HP SAS Expander Owner's Thread

I've been a long time HardOCP lerker and after reading many posts in this thread I'm afraid I'm slightly confused on whats the best way to go.

I have a NORCO 4224 and I would like to get a HP SAS Expander so I have room for all the drives internally and room for expansion. I wanted to grab a SASLP-MV8 and use it as my HBA, but I recall seeing a post by odditory that said this was a bad idea and I think it was because its limited to only so many expanded HDs it can address but I can't find an exact number.

Basically I want a relatively cheap solution for many HDs in a JBOD configuration and was thinking SASLP-MV8 + HP Expander OR AOC-USAS2-L8e + HP Expander. Recommendations? I will only be streaming blurays off of the drives with a maximum of 3 streams concurrently.

Addtionally, does the SASLP-MV8 work with both SAS channels connected to the expander or only one?
If these questions have already been answered in the thread...I apologize as apparently my searching skillz suck.
 
Three full BR streams can actually tax a single drive. If you really want his, with no hiccups you need to ensure multiple drives are servicing the concurrent requests.

One thought would be to go LSI SAS 2008 based either with a SAS Expander or get 3x Dell M1015's.
 
Is a Supermicro MBD-X7SBL-LN2 a reasonable board to get? I'm looking for something that I can reuse my E5400 and DDR2 memeory in.


G
 
Thnks odditory and treadstone for your help on previous post. I went back and read the info on signal at the a11 pin. The chip heat sink is quite warm and still this setup is not liking the card. My motherboard is a msi x58 pro-e. What motherboard is a plug and play with this adapter card? Could there be a problem with different version firmwares and how can I verify this?
 
@RageFuryMaxx: The AOC-SASLP-MV8 will work just fine with the HP SAS expander. I have used this HBA for testing in the past and had it hooked up to two expanders and 24 drives per expander. Once I installed the necessary driver in Windows, I had access to all 48 drives. I did not try a dual link configuration between the AOC-SASLP-MV8 and a single HP SAS expander, that setup may not be supported by the HBA (someone else may have some more information on this topic).

@fulsat: The HP SAS expanders heat sink gets VERY hot, that is normal and that's why you should make sure you have adequate ventilation in your system especially across the expanders heat sink!
If the top most LED (the one next to the external SAS connector) is blinking, but you still can't see either the expander or any drives listed in your HBA's BIOS, then there is obviously something wrong with the communication between the HBA and the expander. What cables do you use (make and model number)?
 
I really not intrested in another raid card as the areca is a much better platform. Has there been any issue with the 1880i card linking up to the hp expander? what other test can be done to verify hp card operation besides purchasing another raid card? Are there any sites with documentaion on the leds and compatiblity?:confused:
 
@fulsat: I don't think there is any other site with the kind of information you are looking for. This right here is most likely your best option. But feel free to do an extensive search and if you do come across some other site with more/better info, please do share!
As to the interface issue, have you tried to disconnect all HDDs from the expander and just have the expander connected to the 1880i? If so, did you see the HP SAS expander listed in the BIOS? Do you use the same cables between the HP SAS expander and the backplanes as you are using between the 1880i and the HP SAS expander?
 
I will try all those suggestions tonight.Are there any unanswered question about these cards that need to be cleared up with HP support? I will try to grab some more info thanks again
 
Has anyone ever given a shot at something like this for a method to power the hp sas expander?
http://www.provantage.com/supermicro-rsc-r2ut-2e8r~7SUP91Q6.htm

I just realized I'm out of PCIe slots to put it in. I was thinking of getting that, placing it in the bottom PCIe x16 slot and using it to power the expander and the card it'll be connected to. Seems like it'd work since all the hp does is draw power...

Otherwise, I'll probably have to build a small chassis for mounting the orbit micro and just mount it to the top of my existing case...
 
That won't work. PCIe requires 3.3v as well as 12v and that will only provide that latter.
 
fulsat said:
Are there any unanswered question about these cards that need to be cleared up with HP support? I will try to grab some more info thanks again
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. HP only ever designed and intended the HP SAS Expander to be used in HP Proliant servers, with HP raid adapters. They don't care about any other configurations and their attitude on a tech support about the card will reflect same at least in my experience. They will never provide firmware updates to address issues with specific non-HP motherboards, as their goal was never a "SAS expander for everyone", which was why this thread was started to consolidate info about non-HP configurations.

I've owned and used dozens of these cards and have not had any issues with Areca 1680i or 1880i cards, and all the other ones in the OP including some that aren't there. However I've only used them on Supermicro server class motherboards for what that's worth. Using these cards on gaming motherboards or non-server motherboards appears to be a hit or miss affair, at least judging by the comments in this thread. As for 1880i + HP expander specifically, there are more of us with this configuration working than not.

