DL380 Gen9 4LFF to 12LFF

[kira12]

Hello all, the Quickspecs from DL380 Gen9 4LFF say the Server is not Field Upgradable to 12LFF. Whats the reason for this? I only need a 12LFF Backplane, some cables and Controller for 12LFF? best regards ré

[SanjeevGoyal]

Hello,

I hope all is well.

Please follow the  below HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 Server -Quick Specs  

HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 Server - QuickSpecs ( Follow Page no-7)

 https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getpdf.aspx/c04346247.pdf

HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 Server - Spare Parts

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04438854

HPE ProLiant DL380 Gen9 Server - Identifying Components

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04442463

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=emr_na-c04438844

If you feel this was helpful please click the KUDOS! thumb below!   

Regards,

[mkaicher]

Hello,

I am also searching for an answer to this question. The documentation says, "The 4LFF chassis cannot be upgraded to 12LFF in the field". Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly defines "field upgradability"? As the OP pointed out, this upgrade seems to only require the 12-LFF backplane, cables, and controller. The links you posted do not provide any additional  information about this upgrade.

Assuming I have a compatible SAS controller, is this upgrade possible?

Thanks

[kira12]

Hi,

i had upgrade some of the 4LFF Server to 12LFF Backplane and Cables. You need a Controller - i use LSI SAS Controller for ZFS - with 3 Ports. this Backplane did not have an Expander, the Gen8 Backplane has a Expander and need only 2x Ports.

If you need some more Information i can give you.

best regards René

[xeomueller]

Hi René,

i have exact the same problem and i am surprised of the official statment of the HPE Support Document. So i am also interested in a ZFS TrueNas Configuration with 12 LFF Discs.

So could you share your informationen (private or public) to use more than 4 LFFs?

Greetings

Alex

[kira12]

Hello Xeomüller,

i send you a PN.

best regards ré

[mkaicher]

I recently upgraded my DL380 Gen9 from the 4LFF to the 12 LFF backplane. As pointed out by another user, the backplane has 3 ports. Initially, I used 2 ports availble from my LSI SAS controller and 1 port from the b140i on my DL380 (which I believe only supports SATA drives). I ultimately added a second LSI SAS controller in order to use SAS drives across all 12 bays. I use Proxmox with ZFS on my machine but I'm sure TrueNAS would work as long as your SAS controller has TrueNAS/FreeBSD driver support. Hope this helps.

[snakyballs]

Hello,
I saw on one of your post, that you had spent a proliant 4LFF in 12LFF.
I just bought one myself and I would like to put 12 HDD in it. I would need advice on the necessary parts.
for example is a gen 8 backplane possible? because it is less expensive than Gen9

regard

[kira12]

Hi,

you only can use the Gen9 12LFF Backplane, all Gen8 Parts are not working. They did not fit mechanicaly and also has different Power Connectors.

best regards ré

[hepri]

Hi,

How to upgrade Backplane 4LFF to 12LFF HDD 3.5 inch, HP Proliant DL380 Gen9 server if only 1 power connector cable ?

[vimak]

hello

I have upgraded my DL380 gen9 from 4LFF to 8LFF

if you have good manual skills you can do it, see my post

https://community.hpe.com/t5/proliant-servers-ml-dl-sl/is-it-possible-to-expand-arrays/td-p/7177449#.Y702TRXMJaQ

[kira12]

Hi,

thats not working, you need 2 Powercables. The Mainboard has 2 Connectors in the Frontarea, very close to the Diskplane between the Fans. The Partsnumber are equal.

greatings ré

[vimak]

I used two four-seater backplanes, one I connected to the rear cable

the other connected to the two front connectors for the +12v and the negatives,

but I don't have +5v in these connectors, I took the +5v from the rear connector .

I had to make some modifications with the cables and connectors, but it works.

[Zaraguato82]

Hi, I know this post is a few years old but I was wondering if you could help me with the part number for the LSI SAS Controller for ZFS to upgrade from a 4lff backplane to a 12lff. Thank you very much.

[mkaicher]

If you already have the gen9 12LFF backplane and correct power cables, it doesn't really matter which SAS controller(s) you use. That said, as another user pointed out, the gen9 backplane, unlike the gen8, doesn't have a built-in expander and requires 3 SFF-8087 ports to connect all 12 drive bays (4 drives per port).

You could use two SAS controllers each with two ports, like I did. Some options would include the 9207-8i or 9211-8i. The more expensive 9300-8i would allow you to run 12Gbps SAS drives, instead of 6Gbps SATA or SAS drives.

Alternatively, you could use one SAS controller that has 4 ports, like the 9305-16i or 9400-16i. However, these controllers have SFF-8643 connectors so you would need to get some SFF-8643 to SFF-8087 cables.

As long as they are actual HBA (host bus adapter) cards, not hardware RAID cards, you will be able to run ZFS just fine.

[kira12]

Hello,

all HPE Controller are not providing raw disks, you need raw Disks for ZFS. The best Solution are a LSI SAS HBA. They are availabe with IR and IT Firmware, the IT is the right for ZFS. The older PCI-E 2 are cheaper and has 6G, the newer PCI-E 3 has 12G but are more expensive.

best regards ré