DL380p Gen8 incompatible with SAS expander? Smart Array P822?

[anthony11]

Enzo, you don't state exactly what your client's problem is, what they want, and what they have.  Do they have the 25SFF DL380p Gen 8 chassis, or the stupid default 8SFF chassis?

[xnavdvpj]

Hp has a solution for this now.

Purchase  these items.

HP Smart Array P830/4GB FBWC 12Gb 2-ports Int SAS Controller              698533-B21

HP 6G SAS P430/830 Secondary Cable Kit                                                         729276-B21

HP 6G SAS P430/830 Primary Cable Kit                                                              729278-B21

Directions 

1 - Install the P830 in an open PCIe slot.

2 - Connect the Primary cable kit from Port 1 to Cage 1 and the Secondary cable kit from Port 2 to Cage  This will then enable them to RAID stripe across both cages.

3 - Disable the onboard P420i in the BIOS, and set the P830 as the primary boot controller.

Note: If server isn’t a fresh build. RAID information can be saved/exported from the P420i, so they should back up their data and restore it once the drives are connected to the P830 and the RAID groups have been re-configured.

Good Luck

[Jalvarezmcp]

Hello,

I too purchased two Gen8 DL380ps with the P822 controllers and have the same exact issue of spanning anything across both drive cages. I've spent tons of time with HP support and bottom line, no expanders = no solution. I suggested plugging in one internal port per cage back plane and I was told by HP that the controller would only be able to see 4 drives per cage if I did that. I also suggested plugging in an external port right back into the second cage and was told that the internal and external ports on the P822 differ tremendously and would not work. I'm considering returning these two servers and opting for the 25 SFF model since it appears to have the same e5-2690 proc and high speed 14900r 1866Mhz Memory, but before doing this I'd like to get more info on the 25SFF back plane and make sure that this would be advantageous and there are no other surprises with that disk architecture....here are some pics of my back plane and insides of my server with the fans assembly removed. I've got the P822 going to one cage and the P420i going to my second cage....has anyone heard anything else new?

Thanks,

Jose Alvarez

[anthony11]

The 25SFF chassis Just Worked for me.  IIRC 12 of the bays map to one HBA channel and 13 to the other.  There is/was an option for an additional two drive bays to stick in the second PCI bay in the rear, but I'm not sure if HP ever shipped any.

If you want to have HBA RAID volumes with more than 8 drives, the 25SFF chassis really is the best way -- or tacking on an external drive array.

That said I suspect the external port -> internal port would probably work, but who knows what hassles that might bring.

[bamajoe]

Does the DL380p G8 support the P430 smart array controller? I bought a couple to enable HP secure encryption, since the integrated P420i does not. However, after installation, firmware, the controller ACU does not see the internal SAS drives.

[Torsten.]

From quickspec - supported controllers for your server:

NOTE: Please see the QuickSpecs for Technical Specifications and additional information:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14227_div/14227_div.html
(Smart Array P222 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14228_div/14228_div.html
(Smart Array P420 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14229_div/14229_div.html
(Smart Array P421 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14624_div/14624_div.html
(Smart Array P430 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14625_div/14625_div.html
(Smart Array P431 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14341_div/14341_div.html
(Smart Array P822 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14744_div/14744_div.html
(Smart Array P830 Controller)
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/14532_div/14532_div.html