HP SAS Expander Owner's Thread

Can anyone else confirm that the Highpoint 4320 does indeed work with the expander? It says on the front page that it is confirmed working but jmmcc (who I have just quoted) was unable to get it to work.

I'm considering the purchase of the Highpoint 4320 + HP SAS Expander myself and I'd love some more yay or nay's on the compatibility before I pull the trigger.

Thanks.

I purchased the Highpoint 4322 just last week and its been running fine with my HP SAS Expander via the SFF-8088 port. The 4322 only has two external SFF-8088 SAS ports so I cannot test linking via the internal SFF-8087 ports.
 
I purchased the Highpoint 4322 just last week and its been running fine with my HP SAS Expander via the SFF-8088 port. The 4322 only has two external SFF-8088 SAS ports so I cannot test linking via the internal SFF-8087 ports.

That is good to know. Thank you for sharing your experience.
 
Can anyone else confirm that the Highpoint 4320 does indeed work with the expander? It says on the front page that it is confirmed working but jmmcc (who I have just quoted) was unable to get it to work.

I'm considering the purchase of the Highpoint 4320 + HP SAS Expander myself and I'd love some more yay or nay's on the compatibility before I pull the trigger.

Thanks.

I also have a HighPoint 4320 working with an HP SAS expander running 8 drives in RAID.

Plugged one 8087 from the 4320 to the HP SAS and then two out to my backplanes in my Norco 4220.

I plan to populate more drives shortly, but for now, all 8 are working without interruption. I ordered from SynergyDustin (sp?) and they updated the FW before shipping.
 
I also have a HighPoint 4320 working with an HP SAS expander running 8 drives in RAID.

Plugged one 8087 from the 4320 to the HP SAS and then two out to my backplanes in my Norco 4220.

I plan to populate more drives shortly, but for now, all 8 are working without interruption. I ordered from SynergyDustin (sp?) and they updated the FW before shipping.

Thank you for your post. :D

I think I'll go with the 4320 then.
 
Thank you for your post. :D

I think I'll go with the 4320 then.

just in case it matters, I had my 4320 for a while by itself, and updated my FW and such to most current available from HighPoint before I unplugged drives and cables...I currently use all Hitachi 1TB Deskstars in a Norco 4220 case (with the SAS backplanes).
 
@odditory – can you please post your vitals so we can compare what a "working config" looks like? I am already seeing some differences.

-------------------------------------------------------------
Controller Name ARC-1880
Firmware Version V1.48 2010-09-02
BOOT ROM Version V1.48 2010-09-06
PL Firmware Version 5.0.18.0
Serial Number Y039CACOAR200082
Main Processor 800MHz PPC440
CPU ICache Size 32KBytes
CPU DCache Size 32KBytes/Write Back
System Memory 512MB/800MHz/ECC
-------------------------------------------------------------

can you both verify controller info?
Enclosure#1 : ARECA SAS RAID AdapterV1.0
Controller Name ARC-1880
Firmware Version V1.48 2010-08-19
BOOT ROM Version V1.48 2010-08-19
PL Firmware Version 7.0.0.0

@odditory - Can you post up your 1880i firmware so we can see what a working combo looks like?
 
I have two HP SAS expanders hooked up to my 1880i. Here's what my system info looks like:

Controller Name ARC-1880
Firmware Version V1.48 2010-09-16
BOOT ROM Version V1.48 2010-09-09
PL Firmware Version 7.0.0.0
 
I have two HP SAS expanders hooked up to my 1880i. Here's what my system info looks like:

Controller Name ARC-1880
Firmware Version V1.48 2010-09-16
BOOT ROM Version V1.48 2010-09-09
PL Firmware Version 7.0.0.0

Thanks. Are you seeing SATA300 or SATA150 speed on your drives? What mobo?
 
Am I right in assuming the mobo should not affect the SATA300 vs SATA150 result? Reason being that the expander only gets power from the mobo right? If I see SATA300 with my 1880i direct then I should also see it going through the expander?
 
Yes to all the questions. My 2nd expander is alone in a separate chassis and isn't even plugged into a motherboard.
 
^ remind me, did you go the OrbitMicro board + dremel route on that second chassis?
 
@dirtrider, you still haven't PM'd me where you sourced your HP expander from. In wondering "what else could be different", one thought I had is the silent hardware revision to the HP expander (which HP referenced in the firmware update for v2.02) but I'd be very surprised if that was making the diff between SATA-I and SATA-II speed w/ those drives. In answer to your earlier request:

@odditory - Can you post up your 1880i firmware so we can see what a working combo looks like?

Controller Name ARC-1880
Firmware Version V1.48 2010-09-16
BOOT ROM Version V1.48 2010-09-09
PL Firmware Version 7.0.0.0
Serial Number
Unit Serial #
Main Processor 800MHz PPC440
CPU ICache Size 32KBytes
CPU DCache Size 32KBytes/Write Back
System Memory 512MB/800MHz/ECC
 
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Yea...i remember you getting one of those...I got one of those too but funds are almost dry atm...need to get more drives before i even thinking about getting a anything else
 
The RR4320 is a good choice for the SAS expander. My problem ended up being a bad expander. I purchased a brand new one and had no issues.
 