With the recent reports of anomalies like @dirtrider seeing drives only able to negotiate at SATA-150 I've also begun to suspect maybe there are other variables afoot like a silent hardware revision, or perhaps some of the more recent b-stock/refurbs have some difference or flaw not present in earlier b-stock/refurb. Don't know how else to explain it.

With your configuration you may be better off returning the HP Expander and trying an Intel RES2SV240 from provantage, which is based on an LSI SAS2 gen expander chip. I haven't tested one myself but it *appears* it may be more friendly in more configurations, not to mention its got a MOLEX option for power. Example it works with the LSI 9260 series of raid adapters whereas the HP expander didn't.
 
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Actually, I was thinking about upgrading my trusty ARC-1231ML to an 1880i with a SAS expander, so I decided to go ahead and try Odditory's above configuration - I placed an order for an 1880i and the Intel RES2SV240, and I'll report on interoperability once they arrive.
 
Well I've already read multiple reports of 1880i + RES2SV240 working well together. Not surprising seeing as how Areca integrated the same LSI SAS2 expander chip generation on their 1880ix models.
 
odditory said:
Well I've already read multiple reports of 1880i + RES2SV240 working well together. Not surprising seeing as how Areca integrated the same LSI SAS2 expander chip generation on their 1880ix models.
Click to expand...

Are there any problems with the RES2SV240 that you've heard about though?

I'm planning on picking one up when I need to expand my current storage server.
 
Not many people have posted experiences with the Intel card yet and its better to discuss it in a separate thread anyway.
 
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odditory said:
With the recent reports of anomalies like @dirtrider seeing drives only able to negotiate at SATA-150 I've also begun to suspect maybe there are other variables afoot like a silent hardware revision, or perhaps some of the more recent b-stock/refurbs have some difference or flaw not present in earlier b-stock/refurb. Don't know how else to explain it.
Click to expand...
I've got 8x2tb hitachi's on my hp sas expander & 1680lp (rev2) which used to work at SATA-300 but have all dropped to SATA-150. I've just added another 8 hitachi's which also sync at SATA-150.

However, I know the mini-sas to sata fanout cables I'm using are shit. They are very thin wires, and poorly shielded. I've very much willing to believe that poorly made cables between the sas expander and the drives are causing speed drop downs.
 
;)OK Thanks for the support Odditory. Got that dam expander up running on the 1880i areca controller. Must of been the a11 pin not covered correctly and setting the ses2 support to disabled. Was there a post on the leds and what there state is?
 
Is there any other way to force the expander 2.06 firmware update without a hp p410 controller :confused:
 
@fulsat: HP Unfortunately never released or disclosed any information on the meaning of any of the LEDs :(
Based on the CR6 blinking while operating and simply lit while in reset mode, I would assume that CR6 is a status/heartbeat indicator. As to the rest of them, your guess is as good as anyone's to what they indicate (unless you are willing to call their support line and ask them ;) ).
I don't think you still have to disable SES2 control especially with the 1880 controller. This was related to an older firmware on the 1680 controllers and has since been rectified by Areca.

AFAIK, you can only upgrade the HP SAS expanders firmware via HP based HBAs as the updater software checks for a HP HBA! :(
 
Strange thing is mine does not like the dual link setup yet. Works good when connected to 9c. I did not see anything in the areca manual on ses2 setting. Sould this be enabled?
 
The 1880 only supports multi-link on the latest firmware. One thing I want clarified is if SES2 support is fixed as well.
 
So far seem ok being enabled, So if the firmware is flashed 2.06 should enable dual link fine/? need to get mine flashed no workarounds,
 
@fulsat: Xon was referring to the 1880's firmware not the HP SAS expanders firmware!

SES2 stands for SCSI Enclosure Services 2. Unless you have an enclosure or backplanes that supports management or additional control functions via the HBA, you don't really need SES2. I don't think that most of the Norco enclosures support any management features since they are just 'dumb' backplanes. Some if not most of the Supermicro and Chenbro enclosures have 'smart' backplanes and enabling SES2 in those enclosures will let you control the HDD FAIL LEDs for each slot and possibly other functions.
 
The out-of-band mangement webpage on the 1880/1680's also uses SES2 when listing various drive information under the "Hardware Monitor" tab. Probably the most important information it lists is the drive temperature. Disabling SES2 disables the ability to see all the drive temperatures at once. You can still query each drive, and this probably isn't going to impact scripted solutions or polling via SNMP.
 
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Just wondering why my raid card works with expander on 9c. Early post said to connect to 8c. Just to verify hp expander card will only dual link with software 2.06? Should I be able to connect regardless to 8c from outpput of controller card. Should it matter on which port of my raid controller I use? Still a little confused and mabey I need test somemore on swapping ports. Thanks in advance for all the current help on this forum:D
 
No, firmware 2.06 is not a requirement for dual-linking. The ability has existed since v1.0. And I've had dual linking working fine with an 1880i no matter what ports I connected to on the HP expander - 1 and 2, 3 and 4, whatever. You might want to just get your configuration working and stable before getting too hung up on dual linking.
 
