.

    Choose the "VM Options" tab.


    Expand the Boot Options and choose Firmware.

    Choose "EFI".

  4. Click Save.


Start the Virtual Machine to complete the configuration process.


3. Add the CacheDrive to Your Account


There are two ways to add your CacheDrive to your account:

  1. Add a CacheDrive to a new account
  2. Add a CacheDrive to an existing account

Add a CacheDrive to a New Account

For information on how to add a CacheDrive to a new account, please refer to the article Morro Account Sign Up.


Add a CacheDrive to an Existing Account

For information on how to add a CacheDrive to an existing account, please refer to the article Add Gateway (CacheDrive).


After adding the drive, the system will show that there is an invalid disk attached. Follow the final steps to complete the VM installation process.


Final Steps

After adding the virtual CacheDrive to your account, remove the boot disk provided by Morro Data. If you skip this step, you will see the "Non-data disk found" warning in Morro Cloud Manager > Devices.



  1. Power down the VM. 

  2. Select your VM and click Edit.

  3. Choose Hard Disk 1 and click the X icon on the right (the drive size is 512MB).

  4. Check the box "Delete files from datastore".

  5. Click Save.

Once the process is completed, power on the VM.



FAQ

My CacheDrive VM is very slow. What should I check?

How do I expand the hard drive on my VM (V200/V201/V202)?

My CacheDrive won't boot or is offline. What should I do?