BUILD Will a Dell MD1000 work with a flashed IBM M1015?

[Notsombody]

I've been reading and researching but can't find a definitive answer. I have a server (2x qc xeon w/ 16gb ram) I want to use for my FreeNAS setup. I also have access to a Dell MD1000 (populated with 10x 146gb 15k rpm sas drives). I know that everybody says do not use a perc, but can I use the MD1000 with the M1015 (IT Flashed)? I know I would have to get some type of adapter to get the internal cables outside of the case, but would it recognize all of the drives in the DAS enclosure? I'm not looking for lots of space, just mostly interested in speed....

 

[Ericloewe]

It will work if the following conditions are met:

• You have a free PCI-e slot that is not reserved for cards with Dell firmware (has happened before)
• The enclosure is a simple JBOD enclosure with an SAS expander

 

[Notsombody]

Thanks for the info. I 't know if the MD1000 has a SAS expander or not... I guess I'll bite the bullet and try it.. Worse comes to worse I should be able to see one or the other....

 

[c32767a]

Thanks for the info. I 't know if the MD1000 has a SAS expander or not... I guess I'll bite the bullet and try it.. Worse comes to worse I should be able to see one or the other....

Depends on which version of the MD1000/MD1200/MD1400 you have.
Some have LSI raid controllers in them and will only present aggregate volumes via iSCSI or SAS to the HBA.
Others are JBODs with SAS expanders inside. It's mostly all LSI electronics underneath, so as long as you find the right enclosure, you should be OK.

I've built some systems with rather high drive counts using MD1200s and R710s and they work fine with FreeNAS.