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Controller for EMC KTN-STL3 VNX array with EMC/Seagate Constellation SAS drives
I got an older (probably pre-Dell) EMC storage array with 15 x 2 TB SAS drives. The drives are made by Seagate, but they have EMC part numbers [ = 118032829 ] on them. The issue is that when I connect it to my Poweredge server that also has an H810, the controller shows the drives as "Blocked", so the array is not usable with my current equipment.
Questions:
1. Why do the drives show up as blocked?
2. Is there any way to 'unblock' them? I'm afraid the answer is probably "No", but I have to ask it for completeness.
3. What controller(s) would work with those drives? Or what controller(s) were originally recommended by EMC?
4. Why is that Dell decided to not support older EMC drives? I would understand if, say, HP drives would not work with the H810, but EMC is now part of Dell.....
BTW, I put in just a single, 1 TB SATA drive (WD Blue) and that shows up as "Ready" -- that pretty much proves that the issue is either incompatibility or lockout between the H810 and the 2TB SAS drives.
DELL-Josh Cr
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June 6th, 2022 09:00
Hi,
Unfortunately no, the H810 does not support EMC drives. It was released a long time before the merger and was end of support. The firmware for the drives is specifically designed to work with EMC arrays only. The reverse is true as well and Poweredge drives will not work on EMC arrays. However, if you upgrade the controller firmware the number of supported drives should be higher than the earlier firmware on that controller. Some of the incompatibility is also because these products are end of life and are not receiving updates anymore.
Let us know if you have any additional questions.
JSz
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June 8th, 2022 00:00
Thanks for the reply. Th H810 is already on the latest FW, which, incidentally, was released about a year after the merger. Interestingly, when I hook up one of those EMC drive to a Perc 6/i with the appropriate cable, it initially shows "Ready", and then fail when I try to use it.
The other important question I had is about what controllers were used or recommended by EMC. I didn't find anything official on that, but at least one person mentioned the LSI 9207-8e.
DELL-Josh Cr
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June 8th, 2022 09:00
Hi,
Just to be clear there is no support for using these expansion chassis and drives outside of a VNX host system and there is no official support for EMC arrays outside of in warranty validated configurations. You could try the LSI controller but no guarantee that it will work. I am assuming this is for a homelab or NAS and not a commercial deployment.
Noobie T. Raccoon
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September 3rd, 2022 20:00
I don't know about the compatibility of the expander box and your internal controller but I do know that the block size is different in EMC drives then in all other drive . Now with that said I currently have several 2TB and above EMC drives in my personal server two of which are Seagate constellations
https://www.ebay.com/itm/175260709278?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=SHuJjZxwQra&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=rz_aw2zirri&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPYthat I am using in a raid array on my debian os. You just need to change the formatting on the drives from 520 block size to 512. You can email me at the dude@noobiesdomain.rocks if you would like to know more about this
denwixx
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September 17th, 2024 06:35
professional diagnostics may be needed to pinpoint the exact issue.