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repurpose ds4243 as DAS/jbod

evosmash

Here is my scenerio, I hope someone can help.

I recently purchased some ds4243 shelves filled with 2tb sata drives. They have the standard iom3 modules. I would like to simply use them in a DAS setup at home. I have a rack and an IBM X3550 M4 server running windows server 2016. I would like to know if I can run these units directly to my server without the use of a netapp controller. If so, what kind of hba/sas/qsfp card can/should I use for my server? Can I install something like this ( NetApp X2065A-R6 HBA SAS 4-PORT Copper 3/6 GB QSFP PCIe 111-00341+B0) and use the standard qsfp cables or can I use an some other sas hba type card and get a qsfp to mini sas conversion cable or some other configuration I am not listing here?

I want to run these utilizing max space with no parity so I am thinking raid 0 config. Any help would be much appreciated as I would like to get the proper card ordered asap as the equipment is on its way.

Thank you.

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Accepted answers

AlexDawson

QSFP is used for a number of different purposes - IB, Ethernet(4x10GB) and SAS - all are different - it doesn't define a logical connection. It's like RJ45. Usually it's Ethernet - sometimes its serial.

I understand your comment on "standard" SAS cables - we have elected not to in this instance. Our newer systems use miniSAS-HD (SFF-8644), but that wasn't the choice when this card and our SAS shelves were initially released.

So - as before, I suggest you will need to purchase our X2065 card to use this shelf - sorry!

All comments

AlexDawson

It's (obviously?) not something we support or test, but Linux kernel has drivers for the X2065A-R6 card as a PMC PM8001 SAS controller, and will see the drives as normal 512byte sector SAS devices. I would suggest that approach.

While the shelves are "standard" SAS SBB ("storage bay bridge") units, trying a different SAS card/cables adds another point of failure.

Good luck!

evosmash

Great thank you. Yes, of course I know this wouldn't be something officially tested I just thought someone in the community may have had some experience that could pertain to what I am trying to do. I found a cheap mezzanine card that my server supports with qsfp so if I can't utilize it I will go the route you suggested. (trying to use Windows before Linux)

Thanks again I really appreciate having this information.

AlexDawson

I've done it before (outside of NetApp) - but I used the X2065 card and Linux. I know some people who are using DS2246's as JBODs in production on ESX.

The SATA drives were fine - the SAS drives in the same shelf needed to be reformatted with Linux to change from 520 to 512 byte sectors.

Good luck!

evosmash

Thanks Alex. Thankfully my enclosures are full of sata drives so that isn't going to be a hassle. Im currently trying to use a mellanox infiniband card which i have had no problems being recognized by my machine and windows. I have it direct connect to the jbod but I am just not getting any communication. My previous experience was with hp enclosures/sas and I didnt have any problems. I feel like Im just missing something but no idea at this point since infiniband is a different tech. Im wonderin if I should just get an sas card and get a qsfp to sas conversion cable.

Thanks again for the reply.

aborzenkov

DS4243 has SAS interface, not IB.

AlexDawson

Yeah.. where did infinband come from?? Maybe just get the NetApp SAS card and use it. You can find them cheaply on eBay.

evosmash

I went with the infiniband card because of the qsfp cables that come with the shelf and i saw that one of the netapp controllers supported infiniband and it also supported the ds4243. Apparently that was a mistake. I didnt go with the netapp card right away because of worrying about compatibility issues with my server and that my server that I ended up with is 2u and wasnt sure it would fit (Two PCIe 3.0 slots: one PCIe 3.0 x16 low profile and one x8 half length, full height) the netapp card looks to be full height, full length but I cant tell for certain. Normal external sas cards use sas 8088 connectors and the cables i got with the netapp shelves are qsfp. Since i was buying a card either way, i thought i would go with a card that already had qsfp connectors and was compatible with the server i would be getting so i wouldnt have to buy a qsfp to sas 8088 cable. Am I missing something with the connection aspect of this? Please excuse my novice thoughts I am a little outside my realm atm but got a great deal on netapp enclosures full of drives which is why im trying to make them work.

AlexDawson

So - as before, I suggest you will need to purchase our X2065 card to use this shelf - sorry!