How to make a Raid 6 w/ SSD Cache

[TechLabs]

So I have the MegaRAID 9266-8i with 8 x 4TB WD Red drive in Raid 6. I am planning to get a SAS Expander to add more drives. I also want to speed up my raid array with an SSD cache, how would I accomplish this? 

[brwainer]

On LSI controllers this is called CacheCade https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/MegaRAID_CacheCade_SSD_Cache

[TechLabs]

Is it free with the hardware or do I need to pay for it?

 

[TechLabs]

11 minutes ago, brwainer said:

On LSI controllers this is called CacheCade https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/MegaRAID_CacheCade_SSD_Cache

Do you how many SSDs that I can add to the array?

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, TechLabs said:

Is it free with the hardware or do I need to pay for it?

 

I think you need an addition linence.

 

What os? There is normally a software option to cache a hdd pool in every major os aswell.

[TechLabs]

6 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

I think you need an addition linence.

 

What os? There is normally a software option to cache a hdd pool in every major os aswell.

Going to Windows Server 2016

[Catsrules]

It looks like your card doesn't support it. At least it isn't listed as an option on the user guide.

https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/raid-controllers/megaraid-sas-9266-8i#documentation

 

The MegaRAID SAS 9271 is listed as supporting that.

 

I could be wrong, I have never used this brand before.

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, TechLabs said:

Going to Windows Server 2016

Then you can use storage spaces for the ssd tiering. Thats what i would do here. More flexable and free

[Snipergod87]

Use storage spaces and SSD tiering as @Electronics Wizardy stated

[TechLabs]

2 minutes ago, Snipergod87 said:

Use storage spaces and SSD tiering as @Electronics Wizardy stated

 

14 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Then you can use storage spaces for the ssd tiering. Thats what i would do here. More flexable and free

How many SSD should I get?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, TechLabs said:

 

How many SSD should I get?

 

What is this storage used for?

 

How much do you want to spend?

 

Id probably get something like dual 1tb ssds in a mirror here if you have the money. Enterprise drives are great.

[TechLabs]

4 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What is this storage used for?

 

How much do you want to spend?

 

Id probably get something like dual 1tb ssds in a mirror here if you have the money. Enterprise drives are great.

For Plex, Backup, and FTP Server

 

Reasonable 

 

Would UnRaid cache be better then storage space SSD Tier

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, TechLabs said:

For Plex, Backup, and FTP Server

 

Reasonable 

Try it without the ssds first, none of that really need much performance, and a hdd array should do fine here.

[TechLabs]

48 minutes ago, TechLabs said:

SAS Expander

Which SAS expander should I get

[Electronics Wizardy]

5 minutes ago, TechLabs said:

 

 

Would UnRaid cache be better then storage space SSD Tier

unraid's cache is a write only cache, and won't help with reads at all. Its really only there to make up for the very bad write speeds of the parity array on unraid.

[Electronics Wizardy]

12 minutes ago, TechLabs said:

Which SAS expander should I get

budget?

 

What sas speed?

 

Id just get one on ebay like this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-RES2SV240-24-Port-RAID-Expander-Card-SAS-SATA-PCI-Express-x4/141788425753?epid=2255379502&hash=item21033fae19%3Ag%3A6OsAAOSwRaRZtuBC&_sacat=0&_nkw=sas+expander&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR10.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsas+ex.TRS0

[TechLabs]

8 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

budget?

 

What sas speed?

 

Id just get one on ebay like this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-RES2SV240-24-Port-RAID-Expander-Card-SAS-SATA-PCI-Express-x4/141788425753?epid=2255379502&hash=item21033fae19%3Ag%3A6OsAAOSwRaRZtuBC&_sacat=0&_nkw=sas+expander&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR10.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsas+ex.TRS0

"The MegaRAID® SAS 9266-8i 6Gb/s SATA and SAS RAID controller card"

[TechLabs]

19 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id just get one on ebay like this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-RES2SV240-24-Port-RAID-Expander-Card-SAS-SATA-PCI-Express-x4/141788425753?epid=2255379502&hash=item21033fae19%3Ag%3A6OsAAOSwRaRZtuBC&_sacat=0&_nkw=sas+expander&_from=R40&rt=nc&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR10.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsas+ex.TRS0

2

They won't ship to Canada

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

2 minutes ago, TechLabs said:

They won't ship to Canada

 

then go find a simmilar one on ebay. There are lots of sas expanders. Many are external for the input, but this one is internal input and output, and has molex power.

[Jarsky]

Check your MegaRAID Manager (MSM) to see what licensing is enabled on your card.

If CacheCade 2.0 isn't enabled, tehn you'll need a physical software key like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-LSI00292-RAID-CacheCade-Pro-2-0-Software-physical-key-for-9260-9280-Series/263237601743

 

I use the RES2SV240 with my LSI 9271-8i for my RAID6 - its an excellent choice

[TechLabs]

5 hours ago, Jarsky said:

Check your MegaRAID Manager (MSM) to see what licensing is enabled on your card.

If CacheCade 2.0 isn't enabled, tehn you'll need a physical software key like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-LSI00292-RAID-CacheCade-Pro-2-0-Software-physical-key-for-9260-9280-Series/263237601743

 

I use the RES2SV240 with my LSI 9271-8i for my RAID6 - its an excellent choice

What kind of case do you have?

[jkirkcaldy]

On 15/07/2018 at 12:25 AM, TechLabs said:

For Plex, Backup, and FTP Server

 

Reasonable 

 

Would UnRaid cache be better then storage space SSD Tier

I wouldn't bother adding an SSD. Especially as you will only really see a performance increase in the write speeds, of which, unless you are backing up loads of clients at once, the speed of a normal mechanical HDD will be fine.

[TechLabs]

Thanks everyone, it's been very educational

[TechLabs]

On 7/16/2018 at 9:09 AM, jkirkcaldy said:

I wouldn't bother adding an SSD. Especially as you will only really see a performance increase in the write speeds, of which, unless you are backing up loads of clients at once, the speed of a normal mechanical HDD will be fine.

^ Old RAID 6 Speed

 

^ New RAID 6 Setting

 

^New RAID 6 Speed

[jkirkcaldy]

19 hours ago, TechLabs said:

^ Old RAID 6 Speed

 

^ New RAID 6 Setting

 

^New RAID 6 Speed

The problem is with things like the benchmark tests is that they do great usually because the files that they are writing and reading are all still contained on the ssd. So if you are reading a lot of files shortly after writing them you will see a huge increase in performance like you did above. But I would wager that if you were to copy a large file onto the array then copy it back again immediately, record the results, then wait until the file isn't on the cache any more and copy it off the array you will see far less impressive numbers. 

 

But if it's as much a technical exercise as it is a practical one, and you can spare the SSD then it's worth it.