Dell R320 RAID Controller

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NagiosKing

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Hi

We are thinking about buying a Dell R320 rack server to be our new FreeNAS server. We will want to use ZFS with no intervention from a hardware RAID controller. The server we are looking at, comes with a H310 mini controller which as standard is a hardware based controller which would cause problems with ZFS. I have heard it is possible to place the card into ‘non-raid’ mode which should allow ZFS to see the drives directly, but this could cause issues with FreeNAS obtaining SMART data from the disks. I’ve also read it’s possible to flash the card with firmware to place it into IT mode which would place freeNAS in direct contact with the drives. Searching online there appears to be a lot of people bricking their cards doing this so feel a little uneasy going with this solution.

Do you know a better card we could use for FreeNAS in this server with the same specifications?

Many thanks.
 

Chris Moore

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comes with a H310 mini controller
I have attempted to attach images below for reference and clarity.
The Dell H310 'mini' card fits in a special slot that is only good for that card and the card is not able to work in that slot once the cards firmware has been changed to the IT mode firmware that is needed for FreeNAS. The H310 mini is useless.

The good news, from a certain perspective, is that there is another slot in the chassis that you can put a 'normal' Dell H310 card into and the normal card can be flashed to IT mode and work properly with FreeNAS. I use them in all of my servers. The bad news is that it is a 1U server and I hope you were not planning to use that slot for something else. This is the reason I don't like 1U servers, very limited expansion possibilities.

Here is a guy that has already flashed them to IT mode for you:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-6...-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID-/162661388939

H310 mini card.JPG Dell H310 mini card
H310 mini bottom.JPG Dell H310 mini bottom

H310 card.JPG Normal Dell H310 card
 

horizonbrave

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Nov 15, 2016
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Hi! I'm not creating a new post because I'm sure this is a very recurring question, nonetheless after reading few post I'm still confused.
I've got a R320 and a card to flash in IT mode. Before a venture more.. will I be fine in using SATA drives in this server? I won't even try to mix it with SAS one but that's also another scenario that puzzles me :)
Thanks for help!
 

Chris Moore

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Hi! I'm not creating a new post because I'm sure this is a very recurring question, nonetheless after reading few post I'm still confused.
I've got a R320 and a card to flash in IT mode. Before a venture more.. will I be fine in using SATA drives in this server? I won't even try to mix it with SAS one but that's also another scenario that puzzles me :)
Thanks for help!
If you are planning a build, you are posting in the correct portion of the forum, but you should make your own build thread, so people will see it, and you should post a full description of the hardware you are thinking of using. Here is some advice on that:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/updated-forum-rules-8-3-16.45124/
 

Chris Moore

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PS. Great job searching the forum to find your answers, but it is still a good idea to have other members sanity check your whole build so you don't make any mistakes that could cost you data later.
 
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