DL380 G3 Conflict Specs

[tomhoo]

DL380 G3 spec says Ultra 3/Ultra 320 SCSI via Smart Array 5i Plus.

But Smart Array 5i Plus spec says only Ultra 2 or 3 and says 5i Plus used on G2 servers. Is a different variant used on the G3 servers???

[TTr]

Most likely the Ultra320 disks can be used but they will run at Ultra3 speed.

[wobbe]

I believe you should only use U320 disks in the G3 en G4 series. Ultra 3 wont "fit" properly. Alltough with a bit of force you can get them in there :-) (I used ultra 3 on a 360G4 for years and I worked fine. But its not officially supported) Using U320 disk in G2 servers is no problem but your controller will be the limiting factor.

[radek zima_1]

Hi, Ultra2, Ultra3 and Ultra320 have the same carrier, they are all LVD and are working on SA 5i/SA 5i Plus ... some boxes have limitations, but usually due to heating issues (such as some DL360 required U320 drives only) ... U320 will work, but only at 80Mbit/s, as Ultra3 is the fastest protocol 5i supports ... Radek

[tomhoo]

Radekzima,

So to keep the drives cooler, they simply used U320's running at U3 so they would be "loafing" along and hence cooler?

Actually, that is a neat idea, however, they advertise the DL380 G3 uses U320 with a 5i Plus which implies U320 bandwidth.

(It is disappointing because those blade servers are designed and built with a lot of thought to packaging and hot swapping. How could they have gotten the cooling wrong? I mean, even the fans are not that loud. Perhaps they should have had a fan retrofit?)

Thanks
Tom

[radek zima_1]

Hi Tom, I did not say that clearly (English is not my native language :)

1) 5i does not support Ultra320 protocol, but it supports Ultra320 drives running at Ultra3

2) you are right with your comment, but my remark was about DL360G4 ... you are not allowed to put Ultra3/Ultra2 drives there, only U320 .... other servers (like your DL380G3) are OK, you can use either Ultra2, Ultra 3 or U320 drives, but maximum speed will be at Ultra3 (or Ultra2, if you will use Ultra2 hard drives) ...

Thanks! Radek

[tomhoo]

No, I think I got it right. The neat thing about SCSI is that mixed drive types in an array each run at their own spec. For example, a U2 runs at U2, a U3 runs at U3, a U320 runs at U320 all in the same array.

Again, selling a product that uses U320's running U3 is very misleading since you effectively are running at 1/2 the bandwidth of the U320's but at the full cost of a U320 array.

What is worse is that if this is a workaround for a cooling problem, then you really should not attempt to run U3 drives even thought the 5i Plus will handle them.

Shenanigans like this should be explicitly spelled out in the specs so that people understand what is going on.