MSA1000 upgrade with Ultra320 I/O Modules

[Sandor Kereszturi]

Hello,

I have a MSA1000 with Ultra 3 modules. I am thinking about to upgrade the MSA with Ultra320 I/O Modules so it should be abel to operate on 320 Mbit/sec instead of 160 Mbit/sec. Could you please advice what is exactly that I need to buy for this? (I have one additional bay and I have just got an other one with Ultra320 I/O Modules)

Thanks in advance.

Cheers, Sandor

[Greg Carlson]

Sandor,

I'm not aware of this even being an option on the MSA 1000. There are no upgrades to MSA 1000 to U320 available and even the new MSA 1500 still runs at Ultra 3. Its the controllers that are at the Ultra 3 speed even though they support and connect to MSA 30 which is U320.

Ciao,
Greg

[Zygmunt Krawczyk]

Hi Sandor,
msa1000 has already four channel U320 SCSI I/O module (2 internal channels and 2 for external enclosures). If your external enclosure is StorageWorks 4200 or 4300 series with U160 I/O module, you can upgrade it to U320 by buying:

287484-B21 Ultra320 Single Bus Upgrade I/O Module

Single Bus is required, if you go to add one more external enclosure.

BTW. You will see minor difference (if any) in performance between U160 and U320.

Regards,
Zygmunt

[John Kufrovich · Accepted solution]

Even if you upgrade to U320 modules you will still be running at U160. The MSA1000/1500 controllers are U160.

[Zygmunt Krawczyk]

My previous response is not correct. Greg and John are right. MSA1000 is U160.
You can connect external U320 enclosures, if the msa1000 firmware is at version 4.32 or 4.38. See the link:
http://h18006.www1.hp.com/products/storageworks/softwaredrivers/msa1000/msa1k_intel.html

Regards,
Zygmunt

[Sandor Kereszturi]

Hi All,

Many thanks for the answers. Based on the answers for me it seems to be if I upgrade the I/O modules itself I still won't have the dream 320 Mbit/s performance because of the built-in MSA controller. Am I right or did I missunderstood something?

Thanks, Sandor

[Greg Carlson]

Sandor,

That is correct, You can have the 320 drives and i/o modules, however the system controllers are still running at U3. This is true on both the MSA 1000 and the 1500 currently. Hopefully there is an upgrade available in the future.

Ciao,
Greg

Also don't forget to assign points for the responses. It helps us to know which responses were the most helpful for your situation.

[Sandor Kereszturi]

Greg,

I think this answer is perfect to close this thread. Thanks for all of your commentts.

Cheers, Sandor

Points assigned ;)