@fulsa: Are you looking at achieving really high throughput or what's your reason for the dual linking setup? What's your end application or intended goal?
 
Yes I have a few extra raptor drives that I want to expand on my array. Are ports 8c 9c the correct ones to throughput for internal between my 1880i ports 1 & 2. I cannot get the card to see array when two cable are linked on card starting each array from expander on ports 2c and 3c. The weird thing Areca controller boots fine once cable is removed from 8c of expander. So far the expander is stable using the 9c to my controller and happy enough with that. I will test external port SFF-8088 cable to expander card when a get another tower of hard drives. :confused:
 
Hi,
did anyone already run one of the 3TB drives on the expander, or maybe know if that would pose an issue at all given the 4KB Blocksize?
 
Ralph_McCloud said:
Hi,
did anyone already run one of the 3TB drives on the expander, or maybe know if that would pose an issue at all given the 4KB Blocksize?
Click to expand...

Irrelevant since an expander isn't addressing blocks on a harddisk, that's the function of the host controller. Again think of an expander like adding an ethernet switch in the middle of an ethernet cable.
 
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Thanks for the information odditory. I suppose the expander is future-proof enough then to last a couple of hdd generations.
 
Ok Odditory I've tracked down the issue I was having getting My dual link up and seeing different arrays on my Areca 1880i and HP sas expander.
Before my HP expander card arrived I set up two raid arrays for my Areca 1880i. 1st array was Raid6 seagate drives on channel 1, My second array was raid 0 three WD raptors as my boot drives for win7 ulimate 64operating system.
If my stripped raid0 break out cable is plugged into any of the HP sas expander channels 2c through 7c then my Areca 1880i controller will hang and not initalize. I also checked and removed BBU to see if this was a cause but not so. The only way to get the raid 0 array to boot up was to be on the Areca card itself either channel 1 or Channel 2. I'm going to delete raid 0 array and set drives as passthrough to see if I can build through expander. Is there a reason why this is happening and why Areca card will not post by just moving plug to a different port if these are indeed just a switch?:confused:
 
There's some bug with having WD raptors in an HP Expander + 1880i configuration and the areca hanging at bootup. Haven't tested this on 1680 series though. For now I would just leave the raptors plugged directly into the areca card.
 
Odditory I have my seagate raid6 array also negotiating speeds at reduced sata 150 rate. I have read post in the past that this was corrected by a faulty card replacement. I have the newer seagate sata600 drive which shows correct speeds through the expander. Also the raid 0 array states correct sata300 speeds but not the raid6 array.Not sure whats up but I have had all the flavor of problems. Will firmware 2.06 correct any issues or should I RMA the expander card:confused:
Should issue with boot drives be brought to Areca attention?
 
Not sure what good bringing the issue to Areca's attention will do, but you can try. Even though I sent them an HP Expander and they have one in the lab for testing, my guess is they will say "well there's no problem when you plug the drive directly into the Areca card and therefore not our problem".

On the other hand since their last firmware update listed "HP Expander support" I think they have an intention of maintaining compatibility, so its worth running it by them. I'd pretty sure the bug is something that can be addressed on the controller.

As far as your Seagates showing SATA-150, do they show same speed if you plug into Areca card direct?
 
Odditory, You are correct they do show correct and operate at sata300 when directly connected to Areca raid card. So is that a faulty card when it wont pass correct?:mad:
 
Just an update with my SAS Expander issue - recap, I'm using a SASLP-MV8, and it wouldn't see any of the drives connected to it, and was giving misc timeout issues.

After much sweating, cable swapping, and numerous pieces of electrical tape and red nail polish...

The issue wasn't with pin A11 (I think it had been working all along), the issue was with my SASLP-MV8. I had initially purchased 2 of them, and removed one to use that slot for the expander. I eventually switched over to the other HBA card (I didn't think the 1st one was the issue, since it could always see all the disks if directly connected).

As soon as I swapped over the HBA, all the disks on the expander showed. As soon as I put the old one back, the system wouldn't boot.

The problem was the version of the BIOS on the HBA - 15N on the one that wasn't working, 21 on the one that was. As soon as I upgraded the first card to 21, it started to work, and I've not had an issue since.

Just an info point if you've got one of the Supermicro cards, and are having issues with it.


G
 
One additional question - if I want to chain a 2nd port from my HBA to a 2nd enclosure with a SAS expander, can I connect the chaining cable to the external port, or do I need to bring the external cable to a backplane connection, then convert that to an internal cable and connect to port 8 again?

What's the performance hit of daisy chaining from one SAS expander to another (and can you use the 2 external ports to be the chain, or should the one on the SAS expander always be the 'out' port?

Thanks


G
 
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