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

[Alex Smith (K4RNT)]

It'll provide an SFF8087 connector, which you can get a breakout cable
which can branch out to attach to individual disks, or you can get a
backplane of some kind which might have an SFF8087 connection as well. In
that case, a straight cable would suffice. Most HBAs of this type will have
a multilane connector, versus individual SATA ports, since the SAS disk
support requires a slightly different connector on the cable.

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- Alex Smith
- Huntsville, Alabama metropolitan area USA


On Mon, Aug 11, 2014 at 5:25 AM, Harry Putnam <reader at newsguy.com> wrote:

> 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?
>
>
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