Using PERC H830 with PowerVault MD1200

Question

I have a server with a Dell PERC H830 SAS RAID adapter already in it. It's hooked up to two non-Dell RAID enclosure right nows. I'm looking to replace one of those enclosures with an MD1200.

The problem is Dell says the MD1200 only works with the PERC H810 SAS RAID card. This makes no sense whatsoever. The H830 is 12Gb/s SAS. The MD1200 is 6Gb/s SAS. SAS is backwards compatible by design so there's no reason the H830 won't step down to the slower speed of the MD1200. Indeed, the enclosures currently hooked up to the H830 are both 6Gb/s SAS arrays so it will work.

Dell is giving me a bunch of mumbo-jumbo on this. They claim they need to know what server the H830 is in before they can answer the question. What does that have to do with anything? The MD1200 only sees the H830. It doesn't know anything at all about the server nor can it know. If the H830 works in the server then that's all that should matter. It's not like I'm keeping a secret about the server but more me being offended by the attempt to obfuscate the issue.

Further, the H830 is little more than a re-badged LSI/Avago SAS RAID card. I contacted them and asked if their equivalent SAS3108-based controller (which is identical to the H830) will work with an MD1200. They said absolutely.

So will someone at Dell please speak intelligently about this? If it's just that Dell hasn't tested an H830 + MD1200 combo then say so. Don't say "it won't work" if you don't know it won't work.

And if nobody at Dell has tested an MD1200 with an H830...why haven't you? It's not like this is an impossible combination a customer might want.

Somebody at Dell please speak up before I go to another vendor.

DELL-Erman O · Answer

Hello,

Trying to make an MD1200 work like an MD1400 by changing its controller isn’t easy. You can't change to upgrade it. This is because the two models handle data differently and are made to work with specific types of RAID controllers from PowerEdge servers. The MD1400 is made for newer servers that can handle faster data speeds.

So, it’s probably not going to work if you take a controller from an MD1400 and put it in an MD1200. They’re made to match their own parts and settings.

Hope that helps!

killawatt · Answer

I'm sure by now you have figured it out. This is my perception. H800 EOL, replaced by H810. I'm guessing the H830 is the next step.

Dell wont answer without knowing what server. Sounds crazy. I'm guessing the H800 and H810 were designed with the 11th and 12 Gen servers. The MD12xx does not care what server you have, but the CC will. I have an H800 that was originally in an HP. the HP did not see the 800, but if configured in the BIOS it would see the drives. As a matter of fact, that's the only way I was able to configure it with that connection.

With the right card in the right server they will live nicely, and play together well. The card will tell the server everything it wants to know about what's connected to it. The tech can get all the needed info from the server. You want to make a configuration change, you can do that from the OS if you have the right card.

So yes the MD12xx does not care what server you have. But the H810 might. I'm guessing if you put it in a Dell server, it's working just fine, although Dell may not support your configuration.

DellEMCSupport · Answer

Hello astraluser,

To answer your question, you can connect your MD1200 to a PERC H830 and it should work. When 13th gen servers were made Dell has switched to having 12gb sas. While Dell have not tested the H830 with an MD1200, I can tell you that you are correct that it will work. With that being said if there is an issue with either support will be able to provide you limited support, as your setup is not a supported setup for MD1200. MD1400 is the supported enclosure for a PERC H830.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Pascale Ullrich · Answer

is it possible to put a controller of an MD1400 into an MD1200 and thus upgrade the 1200 to a 1400?

PowerVault

Using PERC H830 with PowerVault MD1200

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