H3llo ppl!

Have a small problem, planing to buy SAS/SATA controller and expander too. Have a lot of music and have 2 WD Green 2TB hdds but on this Intel board dont have enought SATA ports. Found SAS controller LSI 3082E-R 8-port PCI-e x4 cheaply but don't have posibillity to test with expander. Here is the pic of controller http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3302/lsis.jpg. Have Intel Server Board SE7525RP2, here is the pic of it http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/9756/lgim00190.jpg.
If nobody test LSI 3082E-R SAS controller, maybe I can get a advice from all of You which SAS 8-port controller is good to buy and which one support expander and hhds larger from 2TB (think that most of them supports)
I don't need performance, need only a lot of space and planing to set it on JBOD.
 
@ odditory, domenic, et al.

I received my replacement sas expander card today and it looks to be working fine. I am running 3 different types of drives now with all showing "SATA300+NCQ(Depth32)" (1x SAMSUNG HD154UI, 9x ST31500341AS, 2x WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0). I did not do any firmware updates or anything to the areca 1880i and everything is exactly as it was before minus the new sas expander replacement. Hopefully I just had a flaky card and nobody else here has to deal with this. The areca mcraid shows - Enclosure#2 : HP HP SAS EXP Card 2.06(16).

Also, I wanted to put in a good word for SynergyDustin who responded in just a few minutes and during the weekend when I put in a request for an RMA on the item. Follow through was just as expedient and good communication all around. Very happy to have purchased from him and highly recommend him as a source for sas expanders to others on the board.
 
That's why I asked you where you sourced the card, because with grey market/refurb/b-stock cards you're getting a pricebreak over a factory-new card but you're also taking a chance that it has some kind of anomaly that sent it to the b-stock bin in the first place.

Glad to hear you got it sorted out.
 
That's why I asked you where you sourced the card, because with grey market/refurb/b-stock cards you're getting a pricebreak over a factory-new card but you're also taking a chance that it has some kind of anomaly that sent it to the b-stock bin in the first place.

No gray market for me! I'm in photography and no industry is more thoroughly permeated with gray market crap than that so I know all about it. I just got unlucky with a legit but defective expander. Great to deal with an upright and authorized reseller too because when it does go bad they make it right.
 
To be perfectly clear, and not meaning to burst your bubble, but in fact your card is a refurb or b-stock. I know the dealer we're talking about well because all but one of my cards are from him. In fact I've gotten to know pretty much everyone that deals in these cards, and recently assisted Norco in avoiding a bulk purchase of HP SAS Expanders from another dealer (not Synergy) that was trying to pass b-stock off as factory new.

There's a reason you got it for below the wholesale cost of a factory new card. It is however not a big deal with this card because either it works right or it doesn't, its not that complex of a part outside of the PMC chip. And the reason the dealer we're talking about has been allowed to continue soliciting in this thread - even though its walking on the line of forum rules - is because he has been upstanding with people. He also never claimed they are factory new, but again in practice its not a big deal except for maybe a more limited warranty from HP (I haven't investigated the warranty issue, but I guess it's time that I do).
 
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^^^

Odditory is right to a point. The cards I have in stock are pulls from short term demo equipment from HP. They, however, are not grey market. We are a Distributor for HP, and every piece of hardware we get, comes direct from HP. Think of us like Tech Data, or Ingram Micro.

We aren't slinging fakes, or advertising as new. I stand behind them with a 90 day guarantee, and should they ever have issue, they are covered under warranty if installed into an HP server that has a valid warranty or serial number.

I'm glad to have been able to help so many people, and I do hope that my willingness to work with people has shown.

That being said, I have 3 left in stock. Shoot me a PM if anyone else is looking. Thanks!
 
I can vouch for Dustin here, purchased one all the way from Australia, arrived in packaging fit for a kind - card has been in machine working for 2 months without a hitch. The money I saved ($300+) faaaaaaaaar outweighs any doubts I have, not to mention I could purchase two for the same price as one new.

@Topic: With the cards listed as compatible in the OP, are they compatible in the sense they function (all HDDs can be seen through the HP SAS Expander) or the previous PLUS allow sleep/other commands to be passed down to the motherboard successfully?

I currently own a AOC-USAS2-L8e and no matter what I do (Ubuntu and W2K8 R2) my HDDs are not being spun-down/slept - Process Monitor is showing nothing is accessing my HDDs, and the usual suspects (Windows Search, Scheduled Tasks etc) have been disabled. At a loss, speaking with Supermicro engineers over the last few days in Europe and the US and they have asked for a list of HBA cards (preferably using the same Chipset as the AOC-USAS2-L8e - LSI2008) that ARE passing the sleep command.

TL/DR: Which current HBA/non-HBA cards are PASSING 'sleep' commands through the HP SAS Expander, if any?
 
