2nd-in-charge
Explorer
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2017
- Messages
- 94
Hi All,
we've been running FreeNAS on Dell T710 server (setup with great help from this forum) for about two years.
Now we need a second server (for remote office).
There are some populated HB-1235 arrays available locally, we're considering getting one of those and connecting it to a server we're also yet to acquire.
We have already purchased a SAS9201-16e card to connect the external array.
The servers we're considering are Dell R510/R710/R520/R720, HP ProLiant D380 G7/G8 or IBM 3065 M3/M4.
When we installed FreeNAS on Dell T710, the server's storage slot was a nuisance. After we flashed H200 to LSI IT firmware the server wouldn't boot from the card in storage slot. We had to move the card to the back of the case and buy longer SAS cables. Luckily, the motherboard also had a couple of bootable SATA ports, so we installed SSD boot drive into the DVD cage.
This time around we can leave the card that comes with the server (usually Perc700/710, or P410i, or M5110 ) in place. I know it's not recommended for ZFS storage arrays. My question is, can any of these cards be configured to work adequately with FreeNAS boot disks? So that we can use the server storage cage for boot drives.
And if not, which of the abovementioned servers have bootable SATA on the motherboard and convenient place to mount boot SSD? If we can't use the server's front cage to boot we'd probably lean towards a 3.5" front cage which we could use for future storage expansion.
Also, a noob question, do we need two 8088 cables to connect SAS9201 to HB-1235 or just one (assuming that the disk array it has built-in SAS expander)?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
we've been running FreeNAS on Dell T710 server (setup with great help from this forum) for about two years.
Now we need a second server (for remote office).
There are some populated HB-1235 arrays available locally, we're considering getting one of those and connecting it to a server we're also yet to acquire.
We have already purchased a SAS9201-16e card to connect the external array.
The servers we're considering are Dell R510/R710/R520/R720, HP ProLiant D380 G7/G8 or IBM 3065 M3/M4.
When we installed FreeNAS on Dell T710, the server's storage slot was a nuisance. After we flashed H200 to LSI IT firmware the server wouldn't boot from the card in storage slot. We had to move the card to the back of the case and buy longer SAS cables. Luckily, the motherboard also had a couple of bootable SATA ports, so we installed SSD boot drive into the DVD cage.
This time around we can leave the card that comes with the server (usually Perc700/710, or P410i, or M5110 ) in place. I know it's not recommended for ZFS storage arrays. My question is, can any of these cards be configured to work adequately with FreeNAS boot disks? So that we can use the server storage cage for boot drives.
And if not, which of the abovementioned servers have bootable SATA on the motherboard and convenient place to mount boot SSD? If we can't use the server's front cage to boot we'd probably lean towards a 3.5" front cage which we could use for future storage expansion.
Also, a noob question, do we need two 8088 cables to connect SAS9201 to HB-1235 or just one (assuming that the disk array it has built-in SAS expander)?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.