IDSDM R720xd disable absent Internal Dual SD Module

Question

I am a frequent user of mirrored SD flash cards in IDSDM to boot ESXi in PowerEdge servers, various models. This is the first time I'm trying the technology in an R720xd.

This is a new installation of ESXi, I want to use all of the drive bays for the Datastore, therefore ordered a new IDSDM from Dell and installed it in the slot for this purpose.

Updated the R720xd to current firmware using OpenManage Essentials.

Finding that the IDSDM intermittently disables itself and goes absent. Requires two or three BIOS settings changes (and restarts) to remove and add the IDSDM back to get it to show up again. I was able to install ESXi to the SD flash, but then when I configured it as a boot device, it was disabled again. Seeing the following error repeated messages in the iDRAC Lifecycle Controller logs:

RFL2008 Internal Dual SD Module SD2 is disabled.
RFL2000 Internal Dual SD Module SD2 is present.
RFLA2001 Internal Dual SD Module SD2 is absent.

Found that OpenManage Essentials does not detect and update the IDSDM, but found a downloadable update available for the R720xd, installed it. No help. The "update" maybe regressed firmware of the IDSDM from factory-purchased level 64 to supported level 55. Due to inconsistent numbering of versions of the IDSDM firmware, I am confused as to what I actually need or want:

64.00 (displays as "6. 4") firmware version as purchased from factory.
55.00 (displays as "5. 5") firmware version as updated.
1.10 ,A03 firmware version as available for download, no mention of internal working level of code, just the "1.10 ,A03" label on the dell.com site at URL
System information on iDRAC for the IDSDM firmware also displayed as 15.5 and 15.3 crazy...!
I observed during the "upgrade" from 64 to 55 (using "1.10 ,A03" ISO) that code was listed as 45.00, not 55.00 crazy...!

Questions:

Why won't the IDSDM break the mirror if SD2 is faulty (as is apparently indicated) and work from SD1?
Why when SD2 is faulty and I disable mirroring won't SD1 work as a non-mirrored SD flash card?
What is the correct most current firmware for the IDSDM (and given all of the confusing version numbering) how can I know that I am using the right level of code for a R720xd?

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

Hi,

The IDSDM on the R720XD is not a RAID 1 like newer systems, the mirror mode writes to both SD cards but only reads from the one that is set as active, usually SD1. If the non-active one fails it should continue to operate on the active one, you shouldn’t need to disable mirror mode for it to work. 1.10 is the only firmware version on the site, the other versioning is not listed anywhere.

george.perkins · Answer

After removing SD2 and disabling the Mirror setting in BIOS the remaining SD1 is functioning normally and does not appear to become disabled or made absent by the server.

My original questions (in the first post) remain, however. Is there a stable firmware version? I am untrusting of the IDSDM in the R720xd - how is it that this so-called Mirror protected data can be considered functional if it cannot perform in a "RAID1 degraded" condition?

george.perkins · Answer

Josh,

Thanks for the reply.

Am I right that the IDSDM module is the same module used by several other of PowerEdge servers, so this issue would not be unique to the R720xd? I know other servers also have IDSDM, but I am not clear whether they share the same firmware.

Do you have any other contacts at Dell who might offer another opinion about my questions? (I ask because since my issue I found this derogatory blog by a Dell customer who became completely disillusioned with IDSDMs as a result of his experience with the R720 series: please read http://www.paulscomputerservice.net/articles/article.php?ID=329).

The implementation of the SD mirror as you describe it is not the behavior I have seen. Apparently a bad SD2 causes a failure of SD1!. So having no redundancy is actually as good as (or better?) than installing a redundant SD flash memory card! Can I get my money back?! (Darn, it has been over 30 days since I bought the IDSDM module!)

Thank you for helping me get to the bottom of this. I need to make a decision about what to deploy. Do I have to abandon the IDSDM, sacrificing two of my HDD bays (to create a VD boot volume), thus losing some of the capacity of the data VD volume?

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

The 11th and 12th gen servers use the same IDSDM, the newer servers do not.

george.perkins · Answer

Searching for firmware updates, found this

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=7vmpt

Which is labeled as "Dell 11G/12G Internal Dual SD Module, v.1.10, A04" but the provided readme text file indicates A03 and the download is also A03. Where can I find the A04 edition of this download???

george.perkins · Answer

Found this write-up by a Dell customer on his experience when the IDSDM indicated a failed SD card (broken mirror) on a gen 11 server.

