Skip to main content
  • Place orders quickly and easily
  • View orders and track your shipping status
  • Create and access a list of your products

ESXi 5.5 stability or performance issues when using PERC 9 on PowerEdge Servers

Summary: This article provide a solution for performance issues in ESCi 5.5 on 13th generation of Dell PowerEdge servers. Issues might be caused by an outdated driver provided with the OS, which must be updated. ...

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

When installing VMwareESXi 5.5 on your system this will typically come with the lsi_mr3 PERC driver, which is not fully compatible with the PERC 9 installed in the 13th generation PowerEdge servers and can cause stability and/or performance issues.

To resolve this, you will need to download and install the appropriate PERC driver, megaraid_perc9, from the VMware website.
Note: if you are not familiar with how to install drivers in ESXi, VMware has a good article explaining the steps to do this.


After downloading and installing the appropriate drivers, you will need to disable the old driver and verify the storage adaptor (PERC) is using the correct driver:
 

  1. Disable the "lsi-mr3" module/drive by executing the following command:# esxcli system module set --enabled=false --module=lsi_mr3

  2. Reboot the system

  3. Verify the storage adapter is using the correct driver by executing the following command:
    # esxcli storage core adapter list

  4. You should see your controller utilizing the "megaraid_perc9" driver and NOT the "lsi_mr3" driver.
    HBA Name  Driver          Link State  UID             Description
    --------  --------------  ----------  --------------  ------------------------------------------------------
    vmhba2    megaraid_perc9  link-n/a    unknown.vmhba2  (0:3:0.0) LSI / Symbios Logic Dell PERC H730 Adapter


Cause

-

Resolution

-

Affected Products

PowerEdge M630, PowerEdge M630 (for PE VRTX), PowerEdge R430, PowerEdge R530, PowerEdge R630, PowerEdge R730, PowerEdge R730xd, PowerEdge R930, PowerEdge T430, PowerEdge T630, VMware ESXi 5.x
Article Properties
Article Number: 000141532
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 03 Feb 2022
Version:  5
Find answers to your questions from other Dell users
Support Services
Check if your device is covered by Support Services.