What RAID controller comes with DL360 G7?

Question

I plan to setup RAID10 using SSD drives.

What RAID controller comes with the HP DL360 G7?

Is it a real Hardware RAID controller?

And it is compatible with CentOS Linux?

Will SSD be ok in RAID10?

Solution 1

The HP ProLiant DL360 G7 will usually leverage an onboard Smart Array P410 RAID controller.

The controller is Linux-compatible and uses a driver that has been in the Linux mainline kernel for over a decade. Depending on your specific OS choice, you will end up using the older CCISS driver or the newer HPSA driver.

As for SSDs, I've used a wide variety with HP Smart Array controllers. The only drives that cause problems are some SATA SSDs whose firmware do not report a valid temperature to the controller and some STEC ZeusIOPS SAS enterprise SSDs that give bogus S.M.A.R.T. errors.

I have a new DL380 G7 going into production running CentOS 6.2 and a Smart Array P410 controller with a RAID 1+0 comprised of OWC Mercury Pro drives (Sandforce controllers).

[root@Mew ~]# hpacucli ctrl all show config

Smart Array P410i in Slot 0 (Embedded)    (sn: 500143801664FE50)
   array B (Solid State SATA, Unused Space: 0 MB)


      logicaldrive 2 (447.1 GB, RAID 1+0, OK)

      physicaldrive 1I:1:3 (port 1I:box 1:bay 3, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
      physicaldrive 1I:1:4 (port 1I:box 1:bay 4, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
      physicaldrive 2I:1:7 (port 2I:box 1:bay 7, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
      physicaldrive 2I:1:8 (port 2I:box 1:bay 8, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)

   SEP (Vendor ID PMCSIERA, Model  SRC 8x6G) 250 (WWID: 500143801664FE5F)

The specific disk detail is below. Some things don't work. These are 6G drives reporting at 3G. The wear-indicator functionality does not work. However, temperature is reported correctly and all other RAID/Smart Array features work properly:

   Array: B
      Interface Type: Solid State SATA
      Unused Space: 0 MB
      Status: OK

     Logical Drive: 2
         Size: 447.1 GB
         Fault Tolerance: RAID 1+0
         Status: OK
         Array Accelerator: Enabled
         Unique Identifier: 600508B1001C7CD812E02A4D76975D0A
         Disk Name: /dev/sdb
         Mount Points: /data 447.1 GB
         Mirror Group 0:
            physicaldrive 1I:1:3 (port 1I:box 1:bay 3, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
            physicaldrive 2I:1:7 (port 2I:box 1:bay 7, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
         Mirror Group 1:
            physicaldrive 1I:1:4 (port 1I:box 1:bay 4, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)
            physicaldrive 2I:1:8 (port 2I:box 1:bay 8, Solid State SATA, 240.0 GB, OK)

      physicaldrive 1I:1:3
         Port: 1I
         Box: 1
         Bay: 3
         Status: OK
         Drive Type: Data Drive
         Interface Type: Solid State SATA
         Size: 240.0 GB
         Firmware Revision: 502ABBF0
         Serial Number: MX6G24012E20K3138   
         Model: ATA     Mercury EXTREME 
         SATA NCQ Capable: True
         SATA NCQ Enabled: True
         Current Temperature (C): 38
         Maximum Temperature (C): 51
         SSD Smart Trip Wearout: Not Supported
         PHY Count: 1
         PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0GBPS

Also see: HP D2700 enclosure and SSDs. Will any SSD work?

Solution 2

All HP business gear has a quickspecs page that covers, briefly, all that it includes.
The HP DL360 G7 QuickSpecs page says this servers has a built in P410i SmartArray controller.
The HP P410 QuickSpecs includes

• "Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 & 5 (x64 & x84)" compatibility spec (from which CentOS is derived),
• "RAID 1, 1+0 (Drive Mirroring)" hardware ("real") RAID you're looking for

Be warned that using non-HP disks (SSDs included) with a HP SmartArray is not supported and may not work (though they typically do), and there may be performance losses (which is common with mismatched equipment).

Solution 3

It depends on the exact model; entry models come with the P410i/zero-memory, base models come with the P410i/256MB, performance models come with the P410i/1GB and CTO models can have anything from P212/zero up to P812/1GB.

It is indeed very real hardware RAID, though you will want to install the full driver set to ensure you can continue to config the controller and its array/s from within the OS and get access to alerting.

It is RHEL (thus Centos) compatible and it's the RHEL driver set you'll want to install.

As for SSDs, R10 is great, I use it extensively BUT I will caveat that by saying that I use HP branded SSDs, non-branded ones aren't supported but there's a lot of evidence to suggest they work fine although some of the more advanced diags and alerting may not function entirely correctly.

Comments

[joeqwerty]

Seriously, John? New to the internet? Google just a very large number? Not to be rude, but a little effort on your part will go along way in garnering some good will here and provoking thoughtful, well considered answers in addition to furthering your IT career. h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13598_na/13598_na.htm‌​l

[JohnT]

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated. Does the SSD have the same performance issues when choosing between SATA and SAS?

[Tmanok]

Despite this information being Google-Able, the information regarding Linux drivers in your post is very time-saving and helpful. TY