Whether or not certain cards in the OP support sleep under Windows 2008 R2 or in any O/S is a separate issue and has nothing to do with the HP expander. As you may know the sleep issue is still prevalent even when bypassing the expander and connecting the drives to the HBA card directly. Conversely, cards like the Areca 1680 and 1880 series (and likely others that I haven't tested) have no trouble passing sleep and wakeup commands to drives through the HP expander, or directly, and regardless of RAID or JBOD mode. The expander is a link switch and doesn't sit filtering or translating SCSI commands any more than an ethernet switch would do that with ethernet. The problem is with the HBA card, drivers, O/S or combination.

I know the sleep issue is something you'd like to get resolved with your HBA, I would too but let's not add more noise to this thread since its unrelated to the HP expander.
 
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Im sorry to bring this question back up again, but I need some help please folk. I need to find a working motherboard that will power up the hp sas expander properly without the need of a cpu / memory configuration. If anyone has tried this method successfully can you please let me know which make / model of motherboard did they use? I am using a Norco 4224 case.

I know pjkenned was playing with this solution but I have tried his recommendations of the Intel matx h55 board, and sadly this doesnt work for me, im not sure how he got it working because the motherboard would simply not even power up without the cpu / memory only the green led status light comes on the motherboard but when you try to switch it on, nothing happens. (Checked all connection / jumpers / pins and cant seem to figure out what if anything is wrong, psu is working correctly tried in a different setup so thats not the problem).

Also I have an old Asus P5B Deluxe board, now this board does power up without the cpu / memory but you need to do the jumper pin 11 cover method in order to test it out, but thats not a permanent solution as pointed out by treadstone, unless you go one step further and do some nifty electrical work to the motherboard, which I cant do :(

Also the PE-2SD1-R10 board from Orbit Micro solution that odditory and bluefox have successfully working, well I have had this board on order since last month, and they are unsure when they will get stock in, it could be at the end of this month or even next year, unless someone has a spare and is willing to sell it to me?

Any help would be most greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
couldn't one just cut off the molex plugs and directly solder the wires to the appropriate spot on the card? Or make some kind of clip or sleeve that would apply power to the right spot? Or buy a pci-e slot itself and solder the power to that, and then slip it onto the card?
 
Is there any definitive answer on if an LSI 9260 series card works with any of these expanders? I read one was going to be tested but I couldn't find any results?
 
the issues are pretty bad... I wouldn't recommend the combination...
Latest beta of MSM at least fixes some of the issues, but far from all...

I'd advice you to get an Areca instead if you intend to use the HP SAS Expander...
 
The Intel SAS expander (which is LSI based) works fine with the LSI 92804i4e - you may want to give it a try. It's not as good value for money as the HP card though...
 
Has anyone tried the HP SAS expander with a Supermicro X8DTN+-F motherboard? I'm trying to find a suitable, dual LGA1366 motherboard with at least 12 DIMM sockets for 4GB ECC/Registered modules that doesn't have an issue resetting the expander card like some motherboard do. It also needs to fit in a Norco 4224 case. Anyone have a suggestion?
 
Has anyone tried the HP SAS expander with a Supermicro X8DTN+-F motherboard? I'm trying to find a suitable, dual LGA1366 motherboard with at least 12 DIMM sockets for 4GB ECC/Registered modules that doesn't have an issue resetting the expander card like some motherboard do. It also needs to fit in a Norco 4224 case. Anyone have a suggestion?

This really isn't the right thread for this...

If you like that MB, you might want to look at the X8DTH-iF. Feature-wise, its almost identical to the one you mention. Physically, its standard E-ATX so it should fit in the Norco Case. Can't guarantee compatibility with the HP SAS expander but with SuperMicro's designs your odds are very good.

One downside - all of the PCIe are x8 in x16 sockets. Should work for almost anything you'd need but you'll want to be sure before you buy.

Also might want to consider the X8DTH-6F. The built in LSI SAS controller might be just what you are looking for.
 
So what is the cheapest raid card I can use with this expander card to get good raid 5/6 performance? do I really need to spend over $700 on the raid card?
I just want some sort of redundancy for when a drive fails so no JBOD for me. and I don't want raid 1 because of the huge overhead.

I'm putting this expander card in a Norco 4220 case with a simple motherboard to make a huge NAS
Any ideas as to how to make it work good for little money?
 
the Areca 1880i is a good alternative... mid five hundreds or so... add another hundred for the battery...
or try getting a used Areca-controller from the previous generation at ebay, check this thread for recommended versions...

If you want to go cheap, FreeNAS is about as cheap as they come, verify that your intended hardware is supported though...
 
Hoping this is the right area to post..

Is it possible to use an HP SAS expander as
a 'poor mans' SAS switch?

3 machines each with a LSI HBA
1 machine with LSI HBA and a RocketRAID 2722( raid 5 setup )

connect all 4 computers using
HP sas expander. In theory all
3 computers should be able to
access the Raid volume on the
computer with rocketRaid 2722
and LSI HBA via simple file sharing.

Has any one tried something similar?

thanks.
 
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