PERC H310 - Is this already in IT mode?

[via]

My PERC H310 has just arrived so building my FreeNAS with that and 6 x 3TB SAS drives.

Expected to need to flash into IT mode but it is showing this after first turn on (6 non-raid handled by BIOS), is this in IT mode already? Or is it just in non-raid by default and I would get more benefits by putting into IT mode?

 

[jgreco]

It's not a matter of "benefits." It's a matter of working correctly. ZFS expects to be able to talk with your HDD's directly, and ideally without controllers that have quirks or driver bugs or other stuff. When there are quirks or bugs, you can get data corruption, loss, etc.

Most LSI controllers come with the normal RAID-capable firmware, so it would be very unusual to receive a controller that was in IT mode with 20.00.07.00 firmware, which is what you need for problem-free FreeNAS operation. Both the LSI IT mode and the specific firmware version are very important. Well it's actually fine to have LSI IR firmware if it happens to be 20.00.07.00, but it will be a bit slower. The PERC H310 comes with a customized Dell firmware so you are probably going to need to crossflash.

See other recent discussions on how to validate your H310.

https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/confirming-a-crossflashed-h310-is-in-it-mode.74629/

etc

 

[Mr. Slumber]

is this in IT mode already?

From my point of view: no!

Or is it just in non-raid

Correct! You can get it to work with FreeNAS if the card is setup this way but you'll run into problems. Please take a look here.

 

[via]

Ok thanks, well I expected to have to flash it, just wanted to query first. All flashed into IT mode now and up and running. Was an absolute nightmare with UEFI and card not being detected so ended up dragging out an old Xeon board flashed it on that and back into normal system now, just got to get everything configured and ready to roll.

 

[jgreco]

Was an absolute nightmare with UEFI and card not being detected so ended up dragging out an old Xeon board flashed it on that and back into normal system now, just got to get everything configured and ready to roll.

Don't feel bad. That's a common experience, even for those of us who do this professionally.

 

[Mr. Slumber]

everything configured and ready to roll

Perfect, good luck and have fun with FreeNAS, it's really great! :)