Storage Server Refresh...Suggestions?

mwroobel: That M1015 is "Seller Refurbished" so I was a little hesitant about those. But I suppose if they seller is well known and has decent return policies it might be worth it. I've been reaching out to the sellers on Amazon as well and awaiting a response, but thanks for mentioning it anyway.

ST3F: The PSU is a 750W PC Power & Cooling Silencer Quad and no I don't have the P411 to flash with. Though if Odditory is still offering, I may have to take him up on his offer to either borrow one. Or possibly ship him the expander to flash for me if he'd be willing. I'm sure I'll find a way somehow though.

Also on the PSU, I may end up trying to sell the one I have and pick up one of those SeaSonic X750s or the Platinum-860s like Odditory mentioned earlier. I really like the full modular design since my servers usually have crap loads of leftover unused cables.
 
SatanSkin said:
mwroobel: That M1015 is "Seller Refurbished" so I was a little hesitant about those. But I suppose if they seller is well known and has decent return policies it might be worth it. I've been reaching out to the sellers on Amazon as well and awaiting a response, but thanks for mentioning it anyway.
Click to expand...

You can get them new on amazon affiliates for ~230+, but if you buy a corporate pack IBM model you are going to pay ~375+. If you buy a used/refurb model, make sure there is at least a 14 day return window (from when you receive it, not when they ship it) and buy from a reputable seller.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
There's no need to pay $200+ for an M1015 from Amazon, just grab one for around $100 on ebay and assuming the seller was a return policy. A lot of the ones on ebay are system pulls from companies that get an IBM server in which comes with an M1015 as standard/freebie but then need a real parity raid card so they buy an M5015 or something instead.
 
SatanSkin said:
On the topic of PSUs, I wonder how loud these zippy redundant ones would be. Might be an option if they don't sound like a freaking jet.

http://www.amazon.com/redundant-pow...800V4V/dp/B00658MPMC/ref=pd_luc_wl_03_01_t_lh

Thanks again for your help guys. I have a M1015 and HP expander that I'm probably going to snatch up soon. Looking forward to having everything in house.
Click to expand...

You can check the spec sheet for the db rating, but redundant server power supplies usually have 40-60mm very high rmp/cfm fans and noise is about the 4th thing they think about in the design.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
I may be able to get one of those dual-PSU's as a review unit for testing since its Norco thats selling it (iPCDirect is their retail front) -- theres also one on ebay for $469, but in mind my totally superfluous if you're talking about a home server -- ask yourself can you really not afford 5-10min downtime on the rare chance a PSU goes kaputt were you to pay less than half the price for a Seasonic Platinum which is going to be a superior PSU. I'd have some serious doubts about quality on the dual-PSU since they've had to cut a regular PSU form factor in half -- given that it was designed/built in china I'd expect corners were cut somewhere to arrive at the form factor.
 
I hadn't spent too much time looking at that zippy. It just popped up while I was browsing amazon for other parts. I was just throwing it out there for conjecture. I wouldn't bother testing one of them unless it's for your own interests. Thanks though.
 
Got most of my parts in, time to start playing. Which btw, I found a real nice deal on the expander from CDW Outlet. I wish I had thought to take a picture of the packaging when I took it out. It was that ridiculous. The card still had SAS cables hooked to it and it was all just wrapped up together loosely in bubble wrap. Hopefully it still works at least.

Now I need to flash my M1015 to IT and start building.
 
hmmm.... I get an error when flashing to IT and haven't found anything so far about it.

Says that the firmware image doesn't support target adapter device id (0x72). Says it only supports 0x80. Is there another set of files somewhere?
 
SatanSkin said:
....
Now I need to flash my M1015 to IT and start building.
Click to expand...

as I know:
if you use M1015 on linux, you do not need to flash to IT (aka downgrading to previous chipset firmware),
M105 with provide "pass through", I use M1015 on mdadm raid6 at work.
 
SatanSkin said:
hmmm.... I get an error when flashing to IT and haven't found anything so far about it.

