using hba mode on P441 SAS adapter to connect to a Dell MD3400 with local array

[haybaker]

I have the P441 adapter in a ProLiant DL360 Gen9. I had to configure the P441 in hba mode to work with the Dell MD3400 enclosure that has its own Array management.  My understanding is that in hba mode, the disks in the external enclosure are presented as configured by the Dell Modular Disk Storage Manager, meaning as a single 100TB entity.  From there, Windows creates its File System and I'm off to the races. 

So now I need to migrate this external enclosure to a ProLiant DL360 Gen10 that has a Smart Array E208e-p.  Also in hba mode, the E208e-p should also recognize the existing array as a single 100TB entity.

Is that correct, can I simply connect the SAS cables to the new server and Windows on the new server will see a valid disk and file system without loss of data?

[feigenL]

hello, according to this Dell manual:

https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/powervault-md3860i/md34_38_sm_pub/sas-host-bus-adapters?guid=guid-13abad64-ecda-4de3-88e0-55a505ca8947&lang=en-us&lwp=rt

You may want to double check that with Dell's support.

Regards.

[haybaker]

Thanks for your help, but the last time I spoke to Dell Support about this, they said i was on my own and they don't support third party controllers, basically.  At least not for the MD3400, maybe for a basic (non RAID) JBOD enclosure.  I think the key factor here is that both controllers can be configured in hba mode, which shuts off all of the Array management functionality and just looks at what the enclosure presents to the SAS bus.  Since the MD3400 has internal intelligence sitting between the SAS interface and the disks, it presents the configured array to the hba as a single entity, effectively a 100TB disk, which in reality is an internal managed RAID configuration of twelve 10TB drives.  The SAS hba in my ProLiant doesn't manage RAID Striping, standby spares as all it sees is the single spindle 100TB presentation.  I guess I'll find out next week when I plug it in.  

[feigenL]

I see what you mean, also, try to get both the array and the server running on the latest firmware versions, as a best practice.

Good luck and best regards.

[haybaker · Accepted solution]

I found in an HPE Product Information Reference document that the E208ep Controller has a feature called Mixed Mode, wherein it suports RAID logic drives and HBA physical drives simultaneously.  Meaning, it should automatically detect how the drives in the Dell enclosure are configured.  The Dell software presents the drives as a single storage object and not as a bunch of drives to be managed by the RAID controller.  issue resolved.