[OpenIndiana-discuss] paging any HP xw8600 users.. or knowledgeable others

[Harry Putnam]

Bryan N Iotti <ironsides.medvet at runbox.com> writes:

> Hi,
>
> It's a must (that I know of) only on LSI controllers because
> otherwise performance on ZFS suffers quite a lot.
>
> Other controllers have different quirks, like some adaptecs needing
> a debug flag passed to enable HBA mode.
>
> The IR to IT flash is easy. You need a pendrive with FreeDOS bootable
> and the firmware from LSI. They have pretty decent instructions on
> their website and you should be able to perform the whole procedure in
> less than 30 minutes.
>

[...]

Bob Friesenhahn <bfriesen at simple.dallas.tx.us> writes:

> On Sun, 10 Aug 2014, Harry Putnam wrote:
>>
>>> I also would suggest an add-on controller, with the caveat that you
>>> should remember to flash in IT mode and not RAID/IR.
>>
>> Would that flash step be necessary with most any add on Controler?
>
> No.  It depends on the model number that you order.  Models called an
> "HBA" are likely delivered in IT mode.

Re-iterating the basic hardware involved:
HP xw8600 with 2x CPU 5470 3.33Ghz and 32 GB of RAM

Is this the kind of thing folks are thinking of when suggesting a SAS
card:

(not sure what mail encoding might do, but this should be all one line)

http://www.serversdirect.com/Components/RAID__HBAs/id-DC7125/LSI_SAS_HBA_9211-4i?gclid=Cj0KEQjwsJyfBRC729Oy5Pf26ekBEiQAYtd9QR6E11DYPDk3igwN6YRQhEptdXPnYXPOGVopqtjurmMaAnCq8P8HAQ

Can anyone offer a clue what the marketers of this device might be
talking about under Marketing Information:

   The LSI SAS 9211-4i host bus adapter provides the greatest
   available throughput to internal server storage arrays through four
   internal 6Gb/s ports, driving up to 256 SAS and SATA physical
   devices. This HBA offers dynamic SAS functionality including
   dual-port drive redundancy and SATA compatibility. Utilizing one
   internal x4 SFF8087 Mini-SAS connector, the low-profile SAS 9211-4i
   is an excellent fit for 1U and 2U servers.

I'm pretty confused about the write up... 

The bit about "driving up to 256 SAS and SATA physical devices", in
particular

Am I right in thinking this would add 4 internal SAS/SATA ports? Or
is this something else entirely?
-------       -------       ---=---       -------       ------- 

Is the big brother of the above device more appropriate?  

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=Cj0KEQjwsJyfBRC729Oy5Pf26ekBEiQAYtd9QSnU5Y0ObEPMFYeXsJhx8rT4KCwHypodSscs5OAWwqcaAjN78P8HAQ&Item=N82E16816118133&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Controllers+%2f+RAID+Cards-_-N82E16816118133&ef_id=U9g1pQAABU0QZGhN:20140810220043:s

Or am I missing the ball altogether?