VMWare Fusion and OSX software RAID

[NoManIsland]

I got in to this discussion on another thread but wanted to put it out there as the topic had deviated widely from the thread title.

I am wondering if there is anyone out there who has successfully used Fusion on a software RAID 0 array constructed using Disk Utility. Nanofrog indicated that Windows won't boot off such an array, and expressed concern that Fusion wouldn't function properly either. The other research I have done has given suggestions both ways, with Fusion 1.1 causing kernal panics (I'm using 2.1), and other threads saying that Fusion interfaces between the hardware, obviating the issue. I trust Nanofrog's instincts on this one, but I wanted to see if anyone has had firsthand experience at making it work.

Thanks

 

[bugout]

Both VMware and Fusion work fine..

 

[NoManIsland]

I assume you mean Fusion and Parallels work fine? What versions are you running, and what kind of RAID array are they running off of?

 

[GMink]

I don't know if this helps or not, but I ran a virtual windows setup with Parallels for both windows XP and Vista on a soft raid 0 array on OSX without any problems. I remember having isssues last year trying to set up a virtual drive on a raid array but I think that has all been resolved in current releases of Parrallels. I have VM Ware too but have not been using it lately so not sure about any results wtih it.

I replaced all of my drives last week and droped the software raid in favor of a SSD boot setup. I copied my virtual drives off the raid array to the 1T WD drives and didn't have a hitch. Windows booted right up.

George

 

[MacsRgr8]

You simply mean if Parallels and/or VMware work on a RAID 0 setup..??

Well, I have used RAID 0 as my bootdisk config for ages, and have always played around with both VMware and Parallels, with all sorts of Guest OS running.
Never had a problem.... and I don't understand why it shouldn't work.? The Guest OS boots off an image file, which seemingly doesn't care what the RAID setup or not below the HFS+ FileSystem is....

Some screenshots for your satisfaction:

 

[Transporteur]

As already said, both VMware (at least >=2) and Parallels >=3 work fine with software RAID0.
I've got several VMs on a software RAID0 array (although the applications themselves are installed on a single drive) and they work flawlessly.

I reckon you misunderstood nanofrog on this one, cause I really can't see a reason why this should not work.

 

[MacsRgr8]

I reckon you misunderstood nanofrog on this one, cause I really can't see a reason why this should not work.

Think so too.
Maybe nanofrog is talking about Boot Camp on RAID..? That indeed does not work.

 

[NoManIsland]

Thanks guys for the feedback. I don't think I misinterpreted Nanofrog:

No, this won't work. Fusion has a problem with OS X's software RAID. The OS needs to remain on a single drive (SSD or HDD). If you have this and an array via OS X (Disk Utility), then the Windows drive needs to be on a SATA card.

Disk Utility seems to modifiy the system's firmware, which prevents Windows from loading. This happens even when you try to natively boot into Windows.

You can try it if you wish, but I'd be surprised if you can get it to work (unless there's been an update to Fusion that allows it to work). Otherwise, the issue described not only makes logical sense. Part of it is also that I recall someone posting on this (OS X software RAID = Fail with VM of Windows).

For it to work, the OS must be on a single drive or an array run off a proper RAID card (keeps Disk Utility from making a change to the SATA controller settings in the firmware).

For context, I was asking if running OSX and Fusion off a software RAID 0 would cause problems as running Windows via Bootcamp does.

Anybody else do this successfully?

 

[MacsRgr8]

Well it seems simple then...

No issues using VMware and/or Parallels running any Guest OS (Windows XP, Vista, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, etc) on a RAID 0.
Have done so on Mac OS X 10.5.x and Mac OS X 10.6.x with many versions of Parallels and VMware ever since I got my Mac Pro '08 way back in february 2008.

I have always had drive 1 and 2 setup as RAID 0, installed the OS, all apps, and my Home directory on it.
So, the apps VMware and Parallels as the virtual hard drives are all on this RAID 0.

Anybody else do this successfully?

Believe me. You don't need confirmation.

 

[NoManIsland]

Thanks for the info MacsRgr8, that really helps