One M1015 to 2 Hp expander cards

[Raymond Matos]

Is it possible to connect one M1015 flashed to 2 different hp sas expander cards?

Or should i connect the m1015 to port 8 and 9 of one sas expander and then connect port 1 of one to port 1 of the other using the external cable?

whats the max number of drives?

 

[Sakuru]

I've never used expander cards, but I don't think you wire them together. I think they communicate over the PCIe bus.

 

[Mirfster]

Agreed with @Sakuru but to be certain what "SAS Expander" cards are you talking about? If you provide a Make/Model then that would help.

 

[Ericloewe]

Woah woah woah.

SAS expanders do not use PCI-e for anything. Some expanders allow for power to come from a PCI-e slot, in addition to some other method.

Is it possible to connect one M1015 flashed to 2 different hp sas expander cards?

Yeah, sure.

Or should i connect the m1015 to port 8 and 9 of one sas expander and then connect port 1 of one to port 1 of the other using the external cable?

That would theoretically also work, but some people have had trouble when using eight lanes to connect to a single expander. Daisy-chaining expanders is perfectly legitimate and supported.

 

[Mirfster]

Wow, so this expensive card needs to be connected to a HBA? If that is the case, then forget that... ;)

 

[Ericloewe]

Yeah. I once saw a three (or was it five?) pack of Intel SAS3 expanders (LSI 24-lane SAS3 expander chip, obviously) going for ~180 bucks. From a reputable store, not some Shenzhen backalley ebay seller with two stars!

I still occasionally look back at my life and wonder if I should've bitten the bullet.

 

[Sakuru]

SAS expanders do not use PCI-e for anything. Some expanders allow for power to come from a PCI-e slot, in addition to some other method.

Ah, interesting. Thank you for correcting me :)

 

[Raymond Matos]

Looks like its not possible sort of. the m1015 can only use a max of 24 drives, trying to set this higher in the bios fails. The daisy chain works, but not if you already have 24 on the first sas expander.

 

[Ericloewe]

Then you're doing something horribly wrong. Like trying to use the M1015 without crossflashing it to IT mode.

 

[Raymond Matos]

Its def flashed in IT mode.

Here how i had it connected

M1015 both ports to port 8 and 9 on SAS 1 (HP sas Expanders)

Then port 1 off of SAS1 to port 1 on SAS 2.

I have 20 drives on SAS1 and 20 on SAS 2.

But i see a max of 24

 

[Ericloewe]

What's the output of sas2ircu (whatever the command is that shows you the SAS topology)?

 

[Raymond Matos]

See screenshot attached

 

[Ericloewe]

Isn't there a menu in that BIOS extension ROM that displays all drives?

In any case, are the additional drives missing in FreeNAS or just in the extension ROM setup menu?

 

[Raymond Matos]

Both. I already tried swapping out another sas expander (brought 2) and cables. But in this bios is where the max is set to 24.

 

[Raymond Matos]

Hitting enter on the first card shows all the drives connected to that.

However hitting enter on the 2nd does nothing

 

[Raymond Matos]

Actually i was able to see some of the drives connected to sas2 but only 4 of the 16 or so i have in there.

 

[Raymond Matos]

See the screenshots below

 

[Ericloewe]

Well, that 24 drive indication only applies to BIOS-driven disk accesses, judging by what it says. It really should be working as expected in FreeNAS...

 

[Raymond Matos]

So i should be able to see all the drives connected on sas2 on that screen? What else could be preventing me from seeing those drives?

 

[Ericloewe]

So i should be able to see all the drives connected on sas2 on that screen?

Not necessarily, the BIOS extension ROM has long been buggy and somewhat unreliable.