So, I got my UCS-MSTOR-M2 modules, and the m.2 drives for them. To prepare for the migration, one by one I placed a host in maintenance mode, shutdown, and added the drives to the chassis. Then I get to esxi04…
I swear, I read that the UCS-MSTOR-M2 worked for both the m4 AND m5 series of UCS Servers. Hell, the MLOMs work between generations, as does memory. So imagine my surprise when I opened the case and saw two SD-CARD slots, where on the m5, this module is removed and changed with the MSTOR. But not on the m4. The SD-CARD slots are side by side, and directly attached to the motherboard — no removing these. I go and check my datasheets again, and realize I was WRONG!
So the migration is put on hold.. I could try installing the hypervisor to the SD-CARD, but I doubt that Nutanix will use the other SD-CARD slot for the CVM. Now my options were:
- Create a 3-node Nutanix cluster, and whenever I upgrade esxi04, expand to a 4-node cluster,
- Install Nutanix CE, which by default does not use passthrough for the drives, then manually pass the drives to the other CVMs;
- Do nothing, just wait until I can upgrade to all m5’s
So which option do you think I picked? The one not listed! Push the migration back 1 week. Why? Well.. I found a hell of a deal. I swear, I wait and wait and wait until something comes around unexpected. Honestly, it’s how I upgraded my other m4’s to m5’s. And it happened again!
Someone had posted on r/homelabsales this incredible deal. The deal was:
- 8 bay SFF SATA/SAS
- UCS-C-PCI-2B-240M5 Riser 2B
- Cisco UCS-MSTOR-M2 Dual M.2 w/ 2x 240GB SATA SSD
- VIC 1387 MLOM-C40Q-03
- Cisco UCSC-SAS-M5 12G Raid Controller
- 1050w 80+ Platinum PSU
- HX240 M5 Security Bezel
To give you an ideal how great of a deal this is, lets look at some eBay prices.
| Item | eBay Sold Price |
| UCS-C-PCI-2B-240M5 | $110.00 |
| UCS-MSTOR-M2 w/ 2x 240GB SSD | $149.00 |
| MLOM-C40Q-03 | $20.00 |
| UCSC-SAS-M5 | $50.00 |
| HX240 M5 Security Bezel* | $35.00* |
| Cisco UCS c240 M5 Chassis Barebone | $450.00 |
| Total | $814-1049 |
I picked up 2x Skylake CPUs for less than $50. All in, $300 shipped. I don’t need memory, already have that. Don’t even need drive trays. Since the boot drive is moving to the MSTOR, that means each of the existing M5s have at least 1 drive tray that’s not needed. Plus I have one empty tray all ready.
Since this server has the UCS-MSTOR-M2 with drives already, I can even re-coup some of the costs by selling that. Plus, I will be selling the M4. Hopefully, I can walk away from this upgrade even, or even a little ahead. Check back later, once I am ready to sell the M4, I will put a link here as well.
I’m also going to be retiring the Dell R720 I still have. I hope someone jumps at it. I’m going to list it, with 7x 3TB SAS drives, the internal sata cable, and the internal SSD I use for booting as well. 192GB of ram, dual 10GB, iDrac Enterprise. I think $300 is a damned good deal. A server with 21TB of raw space. Perfect Plex Driver.