Using a EVA3000 shelf direct

[Neil Carpenter]

Ok - this may be moderately insane, and is certainly driven by being cheap :-)

I am looking at the purchase of an FC array shelf which appears to be from an EVA3000. My plan is to directly connect this to an elderly Gen 1 DL360 which will probably end up running MS SBS 2003 R2; I don't mind if I end up with a JBOD rather than an array, but I'm trying to work out which (if any) PCI FC controllers will work. I assume I need 2G, but what would happen if I use 1G (such as a 176804-002) or a non-HP card such as a 2G EMULEX EM212-L3TA-SS?

I am making the gross assumption that I can bypass switches and fabric if I'm doing something non-resilient.

[Mark...]

Hi,

Yes !!

As far as I know it is not possible to directly attach FC shelves to a HBA.

You need to go via a fabric controller, MSA1000/1500, EVAxxxx, etc.
It is possible to do direct attachment of some controllers, so saving the cost of fabric switches, but the EVA3000 does not support this.

If you just need storage capabilities then why not look at a smart array controller with scsi disks/shelf - some form of MSA30 shelf will do it.

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/arraycontrollers/smartarray642/index.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

http://search.hp.com/query.html?charset=iso-8859-1&hpvc=contextual&la=en&qp=url%3Aproducts/servers/storage.html+url%3Aproducts/servers/proliantstorage&qs=&lk=1&rf=0&uf=1&nh=10&st=1&hps=ProLiant+storage&hpn=Return+to+ProLiant+storage+home&hpr=http%3A//h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/platforms/storage.html&hpa=http%3A//welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/contact_us.html&hph=&hpl=1&hpo=hphqglobal%2Chphq...

http://193.132.126.23/mktg/pmpublic.nsf/5f49ec2aa1467f0b80256695003f3631/0e92c423dfa0c11b80256e000037bb50?OpenDocument

Mark...

[divakar.k · Accepted solution]

Yes, EVA3K FP (Host Ports) can only act as N port (Fabric), It will not work in Loop.

EVA8K is supported with N & NL port. i.e it can work thru fabric and also with loop.

[Neil Carpenter]

Thanks,guys

The rationale was price - a few isolated shelves have been turning up on eBay at interesting prices - now I know why FC is less popular than SCA :-)

It is interesting to note how equipment is migrating to the domestic segment - how does $1,000 USD for a fully populated array 1T sound? Or from the sublime to the ridiculous - $10 for a DL360 :-)

[Mark...]

Hi,
Well another option would be to get an EVA and an MPX100 iSCSI module. You would not need a fabric then.
However for direct connect you would have to use a 4/6/8k
You can then use iSCSI initiator on your windows box.
Just a thought.

Mark...