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Trying to create a new Raid 10 VD using 4 x Netapp Savvio 10K 600G SAS drives (2.5) fails. After creation the vd/drives enter into failed state (immediately), and I am unable to initialize the VD. I've tried clearing the config many times, didn't work. Tried creating Raid 1 instead, didn't work. Everything I've tried results in the drives going into failed state.

My questions are:

  1. Are the drives at fault? Can it be they are not compatible with the T610/H700 controller? They are Netapp drives, with fw NA00. I personally doubt it very much, I would expect all SAS drives to work in any server regardless of manufacturer or controller.
  2. Should I update the drives' firmware?
  3. Could the H700 controller be at fault?

Thanks.

Michael Mussulis
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1 Answers1

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It's most likely the drives. NetApp drives were typically formatted with 520 byte sectors, whereas most systems expect drives with 512 byte sectors. It is possible to reformat the drives, but you will need a (non-RAID) SAS HBA to plug them in to.

Michael Hampton
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  • Very interesting, this is a new one on me. Thank you so much for the quick reply. So you reckon it's the sector size rather than the drives being completely defective? I personally doubt they are ALL defective, but still, worth asking. – Michael Mussulis Aug 29 '21 at 17:28
  • @MichaelMussulis It's very unlikely that they are all defective. But again you'll need a SAS HBA (not RAID) to do any further testing on them. Fortunately those are cheap and easy; go pick up some LSI card on eBay and flash it into IT mode. – Michael Hampton Aug 29 '21 at 18:01
  • Ok, I assume you mean something like this: "LSI 9207-8e external SATA / SAS HBA Controller IT-Mode P20 PCIe x8 TrueNAS ZFS" (found on ebay). Pardon my ignorance, but I really have not worked with Non-Raid HBAs so I am slightly in the dark. What does flashing it in IT mode mean? Is it absolutely required? And I found some cheap card on ebay, like a "Dell 012DNW UCS-70 SAS 6Gbps HBA Dual Port PCI-e Host Bus Adapter" that comes with two external mini-SAS connectors. I assume I would need to connect the drives using a "Mini SAS 36P SFF-8087 to (4) SFF-8482 Connectors with 4P Power", right? – Michael Mussulis Aug 29 '21 at 22:28
  • @MichaelMussulis Yes, either of those ought to work. IT mode simply means that it does not do RAID but exposes each drive separately to the OS. Google can tell you more about it. – Michael Hampton Aug 29 '21 at 22:56
  • Actually, is an non-raid SAS HBA the only way? Can I not connect directly via a converted like this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153413388730 (USB 3.0 to SATA III HDD SSD 2.5" Hard Drive Adapter Cable 22-Pin Data Power UASP)? – Michael Mussulis Aug 31 '21 at 10:41
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    @MichaelMussulis A SATA controller can't talk to SAS drives. UASP means using SCSI block commands *on the USB side*, so it doesn't change a thing. You could use a USB-to-*SAS* adapter if you can source one, but PCIe HBAs are much easier to find. – Zac67 Aug 31 '21 at 16:08