Smart Array 642, 6402 and 6404 maximum logical volume size: firmware update?

[Daniel Pocock]

I recently updated the firmware on a P600 and have been able to successfully create logical volumes spanning all disks - e.g. 12 750GB SATA disks = 7.5TB logical volume.

Which firmware update for the 642, 6402 and 6404 cards will enable this feature? I am using 300GB disks in StorageWorks arrays, and I would like to run RAID 6 over an entire set of 14 drives.

[Torsten.]

This still needs to be written ;-)


From the quick specs of this controller:

"Logical Drives Up to 32 logical drives
Up to 2 TB per Logical Drive"

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12444_na/12444_na.HTML

[Daniel Pocock]

HP originally had a 2TB logical volume size limit on the P600 - but then they released a firmware update to fix it.

Obviously, with 300GB SCSI drives and a bus that can handle 28 drives (6402) or 54 drives (6404), a 2TB logical volume limit is not very practical. Is HP going to continue to support those customers who have invested in this technology, or will they only offer firmware updates for the SAS technology now?

[Rob Leadbeater · Accepted solution]

Hi Daniel,

The 2TB limit comes about due to a limit in the SCSI protocol (SBC). There's a good description here (even if it is on Dell's website !):

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/vectors/2004_2tblun.pdf

I suspect that the reason that the SAS and SATA controllers have been updated, is that all of the supported drives support the latter standard (SBC-2) that gets over this limit.

Doing the same for SCSI drives would probably mean a lot more work, as all the possible drive models would also need to support SBC-2.

I'm sure it's probably on HP's radar, however I do remember them saying a few years ago, that SCSI drives wouldn't be being manufactured by now, so don't hold your breath !

Cheers,

Rob

[Andy Burns]

Can anyone confirm if there really is an updated firmware for the P600 controllers that allows logical drives larger than 2TB?

I've just installed an MSA60 with 12x750GB SATA connected to a P600 using firmware 1.52 and it it still has the limitation, I can't see a higher rev on the website.

[Andy Burns]

I just found P600 firmware 1.98, will try that in the morning.

[Andy Burns]

To confirm 1.98 allowed me a 7.684TB logical drive from 12x750GB in RAID5