Dell R510 12 bay server

[atrdriver]

I'm rebuilding my FreeNAS box into a Dell R510 12 bay server with an H700 controller card. My problem is that the H700 doesn't pass SMART information on to the OS, and the drive setup is kind of funky, as I have to create a group of virtual disks for each of my 7 data drives, plus one for the boot SSD. I am thinking about replacing the H700 with another controller, but I need to find one that will work with the Dell Backplate and cables. I also need to to see drives larger than 2TB. Does anyone have any ideas, or can anyone think of what I should be searching for? I'm good with desktops but am new to server hardware. Thanks in advance!

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

H700 doesn't pass SMART information on to the OS, and the drive setup is kind of funky, as I have to create a group of virtual disks for each of my 7 data drives

Definitely don't run FreeNAS with that setup.

I need to find one that will work with the Dell Backplate and cables

Did you mean "backplane"?

Can you be more specific? What is it about the R510 that prevents you from using one of the generally recommended HBAs?

 

[atrdriver]

Sorry, meant to type backplate, behind the HDDs that the HDDs actually plug into. The R510 has a slot for the H700 controller to fit into. Then the 2 cables run from the card to the backplate. It also has PCIe slots that I could use in theory I think, but I would need longer cables to reach those slots. It has the 12 hotswappable HDD bays in front of the backplate, then there are 2 connectors that come off the back of it for 2 internal 2.5" HDDs or SSDs.

So I guess what I'm asking is help finding a controller that will slot into the current H700 slot, that has 2 SAS type (I Think) connectors on it, that is capable of running the 14 total HDDs and will allow the OS to see all the information from the HDDs,and not have to set them up as Virtual Drives. Does that make a little more sense?

If you need a picture I will try to figure out how to post one.

Thanks!

 

[gpsguy]

It's called a backplane, not backplate.

Anyway, if you search the forum for R510, you'll find some information. Here's an example, where a user bought a H200 and flashed it to IT mode - https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/dell-r510-server.45539/

 

[atrdriver]

OK, sorry about that. Thanks for the links. Another question, do you know if the R510 uses "standard" connectors for the backplane if I need to get longer cables? Like I said, I'm new to servers so I don't know what the connectors that it has are called.
Thanks again!

 

[gpsguy]

Sorry, can't answer your cable question. You might want to send a PM to @tfast500 and see what cables he used.