SubnetMask
Contributor
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2017
- Messages
- 129
I'm looking to build a FreeNAS unit, primarily, at this point, as an iSCSI B2D target.
Originally, I was going to use a retired Barracuda Backup 490 that I acquired for this task, but the two main problems I encountered were the amount of RAM it would support (8GB - although that MIGHT have been just fine for what I'm doing) and the questionable ECC support (It sounds like all AMD processors support ECC memory - but none of the Registered ECC RAM I had on hand worked - so UNREGISTERED might have worked... but it might not have). I had used it for a temporary VMWare Datastore using an older FreeNAS release and UFS instead of ZFS, and it worked surprisingly well for this with only 4GB - I was actually quite surprised. I was also REALLY surprised that VMWare reported it as supporting hardware acceleration. The only issue was when it lost power unexpectedly and during the resync (Took the better part of a work day for the 1TB drives), the VMs were DRAGGING.
So when I went to get some ECC RAM that I though might work (Unregistered ECC), my contact mis-interpreted me, and apparently I had gotten the last of his Unregistered ECC RAM for something else. So I ended up coming home with a 1U SuperMicro system. Very similar to the Barracuda Backup (The Barracuda is essentially a SuperMicro system - the HDD Caddies from the Barracuda slid perfectly into the SuperMicro). The system has 24GB Registered ECC RAM, Dual Xeon E5520's and four HDD bays. Overall, I'd be surprised if anyone said this system doesn't exceed the FreeNAS minimum specs, and thus would run FreeNAS really well.
The problem? The SAS controller. It's an AOC-USAS-S8iR. It doesn't pass the unconfigured disks through for use, and I had a heck of a time even finding a reference to it on SuperMicro's website - and when I finally did, it's EOL, and appears to be totally gone from their FTP site - so it seems you can't even get drivers or firmware for it any more. Not even their last release (who does that?? Just about every manufacturer I've dealt with has still had their last releases for EOL hardware available for download - obviously, there won't be any new releases). So far, my searches for an IT mode firmware for it have come up blank (but my Google-Fu could be weak). Has anyone here had any experience with this card? I searched the forum for its model, but go no hits. The ideal solution would be find IT mode firmware to flash to it and off I go... but barring that, I might have to buy some other HBA (Ideally some UIO card)... but I'd rather use what I've got if there's a way to flash different firmware to it.
Does anyone have any thoughts?
Originally, I was going to use a retired Barracuda Backup 490 that I acquired for this task, but the two main problems I encountered were the amount of RAM it would support (8GB - although that MIGHT have been just fine for what I'm doing) and the questionable ECC support (It sounds like all AMD processors support ECC memory - but none of the Registered ECC RAM I had on hand worked - so UNREGISTERED might have worked... but it might not have). I had used it for a temporary VMWare Datastore using an older FreeNAS release and UFS instead of ZFS, and it worked surprisingly well for this with only 4GB - I was actually quite surprised. I was also REALLY surprised that VMWare reported it as supporting hardware acceleration. The only issue was when it lost power unexpectedly and during the resync (Took the better part of a work day for the 1TB drives), the VMs were DRAGGING.
So when I went to get some ECC RAM that I though might work (Unregistered ECC), my contact mis-interpreted me, and apparently I had gotten the last of his Unregistered ECC RAM for something else. So I ended up coming home with a 1U SuperMicro system. Very similar to the Barracuda Backup (The Barracuda is essentially a SuperMicro system - the HDD Caddies from the Barracuda slid perfectly into the SuperMicro). The system has 24GB Registered ECC RAM, Dual Xeon E5520's and four HDD bays. Overall, I'd be surprised if anyone said this system doesn't exceed the FreeNAS minimum specs, and thus would run FreeNAS really well.
The problem? The SAS controller. It's an AOC-USAS-S8iR. It doesn't pass the unconfigured disks through for use, and I had a heck of a time even finding a reference to it on SuperMicro's website - and when I finally did, it's EOL, and appears to be totally gone from their FTP site - so it seems you can't even get drivers or firmware for it any more. Not even their last release (who does that?? Just about every manufacturer I've dealt with has still had their last releases for EOL hardware available for download - obviously, there won't be any new releases). So far, my searches for an IT mode firmware for it have come up blank (but my Google-Fu could be weak). Has anyone here had any experience with this card? I searched the forum for its model, but go no hits. The ideal solution would be find IT mode firmware to flash to it and off I go... but barring that, I might have to buy some other HBA (Ideally some UIO card)... but I'd rather use what I've got if there's a way to flash different firmware to it.
Does anyone have any thoughts?