Says that the firmware image doesn't support target adapter device id (0x72). Says it only supports 0x80. Is there another set of files somewhere?
Click to expand...
This error (0x72) occured on EFI motherboard.

If you do the update on an older motherboard with standard BIOS, it will succeed.

Cheers.

St3F
 
It's on an asrock x58 extreme mobo. I don't think that has the EFI BIOS. If it won't provide any benefit to flash it for use with linux then I'll just try to flash back the old firmware.
 
I just flashed it back for now. On to the expander. Any suggestions on how to check the firmware version on it?

Odditory: Can you repost the pic of the latch to slide open/close the vents on the drive bays like you mentioned in your other thread? I can't seem to find a latch anywhere on the bays for my 4224.
 
Last edited:
The sliding vent is on the inside of each drive bay, don't have a picture handy. Of course Norco may have changed the design of the trays and removed the sliding vent cover since I bought mine a few years ago, not sure.

Re: your PM the HP expander doesn't have its own boot-time bios, its transparent to the motherboard in fact all its really doing is getting its power from the PCIe connector, no data is traversing the bus -- it all happens over the interlink with the controller.

I don't remember how to check hp expander firmware rev with an M1015, you can try going into the boot-time bios for the M1015 and looking around and worst case you can load up LSI MSM (megaraid storage manager) and assuming the hp expander is connected to the M1015 then there should be an area where it lists it. Example I have an Areca card so to look at the firmware rev of my hp expander I go into the areca system-info type menu.

also sometimes there's a sticker on the back of the expander with a firmware rev - a small sticker with just "X.XX" example 2.02, 2.06, 1.52, whatever.
 
hmm hp expander or intel expander

where is a good place to get them? just incase if i see it on sale I will grab one for future upgrade =)
 
balance101 said:
hmm hp expander or intel expander

where is a good place to get them? just incase if i see it on sale I will grab one for future upgrade =)
Click to expand...
With LSI or m1015 I would say Intel Expander ! ... which is LSI too but no external port :/
 
So either I'm missing something, someone is screwing with me, or they must have some retard designing their cases. Someone with a 4224, please post pics of how you wired up your backplanes. Especially if you are using the 120mm fan wall. See mine below.


WTF!?
IMG_20120727_143715.jpg



Notice that the wall isn't even all the way forward and in the proper place. How the hell are you supposed to get your cables in there with the fans all nut-to-butt with them!?
casewires1.jpeg



Any advice is welcome.
 
odditory said:
T.....
I don't remember how to check hp expander firmware rev with an M1015, you can try going into the boot-time bios for the M1015 and looking around and worst case you can load up LSI MSM (megaraid storage manager) and assuming the hp expander is connected to the M1015 then there should be an area where it lists it. Example I have an Areca card so to look at the firmware rev of my hp expander I go into the areca system-info type menu.

also sometimes there's a sticker on the back of the expander with a firmware rev - a small sticker with just "X.XX" example 2.02, 2.06, 1.52, whatever.
Click to expand...

if you still IR firmware on M1015. go to webbios and list devices.. your expander will be shown with version number.
do Not save anything, by assuming that you are using "pass-through/JBOD".
 
SatanSkin said:
Any advice is welcome.
Click to expand...

The cables just have to bend a bit more, make a sharper turn where they're plugging into the backplane. If I recall there are also two positions the fan bracket can be placed since there are duplicate screw holes a bit further away from the backplanes - at least thats the way it was on previous revisions of 4224. Also, zipties are your friend for taming those damn things especially to make it nice and clean plugging into the controller or expander, but wait on zip tying it all the way until they're actually plugged into the controller, by bundling them together tightly there's less obstruction for the airflow to the PCIe cards.

I'll have to ask Mike @ Norco why the miniSAS connector on the backplanes still isn't lined up with the damn passthrough hole on the fan bracket.

I'll take a photo of mine later.
 
Thanks. I'd be interested to see how you did it. I'd also be very interested to hear Mike's response! I'm pretty sure my old 4020 was just as stupid and painful.

Also, if you look closely you'll notice that the fan wall in my pic is actually just behind (closer to back of case) the second set of screw holes that you mentioned. Hence my frustration/confusion.

