PERC Η310m installed, shall I go for an Η710

[costasppc]

Hello, I am about to get an R720 refurbished. The server has an H310M installed, I can go for an H710 512/6GB/s. Main purpose of this server will be virtualization (HyperV 2019 Core), using SSD disks (no IT mode).

best regards

K

 

[Spartacus]

Yes, the H310 is a 2008 based controller, the H710 is a 2208, that said you're still potentially going to be bottlenecked if you have more than 8 SSD in the array (its a PCIE 2.0 x8 controller)

The best embedded and parts matching card for raid would be the H710p mini as it has the largest cache (the H710 you listed would be ok'ish too).
Secondary question, where are you located? city? state at least?

Keep in mind this is older hardware that is technically only certified for server 2016 or older of windows server/core:

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_solutions_int/esuprt_solutions_int_solutions_resources/s-solution-resources_white-papers2_en-us.pdf

 

[costasppc]

Thank you very much,

I know the hardware is not “certified” for hyper v 2019 core, I may use the 2016 one, but since there is a tight budget...

I am located in Athens, Greeece btw.

best regards

K

 

[Spartacus]

Good to know (I coulda made you a deal if you were closer to texas ), as a secondary option if you're planning a non certified OS anyway.
Since the R720 has PCI-E 3.0 slots you could grab a 2308 card like the LSI SAS 9207-8i that should be able to handle 15+ SSD via the x8 PCIE 3.0 bandwidth (depending on the individual disk speed and raid setup)

 

[costasppc]

Thank you,

my setup will be this: 2 x SSD as RAID1 for the OS, 3 x SSD as RAID 5 for VMs and one or two NVMe disks for some SQL virtual disks.

best regards

K

 

[Spartacus]

in that case with only 5 ssd the H310 should be more than enough, assuming the NVME drives are via PCIE slot cards.
If you wanted future proofing, though the H710 is the better way to go but could always be purchased separately down the road too.

 

[costasppc]

Cost It’s not the real issue here among these two, H710 is a 39€ add on.

Thank you very much for your advice.

 

[Spartacus]

Thats the way to go then, you get the battery backup on the controller and the cache ~ no downsides if 40€ is a pittance to ya.