What's all the noise about HBA's, and why can't I use a RAID controller?

[jgreco]

I want to install Freenas on this server HP ML 110 G7. I want to buy 2 WD Red 2 TB. What RAID controller to buy?

Seriously?

 

[Miroman]

Which HBA card do you recommend for this server?

 

[Miroman]

I just recently crossflashed an IBM M1015 to LSI9211-8i IT mode .. took a little Google-Fu to find the right files that finally worked, but working great now.

How did you do flashing the card under DOS or Win?

Flashing an LSI 9211-8i RAID Card to IT Mode for ZFS/Software RAID (Tutorial)

Flashing an LSI 9211-8i to IT Mode(might also be useful for flashing other LSI RAID cards) (newbie edition) "It can't be that difficult.", I thought to myself before starting this adventure. "Tons of people have done it, there are quite a few tutorials on it, this should be feasible." Yeah, right...

linustechtips.com

 

[Yorick]

Buy the LSI SAS 9300-8i RAID controller, with IT mode firmware. It’s a very special kind of controller called an “HBA” that leaves all the RAID functionality to ZFS and works perfect for it. In fact technical people might say it’s not a RAID controller at all: But who cares, it does exactly what you need for ZFS!

 

[Miroman]

You can suggest something cheaper than than LSI SAS 9300-8i RAID IT mode ZFS FreeNAS?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Given that you only want to use a pair of SATA drives in an ML110 G7 I would suggest the built-in ports on your motherboard, and set their behavior in BIOS to AHCI (not IDE or RAID)

Inexpensive HBA options would be anything based on SAS2008 such as the Dell PERC H200 or IBM M1015.

 

[Miroman]

What do you think about LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode for ZFS FreeNAS unRAID Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA New?

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

@HoneyBadger I wanted to ask the same, but didn't have the time to check that HP system. @Miroman Just use the on-board ports and disable RAID.

 

[Miroman]

@HoneyBadger I wanted to ask the same, but didn't have the time to check that HP system. @Miroman Just use the on-board ports and disable RAID.

I want to buy something cheaper than LSI SAS 9300-8i RAID IT mode ZFS FreeNAS... Dell PERC H200 or IBM M101 aren't much cheaper.

 

[jgreco]

The H200's and H310's go for about $25 on eBay. I can't imagine anything much cheaper.

 

[ThreeDee]

What do you think about LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode for ZFS FreeNAS unRAID Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA New?

I use the LSI 9211-8i and it's been working great .. I run a few sata's and 1 sas off of it.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I want to buy something cheaper than LSI SAS 9300-8i RAID IT mode ZFS FreeNAS... Dell PERC H200 or IBM M101 aren't much cheaper.

Why don't you use the SATA ports already in the server?

 

[Miroman]

Why don't you use the SATA ports already in the server?

I intend to buy more disks SATA for this server in the future. Two disks SATA are not enough.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I intend to buy more disks SATA for this server in the future. Two disks SATA are not enough.

The ML110 G7 only has four internal bays, unless you plan to use a cradle or adaptor tray to add more in the 5.25" bays. Be careful of your cooling requirements as well if you go this route.

You can mix and match your controllers as well - using the onboard controller at first, and then adding in an H200/H310 or similar card later. As indicated a working-pull from a used server refurbishing company will only run you USD$25 or so at most.

 

[Miroman]

The ML110 G7 only has four internal bays, unless you plan to use a cradle or adaptor tray to add more in the 5.25" bays. Be careful of your cooling requirements as well if you go this route.

You can mix and match your controllers as well - using the onboard controller at first, and then adding in an H200/H310 or similar card later. As indicated a working-pull from a used server refurbishing company will only run you USD$25 or so at most.

Will Freenas see the data on disks connected to the H200 / H310 controller if previously these disks were connected directly to the server's motherboard via SATA ports? I wonder if the BIOS of this server's motherboard will allow you to directly connect SATA 2TB disks? Theoretically, this server supports SATA / SAS drives up to 4 TB each according to the specifications. According to the specification, the server can handle drives with a total capacity of 16TB.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Will Freenas see the data on disks connected to the H200 / H310 controller if previously these disks were connected directly to the server's motherboard via SATA ports? I wonder if the BIOS of this server's motherboard will allow you to directly connect SATA 2TB disks?

"Yes" to both questions. The advantage to an HBA is that it is about as "dumb" as a controller can get - it very much will act like "more SATA ports" to your system and drives. And your ML110 G7 is definitely new enough to support drives >2TB in size.

 

[zbyte]

anyone can recommend and HBA to run TrueNAS on a VM over ESXi?

 

[jgreco]

anyone can recommend and HBA to run TrueNAS on a VM over ESXi?

Assuming your hardware is capable of safely handling PCIe passthru, check out the first post in this thread for HBA's known to work with FreeNAS.

 

[zbyte]

Thank you, I did before and I get, the reason I am asking is ESXi, I don't know how ESXi will handle the LSI 9207-8i for example.
Currently my onboard SATA ports which I was intending to use in passthru ESXi simply won't allow it hence I need an external HBA, just afraid ESXi will give me trouble with one of the LSI's

 

[jgreco]

It might, but all you're saying is "ESXi", which is a complex software ecosystem with four major versions, 4, 5, 6, and 7, all of which have interesting caveats and issues, which, combined with the unmentioned mainboard you propose to use it with, leaves a large potential problem matrix with no answer that is correct in all cases. Problems were so endemic years ago that I wrote the "Please don't virtualize FreeNAS" sticky, which is still best practice if you want to retire with some amount of hair left. I can guarantee you that ESXi works absolutely fine with the LSI 9207-8i, and I can simultaneously guarantee you that it can't be made to work. The devil is in the details.