Migrate arrays from LSI 9280 to LSI 9271?

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pcmoore

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Apr 14, 2018
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I currently have a couple of arrays hanging off a LSI 9280-8e that I would like to move to a LSI 9217-8i; does anyone know if it is possible to simply move the disks to the new controller? I've googled around a bit and it looks like I might be able to move the disks to the new controller and import the arrays as a "Foreign Configuration", but it would be nice to get some confirmation first.

Has anyone done this, or something similar, before with LSI RAID cards?
 

JSchuricht

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Apr 4, 2011
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I have done exactly that with other models of LSI cards. Do save the controller configuration before you start and make a backup of everything just in case.
 
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pcmoore

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Apr 14, 2018
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A follow up, and perhaps a cautionary tale for anyone else who may run across this in the future; things didn't work out quite as well as expected, and now I'm forced to try and recover my arrays and put everything back together from backups.

I followed the usual advice: I installed the new card in a separate system, updated the firmware, made sure any config on the card was cleared, and then replaced the old card with the new one in the main system. Upon boot I entered the BIOS utility where the new controller identified the foreign configuration, but failed to import it. Multiple tries, no change. Tried removing some disks to narrow it down to a single array, no change. Eventually gave up and followed the "deleted my array" guidance from LSI/Broadcom to very disappointing and mixed results; the system disk RAID1 array is pretty much useless given the amount of corruption present. I haven't tried the VM array yet, but I'm afraid I'll see similar results. It's going to be a painful few weeks as I restore from backups and try to reconstruct things.

For those who do find themselves in a similar situation, the article below might be of some help. I suspect CacheCade may have something to do with my problems, but it is unclear, and I'm in no hurry to go through this exercise again. If you are reading this because things went poorly, hopefully you will have better luck.
 

dexvx

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Mar 6, 2014
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On a similar vein, is it possible to move from older controllers to newer?

I have an aging 9260-8i and would like to replace it with a newer 9460-8i.
 

pcmoore

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Apr 14, 2018
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The LSI RAID controller numbering can be confusing, the 9271 is actually newer (LSI SAS 2208 based) than the 9280 (LSI SAS 2108 based). Unless you've got the entire LSI/Avago/Broadcom RAID controller family memorized, the datasheets are your best friend here ;)

In your case, the higher numbered card is newer: the 9460-8i is a SAS 3508 card vs the 9260-8i which is a SAS 2108 (similar to my 9280). As you saw, the upgrade from older to newer cards didn't go well for me, but if you've got everything backed up and you have some time to sort it out, you could always give it a shot.

If you do attempt the migration, it might be nice to report back on how it went so others can benefit.
 
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dexvx

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Mar 6, 2014
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Well that's disturbing.

When the import failed on the new card, did you try attaching the array with your older card? Fortunately, I do have an older array (8x 4TB RAID6) that I can attempt an import on.
 

pcmoore

Active Member
Apr 14, 2018
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New England, USA
Well that's disturbing.
My thoughts exactly. Well, not exactly, my thoughts included a lot more expletives.

When the import failed on the new card, did you try attaching the array with your older card?
TLDR: migrating arrays from one LSI based RAID card to another is not 100% guaranteed; if the foreign import fails, don't force it; if you have to try and force an import, preserve any CacheCade arrays.

Longer version below.

WARNING: most of the conclusions below are based on nothing but some guess work on my part, YMMV.

If I had stopped trying to force things on the new controller, I'm guessing I could have swapped the old controller back into the system and continued as normal. While I didn't have everything backed up, all my critical data was backed up on a separate system so I thought I would play a bit ... this turned out to be a mistake, or at least my approach was flawed. I tried forcing an import of the CacheCade array using the approach described earlier in this thread (see the Broadcom/Avago/LSI support link I posted above), and that failed. I thought that the CacheCade array was periodically flushed to the backing arrays and on shutdown so using this array as a guinea pig seemed "safe". Unfortunately it wasn't. In fact I now suspect this was the worst thing I could have done.

With the associated CacheCade array now gone, even though the old controller recognized the arrays, it refused to start them without being forced (if you want details on how to force these arrays to start let me know, but if you are at that point you are already screwed). When I did get the arrays running the data corruption was substantial. The filesystems were in a bizarre state, likely caused by the mix of ages/validity of the drive blocks underneath them (CacheCade works at the device/block level, not the filesystem level). I was able to get some info from the arrays, but I'm considering all of it suspect at this point. I did grab an image of the arrays to see if I can fix some of the issues with an offline fsck, but right now that is more of an academic pursuit. At the moment I'm in the process of rebuilding the system and restoring my backups.

That's my tale, if nothing else hopefully it will serve as a warning to others - there definitely be dragons here!
 

dexvx

Member
Mar 6, 2014
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My Asus X99WS/IPMI order got delayed, so haven't been able to try it out.

So I'm assuming based on your statement that the way most storage arrays are migrated is totally replacing the whole array. Which, although is quite feasible for corporations, may be more difficult for prosumers.

Oh well, just got to watch out for more Easystore 8TB sales.
 

dexvx

Member
Mar 6, 2014
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Late update, but update nevertheless.

After I successfully migrated all my stuff to 8TB WD drives, I had a bunch of 4TB leftovers to play around with.

I installed a 9460-16i (actually Intel branded), and used the LSA software to import the Foreign Configuration successfully. Since most of it is media, I just randomly opened some files and they seem to be alright.

TLDR: Successfully migrated a RAID-6 array from a (LSI) 9261-8i to an (Intel) 9460-16i.
 

vangoose

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May 21, 2019
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9280 is MegaRaid that support RAID 1/5/6
9217 is HBA with integrated mirroring only

There is very slim chance if you are using RAID 1/10 but if you are using RAID 5/6, it's impossible.