It'd be nice to see some 90 degree connectors on those SAS cables. The only ones I found though were the R145M cables for Dell backplane to H700 cards and they want $50 per cable for that crap. Ha!

Anyway, time to toy with some ideas here and see what I come up with.
 
How's this for some redneck ingenuity!? Now you smarter people let me know if this is gonna work or if it's gonna blow me up. I ain't exactly an EE so I don't know if this is just waiting to melt down.

Here's the original cable adapter that takes a single 4pin molex and gives you 3 right angled molex connectors.
IMG_20120727_170318.jpg



And here's my new custom cable. Basically just cut the sleeving and added some extra molex connectors for the six backplanes. Not bad for my first custom cable.
IMG_20120727_173506.jpg
 
Yeah, I actually did that earlier. Now as long as no one thinks my little homemade power cable is going to kill me or anything, then I'm gonna make a second one and get this wired up.
 
the 2nd power connector on each backplane is for a dual PSU, it serves no practical purpose wiring a single PSU into both connectors which essentially form a Y splitter
 
Last edited:
Alright, got the initial wire up for this done. Just about to boot it up for the first time, but figured I would post some updated pics.

Here's a pic of the initial cabling. Once I know the thing runs fine I'll go back and clean it up a little more.
IMG_20120728_115718.jpg


And here's a shot of it from the back:
IMG_20120728_115739.jpg


Two things learned:
1) It's probably easier to plug the SAS cables into the expander BEFORE installing it in the motherboard.
2) My first upgrade will certainly be that Seasonic Modular PSU. It's 2012 and I vow to never buy another non-modular PSU. This crap is just ridiculous.
 
Yep thats about how it should look, excepting the clutter created by the non-modular PSU ofcourse. One thing to consider is a piece of foam or a thin strip of blue painter's tape to cover the hole on the far left side of the above pic where the power connectors to the backplane are fed through. A little better in terms of vacuum for the fans to pull air through the drive bays.

Another thing I always put on my HP expanders - is a 40x40x10mm fan (http://www.amazon.com/Scythe-40x40x10mm-Fan-pin-adapter/dp/B000RD0RDU), because it does make a difference in temperature for the expander chip - which has a pretty high temp ceiling but I've seen what happens when they get too hot and drives can start dropping. Granted most people don't bother with this and do just fine (I never really talked it up in the HP Expander thread until much later on after OP was written). However the screws that come with 40x40x10mm fans generally aren't long enough to be able to attach the fan by screwing them into the fins of the heatsink, so I remove two screws from an old VHS tape and those work perfectly to fasten the fan..
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
That's pretty genius. I just ordered one!

Now I have two hiccups so far. First, the board won't let me into the freaking BIOS setup no matter how many times I press DEL as stated on the splash screen. Even tried two different keyboards. The second issue is that I have three rows of drives populated, but M1015 F/W post only shows 8 JBODs. I'll have to figure out what the heck the deal is with that.

Also, the webbios for M1015 worked like a charm to check the HP F/W version as someone mentioned. Currently at 2.06 so from what I have gathered, there isn't too much reason to hassle with upgrading it.
 
Haven't used an M1015 in a while but if I recall it only shows the first 8 drives due to Int13 limitation. Its normal. In other words if you booted into MS-DOS you'd only have 8 drives accessible but once you boot into your Windows/LinuxOS and it loads the SAS2008 driver then you'll see all the drives.
 
SatanSkin said:
Now I have two hiccups so far. First, the board won't let me into the freaking BIOS setup no matter how many times I press DEL as stated on the splash screen. Even tried two different keyboards. The second issue is that I have three rows of drives populated, but M1015 F/W post only shows 8 JBODs.
Click to expand...

I had a keyboard with a built-in trackpad that was not recognized by the BIOS of the X9SCM-IIF. But I plugged in another keyboard and it worked fine. Just hold down the DEL key and keep it down until you get to the BIOS.

I have three M1015s but the POST message only ever shows 8 drives, so I think that is normal (although I don't know for sure since you have a SAS expander and I don't).
 
