Smart Array 5300 variants

[Jeremy Begg]

Hi,

I want to put a backplane RAID controller in my AlphaServer DS20E (833MHz) system.  Several of my customers have SmartArray 5302 or 5304 controllers in their AlphaServers so I went looking on ebay. I found lots of Smary Array 5300 controllers for sale, and bought one.

I've tried it in several slots in my DS20E including the left-most one (i.e. furthest from the CPUs) but it doesn't show up properly at the console and there is no pya0 device.  Here's an extract from SHOW CONFIG at the console ...

PCI Hose 01
     Bus 00  Slot 08: QLogic ISP10x0
                                   pka0.7.0.8.1          SCSI Bus ID 7       
     Bus 00  Slot 09: B09F0E11/B09F0E11

The Smart Array 5300 is showing up as "B09F0E11/B09F0E11" so something's clearly not right.

It's occurred to me that I've bought the wrong thing, and that "Smart Array 5300" is not the same as "Smart Array 5300A" - and of course the 5300A is what I should have bought!

Is any one able to confirm this?  If so it would explain why these boards sell on ebay for up to $50 but a 5300A bought from a reseller is $400+.

Thanks,

Jeremy Begg

[Maurizio De Tommaso_ · Accepted solution]

Basing on the information reported officially by Hp, the AlphaServer DS20E supports only the following Smart Array models :

http://h18002.www1.hp.com/alphaserver/options/asds20e/asds20e_15_options_sorted.html#OptListHead

http://h18002.www1.hp.com/cpq-alphaserver/options/asds20e/asds20e_3x-kzpdc-be.html

http://h18002.www1.hp.com/cpq-alphaserver/options/asds20e/asds20e_3x-kzpdc-df.html

- 3X-KZPDC-BE (290564-B21)     SMARTARRAY 5302A/128 FOR ALPHA SYSTEMS

Operating System     =  OpenVMS V7.3-1

Hardware Revision   =  A01

Firmware Revision    =  2.88

SRM Version               = 6.3

Max sys                        = 1

Max Bus                       = 1

ECU Version                = N/A

RCU Version                = N/A

ARC/Alpha Bios          = N/A

- 3X-KZPDC-DF (290565-B21)     SMARTARRAY 5304A/256 FOR ALPHA SYSTEMS 

Operating System     = OpenVMS V7.3-1

Hardware Revision   = A01

Firmware Revision    = 2.88

SRM Version               = 6.3

Max sys                        = 1

Max Bus                       = 1

ECU Version                = N/A

RCU Version                = N/A

ARC/Alpha Bios          = N/A

while the SmartArray 5300 QuickSpec reports that the model 5302 (283552-B21) and the model 5304 (283551-B21) are only supported by x86 architecture servers and only by the following Operating Systems :

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/10640_div/10640_div.html

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, 2000, 2003**
Novell NetWare 4.2, 5.x **
SCO UnixWare 7.1.x
SCO UnixWare 8
SCO OpenServer 5.0.4, 5.0.5, 5.0.6a
Linux
IBM OS/2 Warp Server 4
IBM OS/2 Warp Server for e-Business
Sun Solaris™ * Intel Platform Edition 7
Sun Solaris™ * Intel Platform Edition 8

**SAN Access module compatible with Operating System.

So it seems there isn't a way to go forward because the Alpha SRM and the OpenVMS don't support the Smart Array 5302 and the Smart Array 5304 adapters.

So you should look only for 5302A or 5304A SmartArray models for your DS20E AlphaServer.

[Jeremy Begg]

Thanks for that.  At least it was only $45 I wasted :-)

Regards,

Jeremy Begg