P2000 MSA G3 SAS & Proliant Gen9 Server

[badassbob]

I am glad I found this post.  I am in the same boat as most here.  We have several DL360 G7's connecting to a P2000 SAS as well.  We are currnetly running vSphere 5.1 and the setup has been higly stable. 

We would like to purchase a couple DL360 G9's, but they will need to connent to the P2000 SAS.

Any info about what SAS card will work in the DL360 G9 & work with a P2000 MSA G3 (SAS) would be highly appreaciated.

Thanks!

[SkyDiver79]

Hi,

this is not an Gen9 thing.

This is an Smart Array x4x thing. (all Gen4 Smart Array Adapters)

I have the same issue with other SA x4x Adapters. As Workaround i use H221 HBA's in the Gen9 Servers and all runs stable.

The H221 HBA is an LSI OEM Product with HP Label and works fine with LSI Drivers, the H241 HBA based on an HP SA Chipset and needs the HP SA Driver. The Problem is the VMware SA driver from HP. I have Backupserver with Win2012R2 attached with the H241 HBA and this works fine.

regards Falk

[alerani]

Hi all guys

someone has any kind of update about this issue?

Regards

[andy-h]

I see a new vSphere driver has just been released for the H241, which appears to address issues with scanning for new devices (and hopefully reviving dead paths).

I'd love to hear from anyone that can confirm this as I'm on the verge of buying an FC configuration.

http://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/swd/public/detail?sp4ts.oid=7275281&swItemId=MTX_49815e315b8342648b54cd4857&swEnvOid=4183#tab4

[Ken Krubsack]

Andy-h,

We've bagged the MSA/SAS configuration (this whole mess was the final nail in the coffin for that - though to be completely honest, we never really liked it anyway) and gone to the small 3PAR storage with FC switches.  Yeah, the cost is higher - I fully realize that not everyone can afford that config - but it is a super reliable system. 

And, no, I'm NOT - REPEAT NOT - an HP marketing type.  Just a fellow end user.

Ken

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys

I've installed ESXi 6.0 U1 Release 3073146 on a HP DL380 G9 with a H241 and a MSA 2040 over SAS.

I do not see any Problems. I can expand Volumes and new Volumes get automaticly discovered.

I've used the Customized ISO from HP, which seems the new HP Driver is already present:

Driver Version: HP HPSA Driver (v 6.0.0.114-1OEM)
Driver Build: 01

Tested with Linear and Virtual Pools.

Regards,

Michael

[CalvinZito]

@Magic_Hair - since moving to the new HPE Community, I've stopped getting email notifications and I missed your reply.  I'm sorry!

Speaking as an HPE employee, I've never been more frustrated (and embarassed) about an issue. I first caught wind of this about a year ago. And as of now, I don't believe the issues are completely resolved.  There were multiple problems that existed between the HBA driver and VMware.  The last I heard (early December), the multiple engineering teams working on this were making "great progress" but there was still this little thing we do called regression testing once they were confident that all the fixes were in. Regression testing is a long (more than a month) process we go through to try to break code.  From there it gets pushed out via software download sites and into manufacturing.  So hopefully, we're really close.

I've asked for an update from product management - hopefully I'll hear something this coming week and I'll communicate what I can.

[Tom Lyczko]

I just now discovered this....does this issue(s) occur with iSCSI or only with SAS cards/connectors??
Thank you, Tom

[grimson]

Well, almost a year later HP finally releases an advisory:

https://h20565.www2.hpe.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?sp4ts.oid=4118559&docId=emr_na-c04930508&docLocale=en_US

Document ID: c04930508

Advisory: VMware - Recovered Paths Are Not Restored When Using an HPE Smart Array Controller Connected to a Shared Storage RAID Enclosure On VMware ESXi 5.0, ESXi 5.1, ESXi 5.5 or ESXi 6.0

Release Date: 2016-01-04

Last Updated: 2016-01-04

Issue seems to be resolved now...

[andy-h]

That seems like good news, but SPOCK still doesn't show the configuration as actually supported. Hopefully that will change in the near future.