JoeComp: thanks. I was actually able to get into it finally later. It was just a bit tricky.

Just curious, of those that are running your m1015 with Linux, what distro are you running and what kernel module are you using for it?

The latest Ubuntu server keeps wanting to load megaraid_sas and I haven't been able to find anything related to sas2008 yet. Has the former replaced the sas2008?
 
SatanSkin said:
JoeComp: thanks. I was actually able to get into it finally later. It was just a bit tricky.

Just curious, of those that are running your m1015 with Linux, what distro are you running and what kernel module are you using for it?

The latest Ubuntu server keeps wanting to load megaraid_sas and I haven't been able to find anything related to sas2008 yet. Has the former replaced the sas2008?
Click to expand...

if you still have IR firmware (not crossed to IT firmware), megaraid_sas is the correct module

I am on centos&RHEL when dealing with servers, do not know Ubuntu server
 
Thanks cantalup. I am still on the original firmware. Or at least whatever mode the lsi rom mentioned over at the servethehome site refers to at the end of his flashing guide. Because I could never get it to flash to IT and had to revert back to that rom.

odditory: I've been thinking more and more about your ESXi suggestion. After seeing how ballsy this server actually is, it sure seems more and more like a good idea. The only issue is that I would want to split up the drives and have most of them accessible via one VM and then a few others used for a datastore. I'm familiar enough with ESXi, but haven't had much experience with the RDM and direct passthrough. If I did a direct passthrough, I'd have to passthrough the entire M1015 which basically kills the ability to have a datastore...or am I missing something?
 
Well crap. I think I killed my M1015 already.... :(

I was having an issue earlier with not all my drives showing up in linux (before odditory's explanation) so I tried flashing it back to IT mode from in this new board (previous failed attempt was in a different mobo). Well it failed this time also so I flashed back to the LSI rom as mentioned on servethehome's guide, but now it is not coming up. No lights flash on the card and it's not being seen by the mobo as a boot device. Not even showing the firmware post for it. But it will still let me boot into the DOS flash drive and flash it with other ROMs. So I'm confused. I tried both the LSI and IBM rom that was included with that guy's files.

Please tell me I'm not that stupid and already bricked it.
 
Well the good news is that I overlooked the sbrm1015.bin file included. I flashed that and the LSI rom back and we're back in business.

The bad news is that it looks like the 8 drives thing earlier was not what odditory was thinking. Looks like one of the backplanes is dead on this brand new 4224.

Odditory: would you mind PM'ing me Mike's contact info if he is still the guy to talk to about getting these DOA backplane issues squared away? I would appreciate it.

other than those issues, moved the row of drives to a new backplane and it's booting up into linux just fine for now and seeing all 12 drives. Now it's time to test the other backplanes.

P.S. I'm loving IPMI! How on earth have I survived without it!?
 
SatanSkin said:
other than those issues, moved the row of drives to a new backplane and it's booting up into linux just fine for now and seeing all 12 drives.
Click to expand...

When the M1015 displays its list of drives, do you see 12 drives, or only 8?
 
man those backblaze (with backplane) is damned expensive.

$1412.. For $1700 you can get the supermicro 45 disk JBOD chassis which IMHO is much higher quality.

For being what I thought was a budget chassis I would have expected more like $800-1000 range.
 
houkouonchi: Where did you get that price? I picked mine up, chassis only, for about $750 before shipping. Then added on some backplanes, mounting hardware etc, for another ~200-250 total. But yes, either way it is still pricey.

JoeComp: I originally filled the first three rows and the M1015 only showed 8 drives and I was only seeing 8 drives in linux. Based on the drives that were missing, I pulled the second row of drives and moved them to the fourth row on the case. Now the M1015 shows 12 drives and they all show up in linux properly.
 
SatanSkin said:
Then added on some backplanes, mounting hardware etc, for another ~200-250 total. But yes, either way it is still pricey..
Click to expand...
What are the backplanes you choose ? / where to find them ?

Cheers.

St3F
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top