[OpenIndiana-discuss] Garrett D'Amore on using SATA drives in a SASsystem

[Dan Swartzendruber]

On 6/26/2012 1:15 PM, Richard Elling wrote:
> On Jun 26, 2012, at 6:29 AM, Dan Swartzendruber wrote:
>
>    
>> Keep in mind this is almost 2 yrs old, though.  I seem to recall a thread
>> here or there that has pinned the SATA toxicity issues to an mpt driver bug
>> or somesuch?
>>      
> Not really. Search for other OSes and their tales of woe. In some cases, a
> bad SATA drive can make the machine fail at POST, well before an OS is
> loaded.
>
> Best results for SATA is direct-connect: no expanders, no extenders.
> Next best is SATA with a good-quality SATA/SAS interposer.
> Known to be a poor mix: both SATA and SAS devices sharing an expander.
>
> NB, we have seen changes in HBA, expander, and disk firmware all contribute
> to happiness or sadness when SATA devices are used in SAS fabrics (STP).
> At one time, we tried to keep a list of combinations known for happiness, but
> maintaining that list proved to be impractical, due to the constant churn and
> unavailability of disk firmware patches from various vendors. Also, do not assume
> that you will be able to get a firmware upgrade, even if it exists :-(
>   -- richard
>
>    
To clarify: on hardocp a few months back, there was a discussion on this 
whole issue and there was a cryptic reference to Oracle having 
supposedly root-caused a software/driver bug that was causing a specific 
problem.  I wish I could remember anything more specific than that...