[Sanity check] Upgrading LSI SAS 2008 to LSI SAS 9207

[fuxxy]

Existing build. HBA is attached to a Dell PowerVault MD1000 with 10 6TB drives.

If I simply swap out Controllers, will I need to be concerned about the existing array not being loaded by the new HBA?

Any concerns for data loss?

 

[Ericloewe]

will I need to be concerned about the existing array not being loaded by the new HBA?

No, assuming they're up to date and such. No vaguely serious RAID solution (including Intel fakeRAID) gives a damn.

Question is, why the swap?

 

[fuxxy]

I'm having issues with the SAS2008 driver not responding under high stress events, like a scrub or a resilvering. I have a thread on the forums about it sometime last year.

The 9207 is also supposed to be faster than the 2008, but that's a fringe benefit at this point.

 

[Ericloewe]

The SAS2308 on the SAS 9207 uses the same mps driver. It is a half-generation ahead, so maybe the interaction that's causing you trouble is gone, but the proper step up is the SAS 9300, which uses the SAS3008 controller, which uses the mpr driver.

 

[fuxxy]

Well, I feel like it was a card issue and not a driver issue currently.

I picked the 9207 because it had the SFF-8088 connector, which I'm already utilizing cables for. The 9300 uses SFF-8463 connectors, and I haven't even looked to see if they can adapt to the SFF-8470 on the drive way itself.

 

[Ericloewe]

SFF-8643 cables are functionally identical to SFF-8087 (this extends naturally to SFF-8088 and SFF-8644), so the same types are available, plus SFF-8087 to SFF-8643 and the like.