General Questions on Adding Storage to PE2950

Question

Hello,

First I'd like to say that I'm not that experienced with server setups, so please excuse my questions if they are the more "basic" variety. I also apologize if my questions seem redundant or unclear/vague as I try to explain/ask the best way I can. My questions on the PE2950 can be found here.

We will be using a second-hand PowerEdge 2950 server with a RAID 10 configuration. Since we will need more than 6TB of usable space, the current 6 bay X 2TB allowance by the server will not work, and because using a newer generation of RAID (e.g., H700) is not supported, the next option considered is using something from the PowerVault family to expand the HDD capacity.

My question is this: Will the PE2950 recognize the extended capacity provided by the PV? I'm thinking that we max out the (6) PE2950 bays with 2TB and supplement the additional requirements with a PV? If I fill the MD1120 (I picked this model randomly for the example) with (6) more 2TB HDD, will the PE recognize this additional space as well, or does the PE have a hardware limit on the amount of space it can use externally?

Will both the PE and PV need the same RAID controller, or is RAID handled by one or the other, or both?

Can I directly connect the PV to the PE, is it that simple, or would I need a network switch/some other hardware for this to work?

I assume the answers above are true for other manufacturers as well (e.g., IBM)?

Thanks you.

DELL-Sam L · Answer

Hello OsirisGuy,

Yes you can attach an MD to your PE2950 & get the drives seen. What you will need to confirm is that the controller card for your MD is supported in the server. Here is a link to our adapters that will work in your PE2950. http://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/04/campaigns/dell-raid-controllers?c=us&l=en&s=bsd&cs=04&redirect=1&delphi:gr=true if you look under the legacy support you will see the PE2950 listed & supported Controllers on page 1 & 3.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

OsirisGuy · Answer

I just noticed that the MD3 series supports 3TB and 4TB HDD, however the PE will still not recognize the extra storage space, is this correct, or would the storage handle the capacities any differently?

Also, looking into the types of storage there is both DAS and NAS, is one preferred or incompatible than the other when using the server?

DELL-Sam L · Answer

Hello OsirisGuy,

Yes the newer MD’s di support the larger drive sizes in them, but the PE2950 will not support them. The PE2950 will be able to see the new space that the MD presents to it as the virtual Disk will be created on a PERC6/e (Poweredge Expandable Raid Controller) & then present to the OS. Both NAS & DAS have many upsides & in your case if you were to go with a SAS MD1120 then it would run closer to a DAS then a NAS. If you were to get one of our iSCSI MD’s then you could run it as a NAS or a SAN.

Please let us know if you have any other questions.

Dev Mgr · Answer

The MD3 series is a SAN. This is not affected by the server's storage support capabilities.

You can look for an MD1-series (e.g. MD1000) and load this up with larger drives and connect it to a PERC6E in your 2950. At this time it can use that storage just fine.

Do remember that the 2950 cannot boot to a (virtual) disk larger than 2TB (2048GB), but for data disks it can use large disks just fine.

PowerVault

General Questions on Adding Storage to PE2950

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