DL 360 Gen10 Universal SATA - Smart Array P816i-a SR cabling?

[Troy-Tempest]

We have recently installed some DL360 Gen10s, all with HPE Smart Array P816i-a SR Gen10 Controllers (804338-B21) and HPE Universal SATA HHHL 3yr Wty M.2 Kits (878783-B21), each with 2 x 240GB M.2 SSDs.

The Universal SATA card has 2 x SATA connectors, which are connected (I believe) to the SATA ports 1 & 2 on the motherboard. Unfortunately, this means that we can't create a RAID 1 array with the 2 x 240GB M.2 SSDs that is recognised by vmware ESXi 6.5.

What we would like to do is to link the M.2 SSDs to the smart array controller rather than the motherboard, using a mini-SAS to SATA cable (e.g. 620796-001). Is this possible?

[KK]

Hi Troy,

M.2 SSDs drives are attached to the PCIe interface directly and do not have a dedicated hardware RAID engine similar to SAS controllers, therefore, RAID is only supported through the operating system software (e.g., Windows mirror, Linux MD, etc.).

Regards,

KK

[Troy-Tempest]

Thanks KK,

I'm looking at the 878783-B21 add in card, which has 2 x SATA data cables.

Given that these cables are present, surely it's possible to connect the SATA interface on the card to an appropriate RAID controller, given the correct cable. If the data connection is purely through the PCIe interface, why bother with the dual SATA cables?

[Pau_Rubio]

Hi Troia, do you know if a ssd nvme ex900 could be compatible with the Kit?

https://ssdhp.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Simplified-Datasheet-for-EX900-M.2-EN.pdf

Tanks

[Troy-Tempest]

OK, so I bought a cheap generic 4 x SATA to mini-SAS 50cm cable, and plugged the M2 drives on the PCIe card into the Smart Array p816i controller, which recognised the 2 x M2 SATA drives, so I could configure them as a RAID 1 mirror and install ESXI.

Works perfectly, job done.

What I would like to find is an official HPE part number for a 50cm cable to connect 2 or 4 SATA drives to a mini-SAS interface, as I have 10 servers to install this into, and I would prefer to use an official HPE part if possible. Does anyone know of such a part?

Thanks

TT

[Troy-Tempest]

Pau_Rubio- the form factor of the EX900 is 2280, which would fit in either the PCIe add-in card - or the riser version - for the DL360 gen10. However, even if it works it would probably be a waste, as both of the kits would be limited to SATA 3 speeds (600MB/s), so the performance advantage of the EX900 (1500 MB/s W, 2100MB/s R) would be negated.

You are best off looking at the official Quickspecs for the server in question to see what NVMe drives and controllers are compatible and available.

TT