Raid controller supporting 4TB hard drives?

[HumptyP]

Hello

 

I have just bought two 4TB hard drives to go into my server. But my existing SAS raid controller only supports 2TB hard drives.

 

Is there any real cheap SAS raid controller that anyone knows of that supports 4TB sata hard drives?

 

The SAS raid controller needs to fit in a 2U rack.

 

Cheers

[MrBucket101]

check with the mfg website and see if there is a bios/firmware update for the card

I've got a LSI Megaraid 9260-8i and it supports drives up to 6tb in size...not sure if that helps or not

[alpenwasser]

- snip -

Do you need an actual RAID controller or just a host bus adapter?

Budget? Required RAID levels (0,1,5,6,50,60)? Speed requirements?

I have some LSI 9211-8i running in my rig, they work pretty well

and can be had for a bit more than 100 USD on eBay new in box.

If you need proper RAID, @MrBucket101's suggestion sounds pretty

good. LSI also have some more models with slight feature variations

(9266-8i, 9270-8i etc.). If speed is not a priority and you don't

need RAID6 or RAID60, the 9240-8i might also be worth a look. It

lacks the cache of the more epensive controllers, so random IO

performance will suffer quite a bit, but if that's not so much

of a priority you could save a bit of money.

Or, as said, alternatively, a simple host bus adapter plus

software RAID (my preferred solution, actually) could also be

worth a look. The advantage of that is that you're not dependent

on a RAID controller (i.e. if your controller breaks you might

need to get the same model againt to get access to your data).

Adaptec and Areca might also have something for you, but I'm not

really familiar with their current product ranges.

[HumptyP]

I am a bit of noob here, just starting out with servers

 

I bought a X3650 IBM server

 

There is one DDR1 slot with a RAID card in it  (i think) Then there is lots of slots of DDR2 for the ram.

 

I do not need speed or any raids.

 

Some images below to help

 

Big Pictures....

 

There is PCI riser so if need be i can plug in a low profile PCI raid card.

Also i am running vMware as main OS.

 

Will this one do and fit the existing connector?

 

Thanks for replying so fast!

Edited June 3, 2014 by HumptyP

[alpenwasser]

I am a bit of noob here, just starting out with servers

 

I bought a X3650 IBM server

 

There is one DDR1 slot with a RAID card in it  (i think) Then there is lots of slots of DDR2 for the ram.

 

I do not need speed or any raids.

-snip-

Ah, OK. IBM has a site for identifying their old SAS controllers here. I think it could

be an 25R8064. In the description for that one it says that the label has 25R8076

printed on it, which yours does, and the ATB-200 descriptor matches as well.

 

ServeRAID 8k SAS Controller

Part number: 25R8064

Year of first availability: 2006

US Announcement Letter: 106-379 (announced with the System x3650)

Features:

• 256 MB DDR2 533 MHz
• Enables 72 hours of battery life for 3 years at 45°C
• RAID-0, 1, 1E, 10, 5, 6,
• Copyback
• FlashCopy
• Stripe-unit size: 16 KB, 32 KB and 64 KB, 128 KB, 256 KB, 512 KB, and 1024 KB

Visual identifiers:

• The option is shipped as a special memory DIMM with a battery attached through wires (for battery-backup purposes)
• The DIMM is installed in a special DIMM socket in supported servers
• Five DRAM chips on the DIMM
• FRU on label is 25R8076; Stamped "Adaptec ATB-200" on battery side
• Write-back cache memory is 256 MB, 533 MHz DDR2 unbuffered memory
• Battery is connected to the DIMM by wires and is typically mounted on the server chassis

Figure 19. ServeRAID 8k (battery not shown)

Figure 20. ServeRAID 8k installed in an x3650

Just in case you were curious.

As for installing another controller: What you need for that one (and yes,

that one does support drives larger than 2 TB, I have three of those running

myself) is a PCI-Express 8x slot. The 9211-8i is PCI-E 2.0, but in general

PCI-E 2.0 cards should be compatible with PCI-E 1.0 motherboards AFAIK. It

doesn't have a cache, so your performance won't be too fantastic, but it does

provide some basic functionality for a decent price and is a good piece of hardware

(I'm using them with software RAID, works very well).

I'm not really familiar with proprietary rack server hardware though, so maybe

@Whaler_99, @wpirobotbuilder or @IdeaStormer might have some additional

insight here which I might have overlooked.

[wpirobotbuilder]

I would contact IBM tech support and see if they can verify whether the 9211 is validated in that server. Proprietary hardware is usually much more difficult to deal with, because there's usually artificial locks on the hardware that can be used with it.

[HumptyP]

Okay I will try to contact IBM support

 

With that raid controller does it support 4TB right out of the bag or does there need to be a firmware update?

 

Thanks for the help.

[IdeaStormer]

I am a bit of noob here, just starting out with servers

 

I bought a X3650 IBM server

 

Some images below to help

 

Its a X3650 ?? (what?), you need to list out the full model number for more info.

[IdeaStormer]

Okay I will try to contact IBM support

 

With that raid controller does it support 4TB right out of the bag or does there need to be a firmware update?

 

Thanks for the help.

 

The ServerRAID 8x does not support driver greater that  2TB : http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1798481/ibm-x3650-7979-raid-card-upgrade.html

 

I would go for the one suggested in that link, the "IBM ServerRAID M5015" http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0738.html

[HumptyP]

Its a X3650 ?? (what?), you need to list out the full model number for more info.

IBM X3650

MT: 7979

Product ID: 79791M

Model: 21M

2007

 

That is from the case.

[HumptyP]

The ServerRAID 8x does not support driver greater that  2TB : http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1798481/ibm-x3650-7979-raid-card-upgrade.html

 

I would go for the one suggested in that link, the "IBM ServerRAID M5015" http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips0738.html

 

That IBM serverRAID M5015 is over $300, i was looking around $100 mark. this server is just for muck around while i am still studying. 

Cheers

 

I did some more research.

What about this model

 

Compatibility 

Just not sure if it supports my WD green 4tb hard drives.

Edited June 4, 2014 by HumptyP