new "upgrade" build

[iandroo888]

So im in the process of researching on what i'd need for an upgrade/update to my FreeNas 7 build i did a long time ago.

Current build specs is as follows

• AMD 4350e
• Asus Crosshair
• 2GB (2x1gb) corsair dominator (2 sticks died earlier this year)
• corsair cx430 psu
• 3 Seagate 3TB hd's
• 2 Seagate 1.5TB hd's
• 3 120mm fans
• Corsair H50 AIO cooling
• Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8 GB Flash Drive
• 8800gt video card

What i want to upgrade to (unless suggested/recommended by others) is as follows (or already have)

HP z820 workstation (i have)

• Intel Xeon E5-2620 Sandy bridge 6-core 2.0ghz
• Hynix 8gb (4x2) ddr3 1600 pc3 12800 ECC unbuffered (HMT325U7CFR8C-PB)
• Intel 82574L gigabit
• Intel 82579LM gigabit
• Intel C600 series SAS raid (sata controller)
• Intel C600 series SATA raid
• LSI SAS2 2308 mustang - storport
• AMD FirePro V5900
• some 850w psu thats in it already

Need to get at least 3x3TB WD red drives to cover the 3x3TB seagates i have for transfer. eventually id have 3x3tb seagate, 3x3tb (at least) wd red, 2x1.5tb seagate.

will use same flash drive as well.

is the LSI portion of the mobo good enough? or should i still get the recommended IBM M1015 ? Does this card have a size limitation? because i think the controller onboard can only go up to 3TB. wonder if the M1015 will allow me to get the 4-6tb drives avail nowadays? some people say it works. is it possible to flash the LSI to IT mode? so i can forego buying the M1015?

I can get another 8-32gb ram. i know recommendation is 1GB per 1TB

Price wise, im lookin at
$94 for M1015
$90/ea for WD Red 3TB (as of last sale)
$15.30 for 2x SFF-8087 breakout cables
~$50 for a 4-in-3 HDD bay (z820 case only has 4 HDD bays) (rosewill vs CM)

am i missing anything?

to be honest, id much rather use a different case because theres quite the few 80mm's in this case -.-" though it runs quiet, i dont know how it will be when its 24/7. but the cases i have dont fit that dual-cpu mobo. my biggest case CM Storm Trooper doesnt seem to fit. the board is like 13" wide... interior of the case fits like 12ish... i think?

 

[Ericloewe]

Assuming you can get the SAS controller flashed to P16 IT mode, it's better than an M1015.
Lose the graphics card. If needed (no IPMI or similar), get something simpler.
More RAM would also be a good idea.

 

[iandroo888]

how to find instructions how to flash?

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

how to find instructions how to flash?

You could try searching the forums.

 

[iandroo888]

none there either

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

none there either

It was just an example.

 

[Darren Myers]

http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-m1015-part-4/

 

[iandroo888]

oh so when we "flash", it changes to that one specifically. i thought each controller had its own IT build or something

 

[Darren Myers]

It depends what is being flashed, that guide is used for the M1015 which i use and have flashed 4 of them thus far using the same instructions above with no issues, if its crossflashing a raid card that is supported that is built onto a motherboard, i am not sure if its similar steps

 

[iandroo888]

i found "guides" to supermicro boards. the board in this z820 seems to be custom made by hp. was wodnering if there was a general way of doing it =X guess not

 

[Darren Myers]

You might just be better off getting a M1015 or a 9211 card and flashing that rather then risk/deal with attempting to flash the onboard.

 

[Ericloewe]

Before deciding how to proceed, I strongly suggest you figure out what the current firmware is.

If FreeNAS loads the mps driver, just flash P16 IT mode and you'll be fine.
If FreeNAS loads some other driver, you'll need to crossflash the card, which should be a similar process to the M1015.

In any case, even Dell's customized firmware is possible to replace.

 

[Darren Myers]

That's exactly what im looking at now, one of there manual states it supports AHCI and if you change it from AHCI to RAID it then does RAID.

 

[Ericloewe]

That's exactly what im looking at now, one of there manual states it supports AHCI and if you change it from AHCI to RAID it then does RAID.

I expect that to only apply to the PCH SATA ports.

 

[iandroo888]

You might just be better off getting a M1015 or a 9211 card and flashing that rather then risk/deal with attempting to flash the onboard.

yeah was hoping it be easier but after all this, probably shouldnt mess with it XD esp since its a "custom" board.

 

[Darren Myers]

Heres a M1015 for cheap and the brackets are cheap enough too.