Swapping out LSI cards

[HSG]

I currently have a pool of four drives connected to an 9240-8i which I've flashed to IT mode. I can't fit anymore drives to my chassis, so I've been looking at external SAS enclosures, but that means getting an external SAS connection. I know you can get adapter cards, but would I be able to swap out the 9240-8i for say a 9207-4i4e without any issues? I'm assuming I would at the very least have to make sure the new card has the same firmware version.

 

[BigDave]

As long as the 4i4e card is...

1. Supported in the FreeBSD hardware compatibility list.
2. Configured in IT mode.
3. Updated with firmware version that matches FreeNAS driver.

You should have no issues with that working, however I recommend
you do some research regarding the risks involved with Vdevs split
across multiple cables/connections/backplanes/psu/etc.

 

[Chris Moore]

I have two FreeNAS systems and in each of them the twelve hard drives are connected to two SAS controllers, with six drives connected to each controller.
I had a controller fail in one of the servers which took 6 drives offline all at once. When I replaced the controller, and booted the system back up, the pool was still there and perfectly healthy. It is possible that "in flight" writes might have been lost when the pool crashed, but I have not noticed any problems with the system in the time since I had this failure.

I currently have a pool of four drives connected to an 9240-8i which I've flashed to IT mode. I can't fit anymore drives to my chassis, so I've been looking at external SAS enclosures, but that means getting an external SAS connection. I know you can get adapter cards, but would I be able to swap out the 9240-8i for say a 9207-4i4e without any issues? I'm assuming I would at the very least have to make sure the new card has the same firmware version.

External SAS enclosures are usually pretty expensive, I am not sure what you are looking at purchasing, but I was looking into that option myself a couple years ago and found it was more cost effective to buy a used Supermicro rack chassis from ebay and move my NAS into a new chassis. I went from a standard computer case to a server case that came with hot-swap drive bays and redundant power supplies too. It only cost me $150, plus shipping, to get and I am very happy with it.
Something to think about. It also has the advantage of keeping all the drives internal. I may never need another chassis as I will probably move to larger drives instead of adding more drives.

 

[HSG]

As long as the 4i4e card is...

1. Supported in the FreeBSD hardware compatibility list.
2. Configured in IT mode.
3. Updated with firmware version that matches FreeNAS driver.

You should have no issues with that working, however I recommend
you do some research regarding the risks involved with Vdevs split
across multiple cables/connections/backplanes/psu/etc.

I'm not planning on splitting my vdevs across anything, I am aware of those pitfalls.

I have two FreeNAS systems and in each of them the twelve hard drives are connected to two SAS controllers, with six drives connected to each controller.
I had a controller fail in one of the servers which took 6 drives offline all at once. When I replaced the controller, and booted the system back up, the pool was still there and perfectly healthy. It is possible that "in flight" writes might have been lost when the pool crashed, but I have not noticed any problems with the system in the time since I had this failure.



External SAS enclosures are usually pretty expensive, I am not sure what you are looking at purchasing, but I was looking into that option myself a couple years ago and found it was more cost effective to buy a used Supermicro rack chassis from ebay and move my NAS into a new chassis. I went from a standard computer case to a server case that came with hot-swap drive bays and redundant power supplies too. It only cost me $150, plus shipping, to get and I am very happy with it.
Something to think about. It also has the advantage of keeping all the drives internal. I may never need another chassis as I will probably move to larger drives instead of adding more drives.

Good to know I can just swap out controllers then. I would love to buy an old supermicro chassis, but you would not believe what shipping costs to where I live. I can get SAS enclosures locally for not too bad though.

 

[BigDave]

I'm not planning on splitting my vdevs across anything, I am aware of those pitfalls.

I hope you weren't offended at my suggestion, but it is impossible to know
anyone's level of experience. Understanding JBOD expansion, places you WAY
ahead of the curve around here.:)

 

[Chris Moore]

I'm not planning on splitting my vdevs across anything, I am aware of those pitfalls.

Good to know I can just swap out controllers then. I would love to buy an old supermicro chassis, but you would not believe what shipping costs to where I live. I can get SAS enclosures locally for not too bad though.

That is a shame about the shipping costs. I understand that. The story about the SAS controller was to illustrate that even if your external drives become detached by some accident, you should be alright once you shut it all down, plug it back in and boot it back up. Probably want to run a scrub, but it shouldn't destroy your data.

 

[HSG]

I hope you weren't offended at my suggestion, but it is impossible to know
anyone's level of experience. Understanding JBOD expansion, places you WAY
ahead of the curve around here.:)

Not at all! Too many years of academic writing has made me a bit terse, so I apologise if it was intepreted that way :)

 

[BigDave]

Not at all! Too many years of academic writing has made me a bit terse, so I apologise if it was intepreted that way :)

I was just being sure, we are trying to be kinder
and gentler in here nowadays ;)
Good luck with your expansion.

 

[Ericloewe]

Sure, it's kludgy, but an expansion slot SFF-8087 to SFF-8088 adapter is much cheaper than a new HBA.

 

[HSG]

Sure, it's kludgy, but an expansion slot SFF-8087 to SFF-8088 adapter is much cheaper than a new HBA.

That is one plan, though I've run out of expansion slots on my current NAS, I've been thinking of mounting an adapter on any blank piece of metal on the system. On the other hand, having another HBA might give me an excuse to build another NAS!