HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen10 - swapping from SFF to LFF

[epiphanyplx]

I'm trying to swap from 1x 8 SFF drive cage to 3x 4 LFF drive cages as well as swapping from HPE Smart Array P408i-a SR Gen10 to HPE Smart Array S100i SR Gen10 (onboard) with drives in AHCI mode.

The goal is to install TrueNAS and it wants the drives passed trough as plainly as possible and I believe the above will accomplish this.

My questions:

- Am I able to use 874566-B21 drive cages with the HPE Smart Array S100i SR Gen10? If so what cables do I need? I cannot find a single picture online of the back of 874566-B21. It seems to me it would use the same cables as the SFF drive cage but cannot confirm.
- If it is it seems that they wouldn't all fit due to the way the cables are bent...is this intentional?

- If I am able to do so what cables do I need to purchase? Is it a SAS cable? Is it a particular type? The only one I can find online is from HP and is almost $300. In that case I will abandon project and sell the server since I believe I would need 3 of those...

Thanks

[support_s]

System recommended content:

1. HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen10 Server - Product Information Reference | Server options

2. HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen10 Server - Product Information Reference | Power supplies

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[epiphanyplx]

Yes, I have reviewed those documents as well as others.

So for this cable:

4 LFF Hot-Plug drive SATA cable spare kit

Embedded SATA cable kit for 4-bay LFF configuration - Includes 4-LFF SAS 12 Gb/s 470 mm long (18.5 in) cable and 250 mm (9.8 in) long cable

879463-001

Why is it 2 cables? Presumably it is so you can reach the top cage as well as a lower cage - in that case would I need to buy 2 of this item instead of 3? And then I would have one extra? What power cables do I need to power the 3 cages? Or are they included?

Are the 4-LFF SAS 12 Gb/s 470 mm long (18.5 in) cable and 250 mm (9.8 in) long cable the same as the cables provided for 8 SFF cage? I know part number is different but why would you engineer 2 different cables? Is it just length?

Lastly, what is the form factor of these cables? Are they HP specific only? Or can I buy a SAS cable from Amazon for $15 instead of spending $250 from HP?

[ngnear]

Hi There,

Thanks for reaching out.

Please let us know how many drives are we installing? Reason - Depending on the amount of drives, we need to check how many cages you'd need. Based on that, we potentially could also be looking at a SAS expander card.

To answer the question in regards to cabling, here is ML350 Gen10 cabling guide. This might help - https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00036357en_us&docLocale=en_US

HPE always recommends using OEM parts as 3rd party devices might void your warranty/support!

[epiphanyplx]

I would like a total of 12 LFF drives.
I need 3 cages.
I don't think I need a sas expander if I am swapping to the onboard raid controller, correct?

I read the cabling guide already, it is referenced in some of my questions.

[ngnear]

Hi there,

Checking the previous comments, I noticed that you are looking to swap the P408i-A SR Gen10 controller for S100i SR Gen10 (Embedded controller).

Do note that S100i supports SATA drives. (https://www.hpe.com/psnow/doc/a00021852enw.pdf?jumpid=in_pdp-psnow-qs (Page 24))
Here is the picture for back of Drive Cage in question -  874566-B21, https://partsurfer.hpe.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=874566-B21.

You would need compatible SATA HDDs, 3 drive cages (For 12 SATA LFF HDDs) and the following cabling kit - https://partsurfer.hpe.com/Search.aspx?SearchText=877578-B21

[epiphanyplx]

Do I only need one of the cabling kits?

[epiphanyplx]

I also don't quite understand the cabling kit when comparing it to the back of the image of the drive cage you linked.
Backplane seems to have the SAS port and then a port for power. My understanding is that power cable comes with 874566-B21.
So what is the second cable that comes with 877578-B21?

Shown here: https://www.servertechsupply.com/877578-b21/

[BunnyPon]

Can you try just leaving all the existing drives in the SFF cage in JBOD mode and see if truenas can see them as the controller should just pass them through.

If that works, you can probably just swap the SFF to 2 LFF and use as is, then the remaining one you can use the onboard controller which I think also has one of those fancy connectors too. 

