From owner-freebsd-scsi@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jan 23 10:21:21 2015 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 8DE19530 for ; Fri, 23 Jan 2015 10:21:21 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mail-pa0-f43.google.com (mail-pa0-f43.google.com [209.85.220.43]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "Google Internet Authority G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 60864DB9 for ; Fri, 23 Jan 2015 10:21:20 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-pa0-f43.google.com with SMTP id eu11so7824904pac.2 for ; Fri, 23 Jan 2015 02:21:14 -0800 (PST) X-Google-DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=1e100.net; s=20130820; h=x-gm-message-state:content-type:mime-version:subject:from :in-reply-to:date:cc:content-transfer-encoding:message-id:references :to; bh=WwwLr39lD77pOEqm2z5QAAxTSt/0d5svUmctiAybN7s=; b=StIFvWhW7/s7G+jueugWOjxCxDvFp9sG8C3jo4As08zT3SuSChVdvTR0jQbsUlarIH SuxOrzYlccY5437cHrApQ9klhctxzTf9PM6MdAbnu/4Zg7z7bJPHuvtWgvcxX09AVD8m OZ79M1s9yu54uG+awcM4ZnncYUbYAuZeq5igoD13rrUAYdgNVSXhGa3hRZJLPM4Oe/hN hVzlh0y6A9qM67Ayqkt8wGDhPub+z+z4kUi2zY2JxLS/fYMcLzp7fG9yTY3pDqM17TKJ PszFm32uKbPXEOvZnVQHwbzHu7R2lwceDlfpKfb0gNVm2hBv9yjrQAcIabguGwzyUW+L uwow== X-Gm-Message-State: ALoCoQliY7KpOjxYSFPTnyqmoIwQ9hNfpzdU0J+7F1Y+Iqqdqbc7yZQasTIxh2RIyAYjR3T+/A/S X-Received: by 10.68.131.3 with SMTP id oi3mr9890207pbb.27.1422008474606; Fri, 23 Jan 2015 02:21:14 -0800 (PST) Received: from thinmac.home.animata.net (60-241-41-69.static.tpgi.com.au. [60.241.41.69]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id pk11sm1468325pdb.5.2015.01.23.02.21.11 (version=TLSv1 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Fri, 23 Jan 2015 02:21:13 -0800 (PST) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Mime-Version: 1.0 (Mac OS X Mail 8.1 \(1993\)) Subject: Re: Dell branded storage controller for ZFS file-server | Advice requested From: David Gwynne In-Reply-To: Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:21:05 +1000 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Message-Id: References: To: Ahmed Kamal X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1993) Cc: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org X-BeenThere: freebsd-scsi@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.18-1 Precedence: list List-Id: SCSI subsystem List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 10:21:21 -0000 > On 23 Jan 2015, at 7:16 pm, Ahmed Kamal = 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"