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Poweredge 2950 with PERC 5i : Drive upgrade compatability question
Hi,
I am new to this forum so please accept my appoligies in advance if the answer to my question is posted somewhere else.
(I have spent 30 mins looking but can't find a suitable answer)
I have a 2950 with a PERC 5i controller and 4x 3.5" MAXTOR ATLAS 10K V 73Gb SAS drives
They are currently configured as RAID5 over 3 disks with a hot spare
One of my disks had failed and I assume the hot spare has automatically kicked into action so nothing is lost at this point
Instead of simply replacing the faulty drive (which is now out of production anyway) I had planned to upgrade all 4 disks and gain some capacity
I am trying to do this on a budget so rather than buying new state-of-the-art drives and caddies from DELL directly I was hoping to buy the drives elsewhere.
For example these http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/300GB-Maxtor-8J300S0-Atlas-10K-V-SAS-10000rpm-16MB-44-ms
My questions are:
- How do I know what drives will be compatable with my system as the interfaces are changing all the time?
- How do I make sure that I don't waste money on drives that although may be compatable will not operate to their full capability?
The server is at a hosting company so I don't have access to pull out the caddy and see what fits. I figure that knowing which drives are currently installed should tell me what interface is in use. All my reading has been able to tell me is that they are SAS drives but I am confused about the 6Gbps, 3Gbps and Ultra320 interfaces.
Can someone shed some light on the issue for me or perhaps point me at a good article that will answer my questions?
theflash1932
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June 16th, 2010 10:00
How do I know what drives will be compatable with my system as the interfaces are changing all the time?
How do I make sure that I don't waste money on drives that although may be compatable will not operate to their full capability?
You just can't get a SATA drive or a 2.5-inch SAS drive.
davidosz
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June 16th, 2010 11:00
Thanks for your answer and clarification of the issue.
This is interesting because a DELL support technician I spoke to by telephone suggested that I could simply buy one elsewhere and change it in the caddy.
I was also referred to an affiliate company in the UK called 'Upgrade Options' for drives DELL no longer stock.
How can I be sure that they use the correct DELL firmware?
Is it possible to update the drive firmware myself? and if so where would I get the images from?
theflash1932
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June 16th, 2010 12:00
The images for updating Dell drive firmware is on the Drivers and Downloads page of support.dell.com, but they will not/cannot update non-Dell firmware to Dell firmware.
As Dell drives are co-branded, they should be pretty easy to find by searching for Dell drives. They will also have a Dell part number on them - usually 5 characters long. For example ... GG71D is a Dell part number for a 300GB/15K SAS drive (there is another part number, but they are not always as easy to find - it will look like 341-9777). I got the part number by going to Dell's Parts and Upgrades site, finding the drive I wanted, then Googling that part number. Here is a link to a place that sells that part for around the same price as the 300GB/10K drive you posted a link for, and less than half the price of that drive on Dell.com:
http://www.serversupply.com/DELL/HARD%20DRIVES%20W-TRAY/SAS-3GBITS/300GB-15000RPM/GG71D.htm
In most cases, retail or brand-name drives will work, but eventually you will encounter a problem (maybe big, maybe small) with a drive (best case) or your array (worst case). If you shop around, you can find the same drives for less than Dell sells them for, and you might be able to find a brand-name drive for even less, but that is a decision you need to make based on the answer to this question: Can you afford to lose the data on the array or the services the system provides for the money you may have saved by getting cheaper drives? You may also find that Dell's technical support will be limited in their ability to guarantee the operation of the server if used with non-Dell-Certified drives.
Just some food for thought :)