Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:21:05 +1000 From: David Gwynne <david@gwynne.id.au> To: Ahmed Kamal <email.ahmedkamal@googlemail.com> Cc: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Dell branded storage controller for ZFS file-server | Advice requested Message-ID: <EDB1FFA8-5311-4846-BCFF-127DF9A71453@gwynne.id.au> In-Reply-To: <CANzjMX4GXf_jMMKZVSE3kf4NCvOUR0anjda3KSvFTNn6-%2BWmGg@mail.gmail.com> References: <CANzjMX4GXf_jMMKZVSE3kf4NCvOUR0anjda3KSvFTNn6-%2BWmGg@mail.gmail.com>
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> On 23 Jan 2015, at 7:16 pm, Ahmed Kamal = <email.ahmedkamal@googlemail.com> wrote: >=20 > Hi everyone, >=20 > I'm looking to build a ZFS file-server, unfortunately I'm locked into = Dell > branded hardware only. I know Dell sometimes ships LSI branded cards, = but > that too probably won't work for me, as I live outside the US and the = local > Dell rep is clueless (so whatever I want to buy, has to be on Dell's > website). I am considering Dell R720xd or R730xd. I will use Intel = i350 > NICs, and ECC RAM, but the biggest questions are around the SAS HBA >=20 > Per my research, I have the following notes and questions. = Appreciating > your comments on them >=20 > * H310 Card supports syspd (jbod) mode per > http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=3Drevision&revision=3D254906 so it = is > probably the best card for what I want to do, right? no. > * H310 is a low end card, it has very limited queue depth (25 I = believe) .. > Is this actually a problem when using the disks (20 x SAS 10k disks) = in > syspd/jbod mode? what about if I attach a couple of SSD disks? there are two queue limits here, one for the controller and one for each = disk attached to it. h310s have a controller queue depth of 31, ie, they can only support 31 = commands at a time. if you have 24 disks and distribute the controllers = command slots between them, thats about 1 command per disk. > * H310 can be flashed to IT mode (LSI firmware), and is supported by > Illumos kernel (if I'll ever need that) .. so overall it looks like a = good > option. Any "watch-outs" I should be aware of ? yes. if you flash the h310 to become an sas hba, the pci product/vendor = and subproduct/subvendor ids on the controller change. the dell bios = will refuse to boot if it detects an unsupported controller in its = storage slot. you'll brick the machine until you remove the h310. = because it is on a non standard mezzanine connector you will not be able = to flash it back to a h310, and you'll have a useless chunk of silicon = to put on your desk as a monument to how annoying vendors are. > * H710/p have no way of exposing JBOD/syspd in any way .. If using = those > cards, the best I can do, is to create a raid-0 per disk, and put zfs = on > top of that. How bad is this? Is the only problem that I'm locked into = H710 > firmware? Would the nvram and bbu on H710 improve performance = significantly > vs H310? i wouldnt run zfs on that. > * H330 and H730, seem supported by mrsas driver. Is this driver able = to > expose jbod/syspd mode? If yes, what's the overall advise, should I go = with > one of those, or the "trusty" H310 ? thats a workable option. h330 should be fine if all you want to do is = jbod. >=20 > Your help and advice is most appreciated > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-scsi > To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-scsi-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"
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