New to this with some serious equipment..

Status
Not open for further replies.

Largen

Cadet
Joined
Dec 20, 2015
Messages
2
hey everyone, like the title says I am entirely new to this and servers in general. But the other day I got one hell of a server given to me that I want to play with!
It's a Dell Poweredge R710, Dual 6 core Processors @2.93 GHz, and around 180gbs of ram...
I need to pick up a raid controller for it and some hard drive trays but otherwise got her booted up today with no issues!
So I plan on picking the brains here for some basic NAS setup and more if none has any good ideas to use this beast for!
 

Attachments

  • image.jpeg
    image.jpeg
    240.5 KB · Views: 378

anodos

Sambassador
iXsystems
Joined
Mar 6, 2014
Messages
9,553
See that's interesting... Because from my severely limited knowledge I thought I actually *Needed* a Perc controller for this unit to be able to even use on board drives. Perhaps more research is needed...
I'm relatively sure that an H200 can flashed to IT mode. I don't have much experience with Dell hardware. I think @HoneyBadger is our resident Dell junkie.
 

Mirfster

Doesn't know what he's talking about
Joined
Oct 2, 2015
Messages
3,215
See that's interesting... Because from my severely limited knowledge I thought I actually *Needed* a Perc controller for this unit to be able to even use on board drives. Perhaps more research is needed...

As anodos stated, RAID CARD = BAD. Could grab a H200 and flash it to IT Mode for ~$60.00 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-RAID-H...933459?hash=item280d9ab0d3:g:JAgAAOSwxN5Wa1wt). Just make sure that the backplane works with it as well (think it should).

Of course I believe that model also has an integrated slot that can be used as well, just not sure if there is a H200 option for this model though.

Looking at the picture, you seem to have a couple cards in there as well. Care to let us know what they are (don't think that they are HBAs, but just curious)?
 

HoneyBadger

actually does care
Administrator
Moderator
iXsystems
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
5,112
I think @HoneyBadger is our resident Dell junkie.

Aww shucks.

The H200 can indeed be flashed to IT firmware. I've linked offsite before but @sactobob wrote an excellent how-to on the process that we have hosted right here on the forums:

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-flashing-a-dell-h200-with-a-dell-r610.32919/

Please note that you'll actually want to substitute the "P20" firmware if you're running 9.3.1 as it's required there, and your updated URL for downloading is:

http://www.avagotech.com/products/server-storage/host-bus-adapters/sas-9211-8i#downloads

Expand the "Firmware" option and grab the "9211_8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows" zip. You'll also need to grab the latest firmware for the "6Gbps SAS HBA" card from Dell's support site.
 

HoneyBadger

actually does care
Administrator
Moderator
iXsystems
Joined
Feb 6, 2014
Messages
5,112
Of course I believe that model also has an integrated slot that can be used as well, just not sure if there is a H200 option for this model though.

While there is a mezz card slot on some Dells, I don't suggest using those as they're proprietary and if your system gets uppity about a "non-Dell storage adapter" being present, you can't throw it in another system to finish the reflash process. Too easy to brick 'em.

Looking at the picture, you seem to have a couple cards in there as well. Care to let us know what they are (don't think that they are HBAs, but just curious)?

I see a QLogic FC HBA on the left, and probably an Intel X520-DA2 on the right. Not sure what's under it.
 

Jailer

Not strong, but bad
Joined
Sep 12, 2014
Messages
4,977
Nice score, it looks.....loud
 

Fuganater

Patron
Joined
Sep 28, 2015
Messages
477
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top