Intel S2600CP w/ Intel P4000 Case

[Son of Homer]

@marcoi Thanks for all your help. I am glad you saved me from the misery of getting the air duct and the wrong RMM module. I will do the bios update later when I have some time, with the roar of the case fans going, and side panel closed. Intel has not made the RMM numbering easy. I thought that you had found that the AXXRMM4R did work in the chassis, but now I know it is AXXRMM4, that at least makes me more confident that it will likely work for my setup. As I go back into spending mode, I now have the right target product for that, and just reread this thread for info on raid cards, and am looking at RMS25KB080. Is there any downside to the BO stepping when used with the Intel S2600CP? Can I will also consider a UPS later, as I am already way over budget. The attachment of wheels is a great idea. I really appreciate your time helping me out, on the last day of holidays.

@nthu Thank you also for taking time to keep an eye on this thread on the last holiday and to identify another mine field of not having the side panel closed.

All the best for the new year!

 

[nthu9280]

RMS25KB080 (and mezzanince version RMS25JB080) can be crossflashed to LSI9207-8i / LSI9205-8e I think. KalleyOmalley used to accept ~$40+shipping. If I recall B0 stepping limits to PCIe gen2 speeds vs D1 stepping cards can run at gen3 speeds. Also keep in mind these cards are locked to Inteal Boards and will not work in any other system.
If you want to keeps the flexibility, you may want to look at Dell H310 or other SAS2008 variants. I understand the RMS25KB/JB cards are SAS2308.

 

[Son of Homer]

What is the benefit of cross flashing to LSI9207-8i / LSI9205-8e? The D1 stepping would be nice, but I can live with the PCIe gen 2 speeds. I am not overly concerned about being locked into Intel Boards at this price point, but the flexibility would be nice if the price is similar, and no risk of incompatibility.

 

[Son of Homer]

I am still trying to figure out which raid card to buy. Having done a little research, marcoi has the best of the Intel cards, with PCIe x8 Gen 3, 1GB DDR3 RAM and capacitor instead of battery backup. Unfortunately that is out of my league in price. There is another card RMS25PB080 that also has 1GB DDR2 RAM, PCIe Gen 2, but battery backup, and it looks like replacement batteries are over $100, and using a replacement capacitor over $150. I wonder if for an Intel solution if I am better to stick with the cheaper RMS25KB080? As nthu suggested, the Dell H 310 is interesting with PCIe Gen 3. Is there a risk of incompatibility going with a card from another manufacturer? I notice that Intel does not even show their own card RMS25JB080 as compatible.

 

[marcoi]

I want to say i got the card and raid key for around 300 dollars. if you find another card on ebay from kalleyomalley you can try offering them 200 for the card see if they bite. If that is still too much then some of the members on here have raid cards for sale from time to time.

 

[Son of Homer]

The new PB version that have a battery are in the 3 - 3 1/2 year old range. What is the typical battery life? Does the raid key simply unlock sata ports on S2600 that have more than 6 ports, or is it needed for drives connected by the raid card to a hot swap drive bay kit?

I should mention that my primary purpose is for backups, basic server functions for a few concurrent users, and learning about virtualization, and playing around, so there will not be a lot of traffic.

 

[marcoi]

the raid key for the MB unlocks the raid function of the built in controller. I havent used it so I dont know how well it works. it might only be intel software raid and woudlnt work with say ESXI, but I dont know that for sure. I hate having the bbu, i got a few used cards with them and they been hassle. that is why i paid more for the cap version.

On a side note, if you just need backup storage pool with disk redundancy you might want to consider just using a HBA card and use Freenas to run a software raid. You would pass through the HBA to the FreeNas VM. Plenty of info on doing that on the website or online.

 

[Son of Homer]

OK, it is good to know that I do not need the raid key. Also I will eliminate all bbu cards. Ideally I want to have a backup storage pool with redundancy, but also have a few users under Windows Server 2008R2 and Windows SBS Server 2011 virtualized in Hyper-V, and possibly try other virtualized environments, and experiment with pfsense. I also want to minimize power and wear and tear on hard drives, so drives spin down when not in use, and possibly have a small raid array which can also spin down when not in use. I appreciate all your help. On a raid card, can it support both a raid array, and some pass through? Glancing at an article on HBA and FreeNas, on a particular card, it looks like flashed a certain way it is HBA, and another way it is raid.

 

[nthu9280]

I'd recommend spending sometime on the RAID cards section of this forum to familiarize with different alternatives. Most if not all of the questions were asked before.