[epiphanyplx]

Everything I've read says that RAID controller needs to be in IT mode to be used by TrueNAS. Or, ideally, don't use a RAID controller.

(I have actually swapped tracks a bit and am going to use Unraid now as I have a large mix of different sized drives, but the same seems to be true of it.)


It seems like no matter which one I use I would need some new cables. I have ordered some generic ones off of Amazon, figured I could return them if they don't work. If not then I'll see if HP tells me how many of the cable kit I need and try that.

Unfortunately I don't think I can use the SFF cables simple because they have a 90 degree angle that prevents me from being able to use them if utilizing all the ports marked "SATA".

My plan is to sell the RAID controller and SFF cage to help cover cost of LFF cage but we'll see - if the cables don't work and HP says I will need 3 of the cable kits maybe I will try it - they are quite expensive.

[ngnear]

I've checked the cabling diagram and for 3 HDD cage/box in LFF config, you'd need 3 cabling kits.
You may refer https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00036357en_us&docLocale=en_US

[epiphanyplx]

Then why does it come with 2 cables?

Embedded SATA cable kit for 4-bay LFF configuration - Includes 4-LFF SAS 12 Gb/s 470 mm long (18.5 in) cable and 250 mm (9.8 in) long cable

[ngnear]

Checking the cabling guide, given the distance between different cages and the port, the customer can choose which size cable they want to attach to which port.
Hence two different sizes.
Please refer - https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00036357en_us&docLocale=en_US

[epiphanyplx]

Okay - so then like I said previously; I could buy 2 cable kits, receive 4 cables, use 3, have one extra?

[ngnear]

Sure. You will have a spare but the setup should work

[epiphanyplx]

I have everything setup and it seems to be working but when I add a SATA drive it blinks briefly and spins up but isn't recognized in iLO or in OS until after a reboot.
I have disks in AHCI mode. They should support hot plug, yes?

[BunnyPon]

I have a sneaking feeling that the S100 doesn't do hotplug.  As it's a SW RAID thing.

Specifically this: "S-class provides software RAID capabilities for use with Microsoft Windows operating systems." line suggests that it is not an intelligent controller without help.

(https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00026319en_us&docLocale=en_US)

I would be inclined to use your raid card in JBOD mode ^^;

[epiphanyplx]

So that's something I wasn't clear on - if I have drives plugged directly into the ports labeled SATA on mobo but have them set to AHCI in BIOS, doesn't this disable s100i?
If so what controller is responsible for the drives? Not even sure what to be googling

[BunnyPon]

It is way past time to be reading the manual for your toy. 

Best guess, this is windows only fake raid and the documentation suggests that too:

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docLocale=en_US&docId=a00026319en_us 

If you had a raid card for your SFF drives, use that for the LFF drives. 

Now, there MAY be a bios setting in the system to enable hot-plug for onboard. But the closest hardware I have that's not in production is a DL20 which I made the mistake of upgrading to ILO 3.xx (insert usual rant about redfish being crap and in complete disagreement with SNMP from the same device here)

I only see options for turning on "Smart Array SW RAID Support" (requires UEFI) If you aren't using windows, I strongly suspect you will not be getting any hot-plug joy from the onboard controller.

[epiphanyplx]

Yes, I have read through the manual but couldn't find a definitive answer. So even if I have it set to AHCI mode - as opposed to Smart Array SW RAID Support - it is using the S100i? I wasn't sure if it was using something more rudimentary at that point. But since SATA itself supports hot plug and the drive lights up when I plugged it in I thought there was a chance.

I don't want to use the RAID card I was using with my SFF drives because it maxes at 8 so I'd have to get an expander - also haven't looked into it if can be run as HBA/flashed into IT mode which is what unraid wants.

All good, it'll work without hotplug, just wanted to make sure that this was intended.

[epiphanyplx]

For anyone from the future: since I had a hard time determining if I could use generic SAS cables for this - you can.
Just get it with 8087 on both ends and you're good to go. Try to get it as short as possible because if you have 3 drive cages and the extra fans, the space is a little tight.