DL380 G3 -> Which MSA?

[actechag]

Hello,

our DL380 G3 is running out of harddiskspace and we're in need of more capacity. Which MSA are we able to connect to the inbuild controller. I guess it's a 5i.

My preferred MSA would be a MSA 20 because we like to use SATA-HDDs. If there's no current model available for a new buy we would also take a used one. The problem is simly I don't know which would work with the server.

Thanks for your help,
Markus

[Greybeard]

Bad news I'm afraid. The MSA 20 is not supported by the 5i (Ultra 3 not 320), see extract from the MSA manual below. If you want to use SATA you will need to get another controller, Gen 6 card would do it. Otherwise an older SCSI shelf. Still may be cheaper to get a controller and SATA though.

The HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 20 (MSA20) is an Ultra320 host
connect disk drive enclosure that uses Serial ATA (SATA) drives. The MSA20
delivers a low-cost, high-capacity solution that is suitable for minimum I/O workload
situations such as storing reference data, archiving files, and performing disk-to-disk
backups.
You can connect the MSA20 to the external port of any sixth-generation Smart Array
controller or to an MSA1500 controller shelf (MSA1500 cs). These external
controllers enable you to configure the SATA drives in the MSA20 with RAID levels
of 0, 1+0, 5, or ADG.
The MSA20 also has an internal controller module with a battery-backed write cache.
The cache allows data to be transferred rapidly to the SATA drives, and the batterybacked
feature protects data held in the cache for up to four days if power to the
enclosure is interrupted.

[actechag]

Hi Larry and thanks for your quick response,

as a conclusion of my searches and your answer I would buy the following components:

HP StorageWorks Modular Smart Array 20
http://www.it-shop.t-systems.de/tsystems/tsi_b2b/HP/HP-StorageWorks-Modular-Smart-Array-20.html?_n_=catalog&_t_=factsheet1&articleid=260239

HP Smart Array Controller (Ultra320) 6404/256
http://www.it-shop.t-systems.de/tsystems/tsi_b2b/HP/Smart-Array-6404-U320-SCSI-256MB.html?_n_=catalog&_t_=factsheet1&articleid=113215

I would be very lucky if you could give me a short verification that the controller
works in our DL380 G3 server. Which SATA-Harddisks would you prefer?

Many thanks again,
Markus