Adding 2rd enclosure to MSA1000

[squirrel_2]

Hi,

I have an MSA1000 (upgraded from MSA500) with one dual-bus 4354R enclosure connected to both MSA1000 SCSI ports.
Now I got a second 4354R dual-bus enclosure, which I want to add to the MSA1000, but I can't find a description how to do that.
The "HP StorageWorks
1000 Modular Smart Array
installation and configuration
overview" does not cover that cabling in detail.

My fear is that I might need two single bus SCSI modules for the 4354R enclosures to connect the both simultaneously and make use of all 14 SCSI drives.

Is that correct?
Any additional things I must know?
If I need to get single bus SCSI I/O modules, could I get U320 modules and a new dual bus module for the MSA1000?

[Víctor Cespón]

The MSA1000 has only 2 external SCSI ports, you're using it now for the dual-bus 4354R. You cannot add a second enclosure.
You need single-bus enclosures.

[Uwe Zessin]

You need to replace the dual-bus I/O modules in the M4354R by single-bus ones, but you don't need to replace hardware in the MSA1000.

If you get U320 I/O modules for the M4354R, you might have to swap the EMU in it, too. But you still don't need to replace anything in the MSA1000 - it can't do U320 anyway.

[squirrel_2]

> But you still don't need to replace anything in the MSA1000 - it can't do U320
> anyway.

Not quite - that's why I mentioned that my MSA1000 has been upgraded from MSA500 by changing the controller and adding an FC switch. The MSA500 had U160 SCSI, so my MSA1000 still has it as well.

Another thing I just recognized:

What is the second I/O slot in the 4354R for?
Is there documentation for it?

[Uwe Zessin]

> Not quite -

Yes ;-)

Even a new MSA1000 cannot do U320 - the limitation is in the MSA1000 controller module.

I've never seen the 2nd I/O slot being mentioned in any documentation.

My guess is that the enclosure's frame has been designed with the EVA disk drive enclosures in mind, which does have two I/O modules.

[Uwe Zessin]

> Even a new MSA1000 cannot do U320

I forgot to mention that the MSA1500cs can't do U320 either, because - guess what! - it uses the MSA1000 controller module, too.

[squirrel_2]

Oops, sorry.
I didn't read your first reply properly.

These are good and bad news. Good because I don't have to buy a dual bus module. ;-)

Is there any official documentation for this?
Because the official websites for the MSA500 always mention U320 ("End-to-end Ultra320 SCSI technology"):

http://h18006.www1.hp.com/storage/disk_storage/msa_diskarrays/san_arrays/msa500g2/index.html

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11956_div/11956_div.html

[Uwe Zessin]

But the MSA500 G2 does have a different controller.


http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12624_div/12624_div.HTML
...
Technical Specifications
...
Modular SAN Array 1000 Controller
...
Protocol Support Wide Ultra3 SCSI
SCSI Ports 4-channel: 2 external/2 Internal
...
Disk Drive and Enclosure Protocol Support HP Ultra 320, Ultra3, and Ultra2 SCSI 1-inch Universal drives

[but an U320 drive will negotiate down to U160/Ultra3]

[squirrel_2]

I'm not concerned about the drives, but more about U160 being the bottleneck with 42 drives.