question about an old msa1000

[spoon404]

we have an old msa1000 that's performed wonderful during it's life. it finally ran out of space and we're looking to add an expansion. we purchased a solution from our vendor that included an msa30 and a u320 i/o module.

i understand to use the u320 module we have to upgrade our firmware on the msa1000. what has me perplexed is the presence of a second module in the box that i can only guess is an emu. since our current msa1000 has a ultra3 controller with integrated emu, where do i plug in this separate emu? i can't find it in the documentation. also, since this msa30 is dual bus, do i need two scsi cables from the msa1000 to the msa30? tia.

[Víctor Cespón]

It's always a good idea to update the firmware before adding new hardware. Currently you can choose between 5.xx (Active/passive) or 7.xx (Active/Active)
If the MSA30 is dual-bus, you need to connect 3 SCSI cables from the back of the MSA1000 to the MSA30, 7 disks will appear on bus 3 and 7 on bus 4.

[Víctor Cespón]

It's always a good idea to update the firmware before adding new hardware. Currently you can choose between 5.xx (Active/passive) or 7.xx (Active/Active)
If the MSA30 is dual-bus, you need to connect 2 SCSI cables from the back of the MSA1000 to the MSA30, 7 disks will appear on bus 3 and 7 on bus 4.

[spoon404]

what about the u320 and emu cards?

[Uwe Zessin · Accepted solution]

There is no U320 upgrade for the MSA1000. As you correctly said, the MSA1000 controller module can do Ultra3 maximum, so a replacement does not make sense - do not replace the integrated IO-module/EMU with anything else, even if it fits mechanically.

The U320 I/O module is to upgrade older M4200 (=Ultra2) or M4300 (=Ultra3) disk drive enclosures - I don't remember the details, but sometimes it is necessary to swap the EMU as well. The MSA30 was U320-capable from day 1 - it's original name was M4400.

Do not use the RJ-45 jack on the EMU. Maybe it is still labelled "LCD only". It was only used when the enclosure was mounted in a floorstand frame. The sale was stopped with the end-of-life of the M4200 enclosures.

[spoon404]

so, to be clear, leave the u320 upgrade kit out of the picture, use the msa30 as it was shipped to me, and just hook up the scsi cables from the ultra3 ports on the msa1000 to the msa30?

[spoon404]

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/drives-enclosures/upgrade-kit/questionsanswers.html#4

shows the msa1000 as supported. still, field experience > sales literature.

[Uwe Zessin]

> shows the msa1000 as supported.

It does not mean that you can stick it in the MSA1000 - it shows which SCSI adapters / RAID controllers are supported with an M4200/M4300 that was converted to U320 with the upgrade kit.

[spoon404]

awsome info. thanks.

[spoon404]

got the excat answer i needed.