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Hello
In the 1430sc specs its stated that a maximum of 4x750 GB disks can be used. Spec sheet.
Is this limitation still valid? Recommended parts & upgrades suggests 1 TB disks.
I'm aming at 4x1,5=6 TB disks. Is this possible?
Best regards
/Erik
theflash1932
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Posted November 21st, 2012 09:00
"NOTE: The maximum size of the virtual disk that contains the bootable operating system is 2 Terabytes. This is due to operating system restrictions. The maximum array size (non-bootable) is 16 Terabytes."
Sorry ... I did mean to come back to that point ... I was kind of approaching it from the idea of a single 6TB disk (and not using onboard SATA).
"Doesn't this mean I can use my 4 1.5 TB disks in a RAID 0 configuration and boot from a disk attached to one SATA port on the MB?"
Probably ... however, some systems cannot boot to the onboard SATA when there is a RAID card installed ... I don't know about the SC1430 specifically though.
"In any case it should be possible to use LVM (I plan to use Linux as OS) or similar "soft raid" in the non-RAID option you mentioned."
Yes, this should be possible in any event.
theflash1932
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Posted November 20th, 2012 15:00
Not sure what you mean by "4x1,5=6 TB disks", but 1TB should work fine if you are talking about the CERC controllers (documentation is out of date - they do not update docs). If you have a different controller, then the max may be different.
theflash1932
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Posted November 20th, 2012 16:00
Oh, unless you mean 1.5 (are you from Europe?). 1.5 will not likely work ... again, we need to know which controller you have.
Thanks for answering
Yes, I'm from Sweden and I meant 4 disks with each 1.5 (one and a half) TB of storage.
I did a lswh command from Ubuntu to determine the controller:
*-ide:1
description: IDE interface
product: 631xESB/632xESB/3100 Chipset SATA IDE Controller
vendor: Intel Corporation
physical id: 1f.2
bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.2
logical name: scsi2
logical name: scsi3
version: 09
width: 32 bits
clock: 66MHz
capabilities: ide pm bus_master cap_list emulated
configuration: driver=ata_piix latency=0
resources: irq:23 ioport:dc78(size=8) ioport:dc70(size=4) ioport:dc60(size=8) ioport:dc58(size=4) ioport:dc40(size=16) memory:fdf00000-fdf003ff
I hope this is sufficient
Kind regards
/Erik
theflash1932
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Posted November 21st, 2012 08:00
"e2k-ucs-51" is a very generic description. Is it a SAS 5/i, SAS 5/iR, PERC 5/E, or PERC 5/i?
I can't read anything else on the adapter, but according to Dell Product Support, when entering my service-tag, it should be a SAS 5I/R.
I googled it, found some documentation that states maximum 16 TB array, non-bootable. Indicates that it can carry large disks, more than I need anyway.
I understand this adapter has a SAS interface and it should work with SATA drives also? Are there any limitations here, eg SATA version or any similar potential show stopper?
So I guess the way to go is using the RAID adapter and not the onborad SATA ports as they limit the max storage to 750 GB per disk?
Best regards
/Erik
Thank for your exhaustive reply.
From the link I posted above:
NOTE: The maximum size of the virtual disk that contains the bootable operating system is 2 Terabytes. This is due to operating system restrictions.The maximum array size (non-bootable) is 16 Terabytes.
Doesn't this mean I can use my 4 1.5 TB disks in a RAID 0 configuration and boot from a disk attached to one SATA port on the MB?
In any case it should be possible to use LVM (I plan to use Linux as OS) or similar "soft raid" in the non-RAID option you mentioned.
Sorry ... I did mean to come back to that point ... I was kind of approaching it from the idea of a single 6TB disk (and not using onboard SATA).
No problem. Now I know what my options are. Thanks a million for your to the point replies on this!
Cheers
/Erik
theflash1932
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Posted November 21st, 2012 08:00
The onboard ports are not likely limited to 750 (again, outdated docs) - its limit should also be 2TB (no RAID). I don't think the SC1430 has onboard RAID (CERC SATA 2s), but if it does, 1TB is the largest.
You are right, a SAS interface can also take SATA drives. On the SAS 5, they cannot be mixed though - all SAS or all SATA.
The SAS 5 supports only RAID 0, 1, and JBOD (non-RAID), so the only way to use 16 disks is in non-RAID mode or in a RAID 0 (no redundancy).
The SAS 5 supports a maximum PHYSICAL disk size of 2TB.
The SAS 5 supports only 2 virtual disks (arrays).
The SAS 5 supports a maximum VIRTUAL disk size of 2TB, which means that with 2TB disks, your ONLY option is RAID 1 (or non-RAID). Likewise, with 1.5TB disks, a RAID 1 is your only option.
Basically, your 6TB VD is not an option. With 4x1.5TB disks on the SAS 5, you could do 1) two 2x1.5TB RAID 1's, or 2) 4x1.5TB disks in non-RAID mode - these will all show as individual disks in Windows, which would be the same as attaching each drive to the onboard SATA ports (in non-RAID mode, if that is an option).