P800 and MSA60

[Tauchen]

I have just bought P800 and MSA60 (with 12 450GB SAS drives). the P800 has two ports (1E and 2E). and the MSA gas port IN and port OUT.

If later in life, I want to add a second MSA60, do I just daisy chain it to the out port on the MSA60 or just plug the seocnd MSA60 into the 2E port on the P800? Please advise.

[Víctor Cespón · Accepted solution]

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12627_div/12627_div.html

The MSA60 supports the cascading of shelves in a 1+3 configuration to allow a maximum of 48 drives in an 8U configuration behind each of the two external ports on the HP Smart Array P800, the HP Smart Array E500 or the HP Smart Array P411 Controllers for a total of 96 drives in 8 enclosures (this single controller port incorporates four lanes for a total max throughput of 12Gb/s for SAS).

For speed and redundancy, the second option is better.

[Tauchen]

so basically i can have 8 MSA60 on my P800 controller if i want to? so I can just keep on adding them at any time in the future based on my needs without worrying changing the current Proliant DL380G4 server?

[Gus Kwong]

It would appear so --- "The MSA60 supports ...1+3 configuration... behind EACH of the two external ports on the HP Smart Array P800"

Although you are much better off to use the 2nd port to loop the connection for failover purpose (i.e. from the last MSA all the way to the 1st MSA).