FreeNAS 11.1 iSCSI datastore in ESXi 6.7

In the beginning, there was a bare-metal FreeNAS install hosting a datastore over iSCSI to a separate ESXi host. This worked well, but required two hosts running 24x7. However, ESXi supports hardware RAID cards just fine. I tried going this route, but my PERC 6i is absolute garbage and, aside from providing super slow transfers, was actually timing out on disc writes. So, I decided to attempt to go "hyperconverged." 

The Winbook TW700 and removing WIMBOOT

At only $70, I couldn't resist picking up the 7-inch Winbook TW700 from Amazon. To fit Windows 8.1 in only 16GB of storage, this device utilizes Microsoft's WIMBOOT technology. Despite the space-saving features of WIMBOOT, I decided to see if I could re-install Windows without using WIMBOOT. Here is what I did to revert the WIMBOOT install to a traditional install:

You should know what you're getting...

Just a quick thought- Why don't hyperlinks contain hashes so that browsers can check the validity of downloaded files?

"The ghost in the machine"

I recently purchased an ASUS Transformer Book T100TA-C1-GR.  Other than running Windows 8, it has a BCM4330" chip.  Interestingly, this chip has some of the features that are not being exposed to the OS.

PCI Express "Hacking"

I found myself needing to fit a x16 PCI Express card in a x1 PCI Express slot.  Fortunately, the PCIe standard allows for this, but you may need to perform a little hacking first.

Easily share wireless settings

I was faced with an issue where I had multiple users that required a wireless profile to be setup.  Unfortunately, the powers that be, determined that the wireless settings should be as complicated as possible.  To make things easier, I came up with the following way of automating the setup of a wireless profile on Windows 7.

Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark (Fullscreen work-around)

Update: Running at 1920x1080 on medium, I went from 4501 in a window to 4781 full screen (about 6% better)



I've come up with a relatively simple way for people to try running the benchmark in fullscreen.  It is probably not perfect and of course you use it at your own risk.  But, for those wanting to see how well your card performs in fullscreen, you should now be able to.