Lenovo ThinkServer SA120 - Rackmount DAS
- Thread starter Dajinn
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The drives never even show up to the raid card. If I plug a SAS drive in they do though, but a SATA isn't even detected. The controller in the DAS detects them though. I have hooked a serial cable to it and any SATA I plug in shows failed right off the bat. Its almost like a setting in the DAS is denying the use of SATA drives...
Kinda figured out my issue and now I feel like an idiot. Apparently I didn't notice but the first IOCC module is on the bottom, and since they arent SAS drives, they show up failed in the 2nd controller. They show up, but only as failed. I plugged into the primary IOCC with the console cable and they show fine. I'm a complete idiot.
Thanks for all the help though!
Thanks for all the help though!
Has anyone tried to use HDDs bigger than 4TB? Will SA120 work with 6TB SATA drives? I'm interested in using HGST Ultrastar 7K6000 6Tb but would like to be sure before spending money.
And what JBOD SAS\SATA3 controller (HBA without RAID) would be suitable for Intel HNS2600JFQ? Is LSI 9200-8e good enough?
If using 8 ports (2x4) controller and double IO modules JBOD will it give more throughput? Manual says that it is for redundancy but High Availability Guide also points to speed enhancement. Should it be manually configured to two groups of drives for two IO modules or it happens automatically when the second IO module connects to the HBA controller?
Thanks!
And what JBOD SAS\SATA3 controller (HBA without RAID) would be suitable for Intel HNS2600JFQ? Is LSI 9200-8e good enough?
If using 8 ports (2x4) controller and double IO modules JBOD will it give more throughput? Manual says that it is for redundancy but High Availability Guide also points to speed enhancement. Should it be manually configured to two groups of drives for two IO modules or it happens automatically when the second IO module connects to the HBA controller?
Thanks!
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I'm using it with SATA drives. I have 3 of them at home and they work great. Can't use the 2nd controller on the back tho as SATA drives only have 1 channel. It just shows errors. But it works great. Easily best DAS for home use for the price.
I'm running 12 6TB WD REDs. You won't be able to run multiple IO modules unless you run SAS drives as the 2nd IO module doesn't see the drives or shows errors. I can't remember when I checked it out. They work fine with my drives though. I'm using a Dell H830 controller currently. Thinking of spending the money on a damn Lenovo controller though as I can't turn the freakin fans down without one and its loud as hell.
Thanks for the information! May be it has a sense to change 7K600 SATA to SAS... Price difference is only $20-25 for 6TB model as far as I can see.
Could you tell please, is it possible to use the second IO module for 2.5" cage with SSD? One 4x6G port is enough for 12 SATA3 HDDs but not for 12xHDD+4xSSD (or even 12xHDD + 1xSSD).
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Truthfully, I have no idea why man. I do know I got 3 with redundant IO modules and power suppliers for like $300 shipped off ebay brand new in the box. They don't come with the 2.5 cages that fit in the back but if you look you can get them cheap sometimes.
They also don't ship with drive cages FYI. So you will also need to front that cost, but compared to other DAS out there, I think its the deal of the century. I have looked for deals on DAS and never found such a good bargain. People still buy those $150 16 bay Rackables from ebay, Of course with this you only have 12 bays, but you have redundant IO/PS & it doesn't look like a POS like the Rackables.
Lenovo was handing out huge cash-back incentives on these. Similar to TS140/TS440/TD340...$300 is absolutely not SRP for those.
While I have one and haven't verified this, I've seen posts on reddit from multiple sources that they take SAS and SATA. The argument being that, most SAS devices also run SATA; but not vice versa.
DAS=Direct Attached Storage i.e. Drive tray hooked into another server/system that then controls the drives
SAN = Storage Area Network i.e. System with Disks that has a network connection that controls all the drives internally (usually)
Had a colleague buy one of these and I was wondering if anyone knew of a GOOD external SAS pci-express card and cable to go along with them?
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So in this instance, what would be the difference between this device, and the MSA 2040 with its controllers connected directly via fiber channel to a DL380?
Long Story Short:
Difference=Cable and Connection. Single connection* vs. Multiple connection. SAS copper cable vs. Fiber glass cable***.
Fiber channel you can use a switch in between to have multiple systems talk to multiple DAS devices. SAS cable is really a 1:1 connection*. I don't know if you are familiar with SCSI back in the day but that's really what these DAS boxes act like.
Or going off another example: A giant USB drive that you connect from the USB port on your PC into those external backup drives. You can't have multiple PC's share that same USB drive and access the data at the same time**
*I am aware you can hook multiple servers into a SAS array via multiple SAS cables. That's outside the scope of this missive.
**You might be able to with a USB Hub and some configuration, I don't know how but I concede that might be possible.
***I just googled glass SAS cable, they do exist, I'm surprised!
The main difference is that DAS can be attached only directly to the head unit (server). SAN devices can be attached directly to server and through switch devices. But novadays this classification often doesn't reflect actual state of thigs: there are a number of SAS switches on the market so even this particular device theoretically can be marked as SAN device.