LSI CacheCade Pro 2.0 512GB limit

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renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Does anyone have any insight into when we might see this limit raised?

I have four 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSDs and would love to use all 4 in a RAID-0 for my CachCade. At the moment I'm limited to only two drives.

The reason I chose 256GB drives is that they have double the write performance of their smaller capacity versions. I could format them at half capcity and overprovision but that's an awful waste of money.
 
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renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Could an admin please correct the spelling on cachecade in the title so it's easier to search for and not make me look illiterate? Thanks ;-)
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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Done, added 'pro' as well, while I was there

Yes its a silly limitation, in the modern days of large fast SSD's

I've read LSI are looking at v2.1 with 1TB limit, still way too small
Not sure if SAS2x08 controller get the update as well.
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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Any idea when 2.1 might be released? Or if they have a beta?
No, I've not seen anything else other than 2.1 was looking to go up to 1TB.

But mind you using 1/2 the ports for cachecade is quite a bit.
Adding another 2x HDD's and using 2x SSD's not a better solution ?

Cach(e)cade ;) means you don't see the drives anyway
You also have no clue how much of the cache is being used, you may only use a few GB.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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I'm interested in using 4 drives for CacheCade in RAID-0 for max speed. Before I bought the CC key I had tiered storage: 4x 256GB SSDs in RAID-0 on the first port for day to day project files and 4x 1TB HDDs in RAID-5 on the other port for less frequently used stuff. But I was managing this myself, moving files as I saw fit (huge wast of time when cachecade does it for me and this was everything has at least RAID-5 protection.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Very useful answer that inspires oodles of confidence in the company
It gave me chills!

Great write up on cachecade btw. If I could find some 120GB SSD's that read/write on par with their 240GB counterparts I could exchange them to run in RAID-0 as I had originally hoped while fitting into the 512GB cap.

Now sure any exist but I'll take a look.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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So far best I've found are Intel 520 (120GB) R/W 550/500 MB/s.

Do you have some specific models you think could do better (120GB or 160GB?)?

Might be moot because I just checked my amazon order page and my return window on the samsungs closed 6 days ago. Which means I'd have to sell them second hand at a loss. I actually stuck one of them into my new Dell T7600 since I couldn't use it for the cachecade.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Thanks, bro. Very cool. At least i picked the right 256GB SSD ;-) Samsung 840 Pro is a monster. It's not listed there, but I'm pretty sure the Intel 520 would dominate the low capacity segment and best a lot of higher cap drives. I have some 60GB 520s and they really fly. It's anecdotal but I caught this a while backL Fastest Storage Array | StorageReview.com - Storage Reviews

They filled that bad boy up with Intel 520 SSDs. I cursory glance at eBay is showing that with a lot more usage than I put mine through they are going for $200+ so I think i'll find a buyer for them and get that killer 4-way RAID-0 CacheCade I want.
 

mobilenvidia

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Sep 25, 2011
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Hi,

I'm planning to run 4x 256 840 PRO's in a RAID0 as well, but want to use them with FastPath. I'm kinda new on the CacheCade/FastPath and LSI (naming) but can someone help steer me to a good card that would achieve the most IOPS? So far i'm looking at this but I'm unsure if it has FastPath or CacheCade.

LSI SAS9261 8i 8 Port 6GB s SAS SATA SSD RAID Controller w Battery 512MB Cache | eBay

Thanks for your help!
Card linked does not have FP.

You're best of to keep an eye on Ebay for controllers with Fastpath (it needs a key) or Cachecade which also has all the lower keys like fastpath

I do believe Dell H700's with 1GB NV RAM has Fastpath enabled (check first)
Don't get IBM versions unless you can afford the expensive keys

Cachecade enabled controllers come up everynow and then, I've bought 2x in the last couple of months
Or you could buy a key and put on a controller, but OEM keys only work on OEM cards (ie LSI keys won't work on IBM branded cards)

You best bet with FP is to stick with LSI cards.
LSI9271 with FP but only 4x ports LSI Logic MegaRAID SAS 9271 4i with Cachecade Pro 2 0 Fastpath LSI00328 | eBay
 

newjohnny

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Jan 25, 2012
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Cachecade 2.1 will support 2TB (not 1TB) and also raid5. This info comes from the documentation and LSI tech reps directly.

I also just wanted to make a note that raid0 on a Cachecade VD is not recommended. If an ssd fails, you will lose data and the main storage will go offline until it's fixed.
 

renderfarmer

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Feb 22, 2013
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Cachecade 2.1 will support 2TB (not 1TB) and also raid5. This info comes from the documentation and LSI tech reps directly.

I also just wanted to make a note that raid0 on a Cachecade VD is not recommended. If an ssd fails, you will lose data and the main storage will go offline until it's fixed.
Thanks for the info.

If only single or RAID-1 SSD configs are recommended then it really doesn't matter as much if only 512GB are supported.

It's disappointing that the main storage VD is unusable if the cache is damaged. I would think that at most you would lose the data not yet copied from the SSD to the main storage. then again, what if it was overwriting a file and it died half way... I have no idea how cachecade2 works internally...

Thanks again.