Smart Array E200 Firmware upgrade - Recovery ROM?

[David Beery - Consultan]

Greetings,

I have been brought in to resolve a number of server issues for a customer. The most serious of the problems is the write performance of the Smart Array E200/128 BBWC, Firmware 1.20, SATA drives in a Proliant ML310 G4.

Many thanks must be given to members of this forum who have experienced the same horrid write performance and have documented their work here. Thank you once again. Your work quickly pointed me in the right direction.

Despite enabling the drive write cache option, the controller ignores the setting and keeps the dwc(Drive Write Cache) disabled. According to the Smart Array firmware upgrade release notes, all firmware under 1.72 ignore this setting. For the Smart Array to enable the dwc, the firmware must be 1.72 or higher according to the release notes of the E200 firmware downloads.

I plan on upgrading the E200 firmware to current (1.84) but the customer does not have a spare E200 in the event that the firmware upgrade bricks the card. In some marketing document, I forget which one, a feature was discussed that states the Smart Array cards have a built-in RECOVERY ROM that will take over in the event of a bad firmware upgrade. This document did not list the E200. Does this feature also exist in the E200 or should I have the customer purchase a second E200 or a more capable model in the same Smart Array migration path - P400? - as a spare?


Thank you very much,
David Beery

[David Beery - Consultan]

The E200 does not have a Recovery Rom.

Consider, if you are faced with upgrading the E200 SmartArray firmware, having a spare E200 or higher in the SmartArray upgrade path in the event that you brick the card.

HP does an excellent job with the firmware upgrade processes to greatly reduce the possibility of bricking the card but one must always plan for the worst case scenarios.


David Beery