pool import hangs at boot

[Davide Zanon]

This system has external SAS connectors, can I use it as a disk shelf if I find another system with those connectors?
The problem is that it has 3,5" disks and all the systems I can find are with 2,5" bays, so even if I manage to find a
128/256gb RAM machine I can't move the disks to it.
The only other (very risky) solution that comes to mind is to connect the backplane directly to the new system
with the old one powered on... but this is bad even only at thinking it.

 

[HoneyBadger]

The SAS connectors on your existing hardware are likely connected to an internal HBA, so they would be intended for chaining on additional storage to the head unit. However, it might be possible to re-wire them so that the backplane connects directly to external ports through something like an SFF-8087 to SFF-8088 adapter.

What's the model of the Netgear hardware, and can you describe (or maybe share a picture/diagram) of the chassis and how the drive backplane is cabled?

 

[Davide Zanon]

The system is/was a Netgear ReadyDATA 5200.
I took some pictures of the external SAS ports and internal cable connections:

From what I can see there are two different SAS ports/cables (only the thicker ones):
one connected to the HBA (for an external disk shelf I guess)
one connected directly to the backplane (to make the sytem act as a disk shelf I guess)

 

[Ericloewe]

Important note: Do not confuse IR (Integrated RAID) mode with MR (MegaRAID) mode. IR is IT (Initiator/Target) mode's cousin that supports basic RAID functionality. It's slightly slower, but should be otherwise identical to IT mode. Both IT and IR modes use the mps (SAS2) and mpr (SAS3) drivers.
MR is a completely different software stack that uses the mfi or mrsas drivers, where mfi doesn't even support HBA mode and mrsas is slightly dodgy..

 

[nKk]

In documentation of Netgear ReadyDATA 5200 is stated that both external SAS ports are outputs for external disk shelfs.
Check again where exactly second cable is plugged - if it's possible make detail picture including labels of the card where the cable is connected. And one picture of the whole server internals.

 

[HoneyBadger]

@nKk has beat me to the request. From the look of the hardware it's a Supermicro chassis, with an expander backplane - possibly a dual-expander - but it's likely the BPN-SAS2-826EL family.

There's a manual here in PDF format:

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/BPN-SAS2-826EL_1.0.pdf

If so, it should be possible to rewire the SAS cables in order to make the Netgear behave like a disk shelf, by cabling as shown on page 3-7

 

[Davide Zanon]

if it's possible make detail picture including labels of the card where the cable is connected

I already took those pictures, you can see all the cables connected

From the look of the hardware it's a Supermicro chassis, with an expander backplane - possibly a dual-expander - but it's likely the BPN-SAS2-826EL family

The mobo is Supermicro and by the look of the chassis I also think it's a Supermicro one.
Monday I'll check the exact backplane model and took more pictures of it.

 

[Davide Zanon]

it's likely the BPN-SAS2-826EL family

I confirm this is the backplane model