Please read https://lonesysadmin.net/2015/01/16/replace-sd-card-dell-poweredge-server/

In his write-up, a single SD card takes a lickin' but the server keeps on tickin'. Not my experience. My experience in the gen 12 server is a single SD card fails, the IDSDM disables itself (both SD cards unavailable). What gives??? Anyone???

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

It looks like it just is mislabeled.

george.perkins · Answer

I had two different SD flash memory cards and apparently this was not elegantly handled by the IDSDM controller, causing the aforementioned headaches.

Now I have two identical 8GB SD cards. I loaded ESXi onto a single card, booted ESXi successfully. I then placed the second SD card into the IDSDM controller and using the BIOS setup enabled mirroring. After a power reset of the R720xd server, the BIOS prompted to copy SD1 to SD2. I responded with the 'Y' response to proceed. After a few minutes the R720xd restarted and then successfully booted ESXi.

For good measure I shutdown ESXi and did another power reset of the R720xd to confirm I had a working system.

The only message reported in the iDRAC Lifecycle Log is quite confusing. What does this message mean?

RFL2002

Internal Dual SD Module SD2 is offline.

If I am mirroring SD1 to SD2, how can SD2 be offline?

If SD1 fails, will the server successfully boot from SD2 without manual intervention (i.e., moving the SD2 card from slot 2 back to slot 1)?

DELL-Josh Cr · Answer

It isn’t a mirror in that it copies data from sd1 to sd2 the system writes to both cards at the same time. It only reads from the active card, if the active card fails it starts reading from the other card. Either card can fail.

george.perkins · Answer

Any ideas how to test this?  I don't think I can just remove the SD1 flash without introducing the paradox at the beginning of this thread.

Joris1985 · Answer

@george.perkins wrote:

I had two different SD flash memory cards and apparently this was not elegantly handled by the IDSDM controller, causing the aforementioned headaches.

Now I have two identical 8GB SD cards. I loaded ESXi onto a single card, booted ESXi successfully. I then placed the second SD card into the IDSDM controller and using the BIOS setup enabled mirroring. After a power reset of the R720xd server, the BIOS prompted to copy SD1 to SD2. I responded with the 'Y' response to proceed. After a few minutes the R720xd restarted and then successfully booted ESXi.

For good measure I shutdown ESXi and did another power reset of the R720xd to confirm I had a working system.

The only message reported in the iDRAC Lifecycle Log is quite confusing. What does this message mean?

RFL2002
Internal Dual SD Module SD2 is offline.

If I am mirroring SD1 to SD2, how can SD2 be offline?

If SD1 fails, will the server successfully boot from SD2 without manual intervention (i.e., moving the SD2 card from slot 2 back to slot 1)?

We are having the exact same issue on poweredge R720 servers.

Inserted Dell 16GB SD Cards, upgraded iDrac/BIOS firmware, and after pressing the F button to sync them it goes up to 100% OK, then the Idrac shows orange that SD Card 2 is not available. Did you find any solution for this?

I tried syncing them before installing ESX, after installing ESX ... it does not matter. The error message remains.

george.perkins · Answer

My 'solution' was only to replace a faulty SD2 flash memory module card and then copy SD1 to SD2. I am operating with a known good SD1 for my ESXi. My assumption is that if SD1 ever fails in the future, the server will either give an error during restart asking for permission to overwrite SD2 (which would copy the error condition to SD2 and destroy my only known-good backup copy flash). At that time, if someone has the presence of mind to take the SD2 out, install it as SD1, the server should boot normally. The problem is, both SD1 and SD2 are inside the server case, requiring removal of the server from the rack to access them and perform the repair.  The IDSDM product is worthless in the R720xd.You might as well just have a single SD1 and not attempt to mirror to SD2. The product is no longer current or supported by Dell.

PowerEdge Hardware General

IDSDM R720xd disable absent Internal Dual SD Module

Was this post helpful?

Register Now! for Secure Secrets with Kubernetes & DevSecOps - and grab a lab!