If you are looking to do the SW raid such as FreeNAS, I'd go with LSI2008 or LSI2308 based cards flash it respective IT mode FW and be done with it.

RMS25JB080 is mezzanine version only certain Intel MBs can support . RMS25KBo8o is the PCIe version based on the same LSI2308 ROC.

Dell H310 is PCIe Gen2 and so are any other cards that are based on LSI2008 but support 6Gbps drives.

The listing posted today by MET Parts / IT Mart here is a really great price for a LSI2308 based HBA not locked to specific boards. Even the Dell H310's cost about that much.
For Sale: H220 LSI 9205-8i Controllers

 

[Son of Homer]

As you suggested, I have been looking through the RAID cards section of the forum. There is a lot of useful information to absorb. My first priority is to be able to use the storage cage. I am somewhat torn between the RMS25KBo8o which is definitely compatible, and the H220, where compatibility is uncertain (to me). At this point I am OK with HBA and I can do s/w Raid, or add a Raid card later when I have a better idea of what I am doing.

Thanks for taking the time to help.

 

[nthu9280]

From non-Intel card side, I've tested H310, Dell version of SAS 9206-16e on S2600CP2J MB /P4000M chassis and they work fine. In the end if it makes you feel better, just go with RMS25KBo8o.

 

[Son of Homer]

From non-Intel card side, I've tested H310, Dell version of SAS 9206-16e on S2600CP2J MB /P4000M chassis and they work fine. In the end if it makes you feel better, just go with RMS25KBo8o.

The H220 was very appealing, especially after the seller was able to make me more comfortable that it was compatible with my server board, and probably was OK in the chassis. I noticed in the specs that the Intel board connector is SFF-8087 x2, while the H220 is SF-8088 x2. I decided to take the easy route and ordered the Intel board.

 

[Son of Homer]

marcoi and nthu thank you both so much for sharing your knowledge and your patience with an ignorant newbie.

 

[nthu9280]

You are welcome.
Intel card is a good choice but as noted earlier, it's locked to Intel boards. I have couple of these too. Only downside is when you upgrade/swap out the MB.

H220 is internal card so it should be 8087 as well. I've been thinking of getting one as a spare. Don't really need. Effects of STH great deals form

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Son of Homer]

Too funny. I briefly flirted with getting one of each- justified as maximum flexibility and just in case option.

Here is where I got the SFF-8087 info: HP H220 Host Bus Adapter Specs. Maybe there are different variants for internal and external? I was assuming external was a connector on the bracket. Also, I am out of town, so I could not look at the case to see if a low or high bracket is needed, but Cnet shows it comes with a low bracket. Given the size of the chassis, I imagine it needs a full size bracket. The Intel one comes with both. The Intel spec seemed a little better but maybe not meaningful: Intel Integrated RAID Module RMS25KB080 Specs

Now I am quickly scanning to see if I should grab some storage media to save on combined shipping. The FreeNas forum has lots of info to digest. I never considered 4TB 2.5" drives before, and if they are not too difficult to shuck, and the price goes below $100, may be of interest, although they are Seagates. My vendor for the other stuff has some new pro 1500 180GB SSD listed at $63, and I wonder if there is any room to move on a best offer. My inclination has been to go with large 3 1/2" hard drives, like the Toshiba 5TB. I primarily need storage and backup. Speed is way less important. Lots more to consider.

 

[Dino Kravariotis]

Cool, I have a similar setup at home, Intel 2600CP4 MB and Intel 4000 Case with apdaptec 6850 raid card / 4 Seagate Cheetah 600SAS / 4 X 4TB WB Black. I bought some of the parts from kalleyomalley as well. I am very pleased with the system, up and running for 2 plus yeas 24 / 7 / 365 as ESXi server for home lab. I haven't tried the mods for the fans but when I move at the end of the summer and do a full dust cleaning I think I might give is a try!

 

[epicurean]

I second Dino's opinion on Intel server grade motherboards in their P4000 chassis. They are built to last and the fact that those Intel HBA cards cannot be used in other non-intel motherboards is really not an issue in the long run

 

[KirbyMlst]

@marcoi Thanks for this thread, I've found it very useful in getting my own P4000 setup!

Any chance you could provide a photo of the back of the chassis with the AXXRMM4?

 

[marcoi]

not sure if this is what you wanted? i have the AXXRMM4 attached on a 10GB card to save a slot.

 

[KirbyMlst]

not sure if this is what you wanted? i have the AXXRMM4 attached on a 10GB card to save a slot.

View attachment 7471

View attachment 7472

Thank you! Exactly what I wanted.