SAS Controller Recommendation

[cuoz]

Hi All,

Here is some background to my goals:
I'm fairly new to FreeNAS, but looking to start using it as storage server for a virtualization environment via NFS & iSCSI. Current storage servers are Solaris based using ZFS & Comstar.

I am looking to use some of our HP Proliant hardware & storage arrays for FreeNAS. Specifically we have a DL-360 with a p-800 controller and multiple MSA-70 external storage arrays. The arrays attach via mini-SAS to the p-800.

I've done enough research to know that the P-800 won't be a good controller since I can't set it to JBOD and just have it pass thru the drives. Setting up individual RAID 0 volumes is not a solution either as the controller will not support enough volumes. I expect to have 75-100 drives attached. I also really don't want to bother with the hassle of all the raid volumes.

I'm looking for a SAS controller that will allow:
* 2 (or more) external mini-SAS ports to attach to my existing hardware
* raw access to 75-100 drives with some room for growth
* ability to add new disks without rebooting the NAS
* ability to replace failed drives without rebooting the NAS

Can anybody recommend some options? I've done some research but many of the pages I turn up are older and maybe out of date. I looked at some LSI controllers that appear to be solid options, but I was unsure about the hot-plugging aspect of things and if FreeNAS supported that.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,
gary

 

[survive]

Hi cuoz,

I don't think is really any choice but LSI for what you want to do....that said, they have some fantastic controllers out today. Take a look here:

http://www.lsi.com/products/storagecomponents/Pages/HBAs.aspx

-Will

 

[cuoz]

Thank you so much for the quick reply, Will.

I will plan to pick up one of the external port HBA's and test it out.

Do you happen to know how adding or replacing drives will work on FreeNAS? Will the FreeNAS OS automatically pick up disk changes through the driver? Or is there a utility that is either part of the OS or can be installed to accomplish that? I'm mostly familiar with the HP tools on Linux & Solaris and not very familar with FreeBSD.

Thanks again,
gary

 

[sfcredfox]

Cuos,

Thank you so much for the quick reply, Will.

I will plan to pick up one of the external port HBA's and test it out.

Do you happen to know how adding or replacing drives will work on FreeNAS? Will the FreeNAS OS automatically pick up disk changes through the driver? Or is there a utility that is either part of the OS or can be installed to accomplish that? I'm mostly familiar with the HP tools on Linux & Solaris and not very familar with FreeBSD.

Thanks again,
gary

Did you get a solution to this? I am basically doing the exact same thing (HP DL G5 platform and MSA 70).

 

[jgreco]

Assuming you have slots free you can also buy internal HBA's and wire them up to internal-to-external plates. Supermicro CBL-0352L for example, or eBay offers a bunch. You can find them in one to four port varieties.