ML150 G6 : Noise + SmartArray P410 logical drive limitation + IPMI + Debian

[Cabrol]

Hello,

I've just received a new generation Proliant ML150 G6 :
Intel Xeon E5504 / 2 GHz
2 GB RAM
Smart Array P410 w/Zero memory cache
Hot plug 3.5-inch SATA
3 x 750 GB SATA drives hot plug


1. First annoyance is the heavy noise of this machine even in idle mode. I've not installed any OS yet.
There is also this message at boot : "BMC Fan Curve updating .. Done"
This server was supposed to go in a office room with people working in, this won't be possible regarding the noise level.
I'm administrating all of the following Proliant models an even ML150 G3 (the noisiest) is far less noisy than this ML150 G6.

QuickSpecs give :
idle mode L-wAd (Bells) L-pAm (dBA)
ML150 G6 5,4 B 36,8 dBA
ML150 G5 5,27 B 36,5 dBA
ML150 G3 5,5 B 38,0 dBA
ML350 G5 5,2 B 35,0 dBA

Is there any way to reduce this noise ?
HP Technical support is of no help here.


2. Second annoyance is the the SmartArray P410 :
I used to create a RAID1 array from first two drives (either software with ML150 or hardware with ML350).
And use others drives as singles (not RAID) (either direct access with ML150 or by creating a single drive RAID0 array with ML 350, JBOD would have been very useful).
Here I tried to create 3 single drive RAID 0 arrays (because I prefer software RAID) but after creating first two RAID0 arrays I got : "You cannot create another logical drive. You have reached the maximum number of logical drives on this controller". I tried from RaidArray bios utility and from bootable Easy Set-up CD provided with this machine.
I could create a hardware RAID1 and a single drive RAID0 but I won't be able to add any other drive in the future.

QuickSpecs give : "Logical Drives Supported : Up to 12 logical drives".
What's wrong here ?


3. Third little annoyance comes from non existing FAN_1 and IPMI warning :
Access to BMC through http gives : System Status : Critical Attention
And below Monitoring Sensors :
(Error) Fan FAN_1 "Lower Critical" "940.4 RPM"
(OK) FAN_3 and FAN_4 are in "Normal operating range"
(Warning ) Chassis Chassis "State Asserted) 1
This machine as only two fans... one on the back of the case, the other one next to the drives. There is no fan on the processor, just a huge heat-sink.

HP technical support says : Installing IPMI drivers will solve the problem


4. And last, what are future plans at HP about Debian support ?
Debian support matrix as disappeared from HP web site.
Debian 5.0 etch (published on 2009 February 14 ) .deb packages are not available.
The only things related to Debian are Carepacks


Thanks,
Renaud

[Niels Vejrup Pedersen]

Hello,

Regarding section 2.

If you try to create 3 raid 0 arrays, you not actually creating logical drives, and logical drives if carved up from raw disk space on in an array.

Please reconsider using hardware raid since it's usually much faster.

If you buy the BBWC upgrade, you could create a raid5 array with the 3 disks.

Regards

[Johan Guldmyr]

On some proliants HP have the health driver that takes over from the hardware control of the fan which should reduce the speed. Is there not one available for Debian?

apparently this have changed ..

see:
http://forums11.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=1275227

mentions an ipmitool that can be used to reduce the speed

[Cabrol]

About section 2 and from HP Technical support : Raid 0 with only one drive is considered JBOD internally and Smart Array P410 (whatever sub version) is limited to 2 JBOD only.

Niels :
I prefer software RAID because when the hardware fails, restoring your data is just about plugging your drives in another computer and mounting the partition. With hardware RAID, you rely on the manufacturer, hardware availability, delivery times, ...
My main problem is that with the end of ML150 G5 there is no more Proliant ML with regular SATA (no RAID) controller that is hot-swap capable and I need hot-swap ! Please tell me if I'm wrong.
But solution in this case is effectively to create a RAID1 with first two drives and RAID0/JBOD with third one which will be a backup drive readable on another Linux system (I tested this yesterday).


Johan :
I've not installed Debian yet. I already saw in the past the thread you mentioned, as you might have noticed no definitive solution has been provided. ipmitool will not solve this, fans speed is controlled by hardware (BMC).
By chance Fans are not running at full speed on this ML150 G6, they are just very noisy. Be warned.

Thanks all for your answers
Special thanks to Salma from HP Technical Support

Renaud

[Sahalu]

Hi Renaud or anyone else. Is there a solution to the HIGH fan noise of the ML 150 G6? This baby is mighty loud. I did the ROMPAQ update and it didn't make any difference to the hoisy fan.

I just don't understand why the fan has to be very loud.

Thanks!