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Dell PERC 6/i : Expander Support ?
Hello,
I initially bought this card considering its future capacities : "32 physical drives"
(Source : http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555&sku=341-9960&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=7&~ck=dellSearch + PDF documentation)
Now that i've reached the standard 8 drives configuration, i searched about how to expand it and found that i need a "SAS expander" to add more drives to the RAID card...
But Dell isn't able to suggest me any model (!!!) ! Worse : It's not my concern but even for the 6/e modem, they advised me a MD1000 bay without considering my initial need : SAS expander.
But i'm afraid because i found (googling it) that many users report the lack of expander support for the 6/i model !!!!
I can't believe it for two reasons :
- It's officially declared as supporting up to 32 drives
- Reaching this quantity seems impossible without SAS expander...
Did someone already experiment to setup more than 8 drives on a PERC 6/i model ?
Thank you,
Sincerely,
I initially bought this card considering its future capacities : "32 physical drives"
(Source : http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=biz&cs=555&sku=341-9960&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=7&~ck=dellSearch + PDF documentation)
Now that i've reached the standard 8 drives configuration, i searched about how to expand it and found that i need a "SAS expander" to add more drives to the RAID card...
But Dell isn't able to suggest me any model (!!!) ! Worse : It's not my concern but even for the 6/e modem, they advised me a MD1000 bay without considering my initial need : SAS expander.
But i'm afraid because i found (googling it) that many users report the lack of expander support for the 6/i model !!!!
I can't believe it for two reasons :
- It's officially declared as supporting up to 32 drives
- Reaching this quantity seems impossible without SAS expander...
Did someone already experiment to setup more than 8 drives on a PERC 6/i model ?
Thank you,
Sincerely,
XZed_
10 Posts
0
January 21st, 2011 02:00
For PERC part : i think all is good.. Why ? Because, for my actual setup, i already have done all the research job to get a functional setup (considering mobo chipsets, etc...).
Just FYI : Gigabyte GA-73PVM-S2H (PERC works without any pin modification) / Seagate 7200.12 1To drives / RAID6.
By the way, thank you very much for all the advices (misalignment, etc...).
But to resume : if i well understood : you're telling me that, apart enabling/disabling the "Direct PD Mapping" value, it should work "out of the box" ??
I read that there is 2 hardware revisions for the Chenbro card : i suppose i had to opt to the "Rev B" ?
Another question : once back to home, i'll try to study this value (Direct PD Mapping) but i'm worrying : does the value modification cancel my current RAID setup ?
Indeed, i'm wondering if this screw up my current RAID6 setup while changing drives mapping...
Then, i'd like to know about your cabling :
- one cable like this one ( http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_adapters/8784-05M.asp ) goes from the PERC to the CK13601
(i worry about "sense" of the cable Host/Device or Device/Host)
(so the second internal PERC port is unused ?)
- and for each mini-sas port, one cable like this one (http://www.elpeus.com/images/cbl-sff8087ocr-06m.jpg ) going to the drives
Thank you very much.
In fact, i wait your answer in order to spend money on a CK13601 :) .
ashrafi1983
4 Posts
0
January 21st, 2011 06:00
Configuration ,
Raid Controller Dell Perc 6i
Mobile Rack Super Micro CSE-M35T-1 5x3.5” Bays
SAS Expander Chenbro CK13601 http://usa.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=75
SaS Cables - SFF 8087 to SFF 8484 Cable ( Raid To Expander)
SFF 8087 to SATA×4 Cable ( Raid to Super Micro )
Although using SAS to Sata cable is bad idea anyway ( SAS Encapsulation tends to increase latency ).
I am not aware of Rev B having any issues , I have used older and newer versions of Chenbro and I did not encounter any issues,but It would be nice to know what issues are arising with any Chenbros.
XZed_
10 Posts
0
January 21st, 2011 07:00
I'll think again and inform you..
XZed_
10 Posts
0
January 24th, 2011 16:00