HP ProLiant ML350 Gen9 and SSD Samsung EVO 870 best configuration

[Tec_Info_Junior]

I hope I'm posting this in the right category, but if not, please forgive me.

Hi.

I need your advice on the following situation:
- My company has two HPE ProLiant ML350 Gen9 servers (1 x Xeon E5-2690 V4, 32GB RAM) that I'm just starting to set up.
- In both I'll install Windows Server 2022 Standard.
- One will have a Domain with an active directory that will support no more than 16 workstations and will also have shared folders for these workstations to access.
- The other server will have a suite type client-server accounting system.
- The workload on both will be irregular since not all users will be working at the same time at all times.
- The SATA SSDs I have for these servers are Samsung 870 EVO 500GB, which I will mount in the front trays of the chassis. Note: We don't have the financial means to purchase the HP ones.
- My intention is to install two Samsung 500GB drives in RAID 1 on both servers using the integrated B140i controller. Note: Can´t obtain a external RAID Controller (Ex.: P440ar) for the same financial situation.

QUESTIONS:

1.- In which of the following scenarios will I get the lowest noise impact from the fans?:

• Using two SSDs in RAID 1, as I mentioned before?
• Using a single SSD in AHCI mode?

I'm asking this because I get the impression that the fans behave differently depending on whether it's RAID or AHCI.

I really prefer RAID 1 for its benefits, but I also don't want a couple of jet engines in my server room randomly making such noise, since I'll have to be working within it frequently.

So, in case your recommendation were RAID 1, I ask you the following so:
2.- Is there a "way" to silence the fan noise so I can use RAID mode?

3.- How should I configure these values when creating RAID 1 in the B140i configuration, based on what I've outlined here?:

• Strip Size / Full Stripe Size (8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256 KB)
• Sector/Track (32, 63)
• Size (Max, Custom)
• Caching (Enable, Disable)

Please, I need your most honest recommendation, even If it has to be in AHCI.

Thank you for allowing me to post this topic here, as I need to clear up these doubts before getting started.

Thank you. Best regards.

PS: Pardon my bad english, i used google translator.

 

[Rdel70]

Hi

P440Ar is cheap 2nd hand, about 30 eur !
this is old tech and you can find complete G9 proliants with the P440Ar included in the 100-200 eur range !

anyway, for the SSD, if you care about your datas, don 't use EVO samsung in proliant in RAID, they won't last, these SSD are designed for home use with low writes per day .

If you want SSDs, at least take the PRO variant of the samsungs, and even there, be carefull, they can't sustain intensive write either
look at the "DWPD" rating of the SSD, consumer grade ones are below 1 , meaning they can only sustain writing LESS than their own capacity per day.

 

[Tec_Info_Junior]

Thank you so much for taking the time to write.
I’m asking these questions based on the fact that (although they may seem “out of place”) I prefer to dispel any doubts.
Well, I understand all your arguments and agree with almost all of them, but keep in mind that I’m in the process of improving the network and server infrastructure of this small business, which doesn’t have a large budget, and what I have is what it is so is what I can use.
But, to give you a better and more complete idea, what I’m upgrading with this, is a single ProLiant ML150 Gen9 server with an Intel Xeon E5-2609 v4 CPU, with only 8GB of RAM, a 250GB Hyper X SSD, and a 2TB HGST HDD, doing by itself all the job of Domain, Active Directory, Shared Folders, and the Client-server Accounting system, running Windows Server 2012 (which I have to change due compatibility lack with the account software). Therefore, for our very specific scenario, I humbly believe that what I’m planning to do (and am already doing) will result in a substantial change. Don’t you think?
I´ll forget about the noise "issue". So, in my scenario described at the beginning of the post, and adding that I’ll have a third server (the ML150 with 8Tb Iron Wolf Pro Disks) making daily backups of the other 2 servers data, as well as an external USB drive. All 3 servers are covered by UPSs: Which do you recommend for me: RAID1 or AHCI? Thanks again for everything.

 

[Rdel70]

RAID 1 is must have, you can't rely on a single SSD for a server !
between using the B140i RAID or the operating system Raid (AHCI) , it's up to you
both are software raid, the B140i offers poor performance but is reliable and supported natively by many O/S

if you manage to find a cheap P440, then go for RAID1 via the adapter

 

[Tec_Info_Junior]

Well, this will be my chosen configuration:

• 2 x 500 GB SSDs RAID 1 via B140i with Physical Drive Write Cache State = Enabled
• Powerful UPS
• Daily data backup to another server

Although we had a considerable expense on this investment, I will focus on a P440ar for the near future.

Thanks