Moving 3ware GPT Raid5 onto FreeNAS

[mjws00]

The primary issue with the 9650 is the lack of SMART support. FreeNAS relies on that for serials and as a primary early warning system for drive failure. I have a 9650-24 sitting on a shelf because it is a FAIL for FreeNAS. I'd like to use mine too... But it is a BAD idea. Driver support in BSD does not equate to good hardware selection.

Grab a Linux derivative, like xpenology, or something like OMV that has far less critical hardware requirements.

 

[pushkin69]

mjws00 - thanks for the recommendation. I will look into that.

Jgreco - thanks I will give that a try. Do I just type that in the FreeNAS prompt once it loads? How do I execute this command?

 

[jgreco]

mjws00 - thanks for the recommendation. I will look into that.

Jgreco - thanks I will give that a try. Do I just type that in the FreeNAS prompt once it loads? How do I execute this command?

You can access the shell through the GUI interface, or at the console (VGA) interface, or via SSH using a client such as PuTTY. If you use the GUI-based shell interface or SSH-based access, you should be able to cut and paste the results here, which is a lot more pleasant. You can also take a picture and post it if that works better for you.

The output of "camcontrol devlist" will hopefully look something like

Code:

<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 8 lun 0 (pass4,da3)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC51>        at scbus3 target 9 lun 0 (pass5,da4)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 10 lun 0 (pass6,da5)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 11 lun 0 (pass7,da6)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC51>        at scbus3 target 12 lun 0 (pass8,da7)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 13 lun 0 (pass9,da8)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 14 lun 0 (pass10,da9)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 15 lun 0 (pass11,da10)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 16 lun 0 (pass12,da11)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC52>        at scbus3 target 17 lun 0 (pass13,da12)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC51>        at scbus3 target 18 lun 0 (pass14,da13)
<ATA ST4000DM000-1F21 CC51>        at scbus3 target 19 lun 0 (pass15,da14)

which shows a bunch of Seagate disks attached, model ST4000DM000. At the end of the line, the identifiers such as "da3", "da4", etc., are the device identifiers.

If, instead, you get a result that indicates it is a 3Ware or LSI virtual device, that's (much) less desirable.

You can then do "smartctl -a /dev/da3" (using the example above) to query SMART data for da3. That's what @mjws00 is referring to. If it doesn't present data, this makes it substantially more difficult for the NAS to identify problems and notify you proactively before something bad happens.

 

[pushkin69]

I get the following output

Code:

<AMCC 9650SE-8LP DISK 4.10>     at scbus0 target 0 lun 0 (pass0 da0)
<KINGSTON SV300S37A60G>     at scbus2 target 0 lun 0 (pass1, ada0)

So this looks like bad news, right? Can this be a result of current settings that can be changed?

 

[pirateghost]

I get the following output

Code:

<AMCC 9650SE-8LP DISK 4.10>     at scbus0 target 0 lun 0 (pass0 da0)
<KINGSTON SV300S37A60G>     at scbus2 target 0 lun 0 (pass1, ada0)

So this looks like bad news, but are there settings I can change on this card?

Boot into the card bios(where you configure the raid) and see?

 

[pushkin69]

Ok so 3ware bios.. And what would I look or do there?

 

[pirateghost]

But I removed it from my original pc where all the drivers, mgt tools and etc were installed. Is there any way to do that on the FreeNAS PC, or only back the source?

When you are booting your computer, it should prompt you with a key configuration to press. You manage everything through the cards BIOS. You don't need management tools or any software installed.

 

[jgreco]

I believe with the 3Ware it might be ALT-3 or ALT-T while booting. Watch for the messages.

But before you go run off making changes, is there any data out there right now you need to keep?

 

[pushkin69]

Right, I know how to get into the 3ware bios settings, just need to know what to do once I'm there. I copied all the data onto an external drive for backup in case I would need to mess around with the raid so I should be good to make changes.

 

[jgreco]

All right. Knowing, then, that this could be destructive if you change stuff, this is currently set to... what? Multiple disks in a RAID5?

Do you have the option to change them to "JBOD" or "Individual" if you destroy that volume?

 

[cyberjock]

There is a way to setup JBOD on the 9650s. I believe it is ALT-3 when in the card's menus. The problem is that SMART still didn't work last time I tried it.

So yes, you can do JBOD. But no, you still don't have SMART. So you are kind of back to square one with the card... get proper hardware. :/

 

[pushkin69]

Key features of this card do include SMART, see page 2 of:
http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public...s Common Files/LSI_3ware-9650SE_PB_072309.pdf

 

[jgreco]

Key features of this card do include SMART, see page 2 of:
http://www.lsi.com/downloads/Public/RAID Controllers/RAID Controllers Common Files/LSI_3ware-9650SE_PB_072309.pdf

Unfortunately, while the card may SAY it supports SMART, we've occasionally found that documentation lies, or maybe means "on a certain Windows version with a magic Windows driver." If it doesn't work in practice, the marketing glossy isn't worth the bits it consumes on your hard disk.

 

[pushkin69]

Fair enough, but help me troubleshoot to see if it will work... Why blindly recommend buying new hardware, when my current hardware is supposed to support it just fine.

 

[jgreco]

I think I've been trying to get you to a point where you can see if you can check the state of SMART on your drives. We need to figure out how to expose the drives themselves to FreeNAS, then we can see if we can also talk SMART to them.

I was trying to determine what exactly that might be when I asked:

All right. Knowing, then, that this could be destructive if you change stuff, this is currently set to... what? Multiple disks in a RAID5?

Do you have the option to change them to "JBOD" or "Individual" if you destroy that volume?

 

[mjws00]

Fair enough, but help me troubleshoot to see if it will work... Why blindly recommend buying new hardware, when my current hardware is supposed to support it just fine.

Many of us have this card, it is a known quantity and common on other platforms. The card will only pull SMART info into it's own software. Unless something major has changed. The recommendations are first hand not blind. :)

Cyberjock spent a LONG time trying to get it to work. I knew what to look for and just shelved mine. But see for yourself. smartctl -a /dev/da(x)

 

[pushkin69]

Ok, so for me to test whether or not it will work with FreeNAS I need to load 3ware bios and see if there's an option for JBOD, or just remove the raid partition and get them as Indiv drives. Correct?

 

[jgreco]

I don't know, exactly, since I haven't seen the 9650 lately, and the 9550's we have here don't support any usable HBA mode. But yes, load up the 3Ware BIOS and see what the options are.

 

[cyberjock]

Many of us have this card, it is a known quantity and common on other platforms. The card will only pull SMART info into it's own software. Unless something major has changed. The recommendations are first hand not blind. :)

Cyberjock spent a LONG time trying to get it to work. I knew what to look for and just shelved mine. But see for yourself. smartctl -a /dev/da(x)

I spent $550 for my card because of that lying documentation. I found out after I had the card in my hand and couldn't return it. I ended up selling it about 6-8 months later for about $150. That is one thing I will never forgive 3ware for. :P

 

[mjws00]

Yep. Set them (or just a spare) up as jbod. Fire up Freenas. Check camcontrol devlist and smartctl -a /dev/da(x)