Device drivers for 6404 controlled MSA30

[Samuli P]

Hi, can somebody confirm that using ports A1 and A2 of the 6404 will show the 14 disks in the MSA30 under one device driver (under two channels)?

Using A1 and B1 gives us /dev/ciss4 and /dev/ciss5. This prohibits using RAID 1+0 over the whole array. We need one /dev/cissn to be able to create one logical RAID1+0 (e.g. saconfig /dev/ciss4 -R1+0 -p1:0 -p2:0 ... etc.).

Will moving cables to A1 and A2 produce just one /dev/cissn? Moving cables is, in current setting due to circumstances, very laborous and we would appreciate some confirmation that we are on the right track before proceeding.

Thanks for all help,
Samuli

P.S. HP-UX 11.11 and rp3440, patches from September 2005 and later

[Torsten. · Accepted solution]

Did you read the documentation about this smartarray controller yet?

In a short summary, a 6404 is more or less a combination of 2 6402.

So you can only combine A1 and A2 **OR** B1 and B2, but not any combination like A1 and B1 ...

[Torsten.]

See also

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/arraycontrollers/smartarray6400/questionsanswers.html#tc4


(Question 4)

[Torsten.]

And finally, always use the latest driver version with the controller:

http://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=A9891A

Older versions may have less functionality.

[Torsten.]

And finally, always use the latest driver version with the controller:

http://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=A9891A

Older versions may have less functionality.

[Samuli P]

Hi Torsten and thanks for pointing me to the manuals so quickly. I did actually go through the documenation already to see that it would not be a good idea to try and use internal and external connectors at the same time. I understand your further references to the manuals and Q/As mean that, if it is impossible to combine disks as we have now done, it must be possible to combine them in the way we were planning.

In general, I know that the setup I am aiming at is possible - it has been done before. What is missing is confirmation that the cabling is what is prohibiting the correct setup in this case. It however seems that it might be worth making the effort and trying.

Thanks for the help.

[Torsten.]

You will always see 2 device files for the 6404 - one for each part.

Example:

ext_bus 4 0/3/1/0/4/0 ciss CLAIMED INTERFACE PCI-X SmartArray 6404 RAID Controller
/dev/ciss4
ext_bus 7 0/3/1/0/5/0 ciss CLAIMED INTERFACE PCI-X SmartArray 6404 RAID Controller
/dev/ciss7


So you really need to use either both A or B connectors to connect the dual bus chassis.


For more information see

http://docs.hp.com/en/J6369-90051/index.html

"HP Smart Array 6400 Series Controller Support Guide: HP-UX 11i v1, 11i v2, 11i v3"

[Samuli P]

Connecting two cables from MSA30 into correct two terminals in the controller enables you to see all 14 disks under one HP-UX device. This allows you to use saconfig to configure 1+0 on 14 disks without spares.

Connecting the two cables into wrong terminals divides the disks under two devices. Using saconfig as intented is not possible. RAID 1+0 is possible but only with spares.

Cheers,
Samuli