ESXi FreeNAS on server hardware

[Donald]

I am looking to consolidate my hardware and get rid of all my old stuff, as such below is my new hardware I wish to use.

ESXI host with FreeNAS vm
HP GL380 G6 with 144GB ram
2 LSI 9211 SAS Cards in IT mode
1 for local VM storage
1 for Direct attached storage for storage another server case


DAS Server
Thecus N1600 16 bay hotswap NAS
1 LSI 9211 SAS card in IT mode
1 HP SAS expander card with SAS cables connected to HP GL380
Memory and CPU pulled as SAS expanded only requires power

FreeNAS
16 Disks
4 1TB in Raidz2 for phone, tablet and PC backup
4 3TB in Raidz2 for Video and Music Storage
4 3TB in Raidz2 for Work purposes


So here is my goal, HP server will be my host and the DAS will be directly connected to the HP server via SAS cables

This is setup currently

I have the LSI cards setup in ESXi as pass through so my FreeNAS can see it.
Reading other posts say to not make each drive as a virtual disk as ZFS is pointless (which i was not going to do)
I was looking into RAW Disk mapping however there are posts saying it is also not recommended.

What is the proper way then to make a virtual FreeNAS install on ESXi via server grade hardware see disks?

My setup was actually quite close to this guide I saw online.
https://b3n.org/freenas-9-3-on-vmware-esxi-6-0-guide/

I jut want to make sure i am not doing something wrong.

 

[Donald]

UPDATE:
[I was looking into RAW Disk mapping however there are posts saying it is also not recommended.]

That was pointless, as simply enabling passthrough of my LSI card and powering up the DAS allows freenas to natively interact with all the disks as if they were directly connected. This was what i was aiming for.

I will load up all 16 trays and start swapping disks and deleting pools to see if i can break it beyond recovery. I will also test the speed difference between having one SAS cable between the DAS and the Server and 2.


I am looking for as close of a setup as if all the disks were connected in the same cabinet.

 

[RodyMcAmp]

I am not sure i see the issue, If your lsi cards are in IT mode and passed through to the Freenas VM then it should see all the drives connected to it.

 

[gpsguy]

It sounds like the OP figured that out for himself, hence his reply to his own message.

I am not sure i see the issue, ...

 

[joeschmuck]

I will load up all 16 trays and start swapping disks and deleting pools to see if i can break it beyond recovery.

Well that shouldn't be difficult to break it. Just try not to physically break it. Hot swapping drives can be an issue with drive bays which don't align well. Things tend to melt.