Need a little advice/help (HP ML350 Gen8)

[Robert Thomspon]

Hey guys, i happened to come on an HP ML350 Gen 8 tower... and am wondering if i can do a couple of things with it as I think it would make an amazing replacement for my semi-problematic Dell T7500 (it also has dual E5-2630L V2s, so, significantly better power consumption than my T7500)....

Anyway, Im not thrilled about the SAS that it currently uses (i believe the 410 or the 410i)... and they sound like they alone are pretty problematic to get working well with FreeNAS...

Anyway, Im thinking about moving my HBA (LSI SAS - SAS2008 (B2) ) and would LOVE if I can run it directly to the backplane that the ML350G8 uses...
I BELIEVE the backplane is passive on this machine, but i am still unsure if what I want to do is possible...

Does anyone know if I can run a direct line from my LSI to the backplane (assuming I can find the cables with Mini-SAS on both sides... and that the backplane IS passive...) If not, does anyone have a recommendation on how to do what I am looking to do? (Run the LSI to a backplane to allow me to load the drives from the front in a semi-hotswappable fashion (not that I want to hot swap them... but if one fails, it would be insanely nice to do so and allow it to resilver )

If i messed up on my wording, i apologize, some of this is a little new to me.

 

[Robert Thomspon]

So, I had a spare Adaptec SAS controller flashed with LSI... I connected the controller, used one of the Mini-SAS to mini-SAS cables and connected the backplane to the controller as well as power to the backplane... and the machine boots and detects a drive attached to it, however, FreeNAS does not see it (the drive)... sas2flash -showall shows no LSI device attached... so, the fun begins...

 

[Robert Thomspon]

disregard first reply... I think the adaptec is not flashed as HBA... I think its running as a normal SAS controller... (I have a pile of them and i think i just found the one thats still factory)

 

[Robert Thomspon]

Got annoyed with my poor random choices... pulled my known flashed controller, connected to backplane, threw 2 rando hard drives on it, booted to freenas... works...

So, can confirm, HP Proliant ML350 G8 backplane is passive... and can connect to a flashed card to drive hard drives for FreeNAS... Ive got to order 2 longer minisas to minisas cables, get it looking decent on the inside, get soe liquid cooling into this guy and ill let you all know how it turns out (also, as a side note... found that the backplane plays no part in dictating hard drive speeds... got 600MB/s out of the one solid state i threw on it and i think 150MB/s out of the old sata drive i threw on it...)

 

[glasgerion]

Hey Robert, how do your fans react with the LSI HBA?
I have the same setup, when I run the P420i in HBA mode my fans sit a 6%. But since I can’t passthrough the P420i through ESXI to FreeNAS I use an LSI controller.
As soon as the LSI is plugged in the fans run a minimum 27%.
Interested is hearing if you experience the same thing.
I would love to find a controller I can passthrough to FreeNAS and not cause a rise in fan speed.

 

[Robert Thomspon]

Hey Robert, how do your fans react with the LSI HBA?
I have the same setup, when I run the P420i in HBA mode my fans sit a 6%. But since I can’t passthrough the P420i through ESXI to FreeNAS I use an LSI controller.
As soon as the LSI is plugged in the fans run a minimum 27%.
Interested is hearing if you experience the same thing.
I would love to find a controller I can passthrough to FreeNAS and not cause a rise in fan speed.

What do you use to test your fan speed? I want to say that with my (i believe Adaptec controller flashed to LSI HBA) fans run around 50%... but the machine is in my basement sort of rack mounted :) (Its mounted on the front and on the very bottom of the rack, but supported in the back with a couple 2x4s... because the things are monstrous beasts, i think mine clocks in around 70 pounds with all the drives...

I tried running liquid cooled in it, but the mounting system on these is different from the standard 2011... so, my H60s cant mount correctly... and i gave up on that dream...

On a side note... i dont think the fan speed changed when i put the LSI in, and the LSI is connected directly to the backplane for the hard drives... (I did have to order a set of 1M (i think they're actually .75M) miniSAS cables to go from the back of the machine where the card is to connect directly to the backplane...

 

[Robert Thomspon]

Hey Robert, how do your fans react with the LSI HBA?
I have the same setup, when I run the P420i in HBA mode my fans sit a 6%. But since I can’t passthrough the P420i through ESXI to FreeNAS I use an LSI controller.
As soon as the LSI is plugged in the fans run a minimum 27%.
Interested is hearing if you experience the same thing.
I would love to find a controller I can passthrough to FreeNAS and not cause a rise in fan speed.

I should also note... I actually added a 4th fan to the machine rather than use the dummy blank that is usually at the top... i didnt notice any additional noise with it, though, my guess is that its not easy to tell with as loud as it is if its using 3 fans or 4 :)

 

[glasgerion]

I’m getting the fan speeds from iLO.

Guess I will just have to deal with loud fans for now.

 

[AndrewC]

I know this is an old post, but with regard to the fan speeds and non-hp HBA cards. Have you loaded the ilo and system management drivers?
When I was working in a data center and building servers all day I noticed when the HPE support pack had finished its installation, as the fan speeds would drop. HPE has support for VMware, MS, RedHat, and a number of other Linux OS's

 

[jgreco]

I know this is an old post, but with regard to the fan speeds and non-hp HBA cards. Have you loaded the ilo and system management drivers?
When I was working in a data center and building servers all day I noticed when the HPE support pack had finished its installation, as the fan speeds would drop. HPE has support for VMware, MS, RedHat, and a number of other Linux OS's

TrueNAS is an appliance OS. There is no loading of "ilo" or "system management drivers", or "installation" of "HPE support pack". HP's apparent inability to build equipment that can operate like other standard server gear is one of the reasons it is not advocated as a solution on these forums.

 

[AndrewC]

Hi Jgreco, sorry I didn't know TrueNAS is an appliance OS.
I see why some people have modify the iLO firmware like kendallgoto to directly manage the fans via the iLO SSH connection

 

[vampirebyte]

Just for posterity, using H220 OEM card (flashed to IT mode, original BIOS, firmware 20.00.07.00) the FANs are NOT going crazy on our G9.

They are a little bit higher than before, comparing with the original RAID controller, but still:

Code:

Fan 1     System      OK        9%
Fan 2     System      OK        11%
Fan 3     System      OK        14%
Fan 4     System      OK        18%
Fan 5     System      OK        18%
Fan 6     System      OK        18% 

There are oscillations to 20% max.

PS: I absolutely love the HPE hardware for this build, since we are a SME doing business on it.