Hi. I have been searching and searching for help all over. and still have no running server as of yet.
here is my problem(s)
I bought a SuperMicro X8DT3-LN4F Motherboard to upgrade my oldish Opteron based server.
I run a Prxmox VE with 5 or 6 LXC containers for File serving and Media storage and streaming.
all Containers are Debian 8 Based. I run a LXC container for File Server (based on TurnKey File Server template ), an Emby server, a Deluge Server and Transmission Server, a SubNZB + coach potato setup to organize and manage media files. I find it works better than rely strictly on Emby for media management. .
with this setup, if I download or rip a video and place it into completed folder, i know it will be renamed and moved into proper spot by coach potato where Emby will finish the process by tagging and getting the metadata for it if needed.
it works(the old server) but doesn't have enough power when Emby needs to trans-code movies for web client.
also some processes takes too much RAM which on my old server I had limited amount. about 40GB.
so, when I got some free budget I started the upgrade.
ALL my older setup was ZFS based. I have 16 disks in 4 ZFS mirror pools.
not all the data is backed up and at this moment I can not get to the data as the initial setup is corrupted by bad update. I used this to start the server upgrade process since the server was down anyways.
the X8DT3-LN4F MB has an on-board SAS controller
which lspci reports as 03:00.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 08)"
unfortunately it only supports up to 2TB drives.
so I bought a Adaptec 51245 2268100-R 16 PORT SAS card
I got a 24 port expender "HP 487738-001 468405-001 24-Bay 3Gb SAS" since built int controlelr only have 8 ports.
the expender works fine but Adaptec card does not work as I expected. it does not have an HBA mode.
and the JBOD mode that it does have still requires me to Initialize the drives and if I am reading the manual and other forums correctly it is not a simple pass-through mode. I can not just take the drive and plug it in into some other machine and access data from it once I set it up on this controller.
I have always (mistakenly apparently ) thought that JBOD is the same as simple HBA. as in once adapter is set to JBOD mode it will just pass-through any disks connected to it as is.
hence my question(s):
#1. is there a firmware flush for Adaptec card to turn it into full HBA as I needed ?
#2. is there a firmware flush for my built in controller to make it support large drives
#3. is there anyone can suggest an inexpensive HBA SAS card that would do what I need as per my setup.
I need and want to go with SAS setup now as I already invested in all the cables and expander card and I think it is a better way to go. if I can return the Adaptec, I will, if not I will try to sell it.
please help me figure this out and teach me some new things in the process.
I have dealt with raid setups in the past.
I have dealt with plain HBA setups as well
but it was simple as old setup had plain super micro SAT2-MV8 PCI-X cards 8 port SATA direct hookup.
I am not in unfamiliar territory and so far can not figure the way out of it.
Tanks VL
here is my problem(s)
I bought a SuperMicro X8DT3-LN4F Motherboard to upgrade my oldish Opteron based server.
I run a Prxmox VE with 5 or 6 LXC containers for File serving and Media storage and streaming.
all Containers are Debian 8 Based. I run a LXC container for File Server (based on TurnKey File Server template ), an Emby server, a Deluge Server and Transmission Server, a SubNZB + coach potato setup to organize and manage media files. I find it works better than rely strictly on Emby for media management. .
with this setup, if I download or rip a video and place it into completed folder, i know it will be renamed and moved into proper spot by coach potato where Emby will finish the process by tagging and getting the metadata for it if needed.
it works(the old server) but doesn't have enough power when Emby needs to trans-code movies for web client.
also some processes takes too much RAM which on my old server I had limited amount. about 40GB.
so, when I got some free budget I started the upgrade.
ALL my older setup was ZFS based. I have 16 disks in 4 ZFS mirror pools.
not all the data is backed up and at this moment I can not get to the data as the initial setup is corrupted by bad update. I used this to start the server upgrade process since the server was down anyways.
the X8DT3-LN4F MB has an on-board SAS controller
which lspci reports as 03:00.0 SCSI storage controller: LSI Logic / Symbios Logic SAS1068E PCI-Express Fusion-MPT SAS (rev 08)"
unfortunately it only supports up to 2TB drives.
so I bought a Adaptec 51245 2268100-R 16 PORT SAS card
I got a 24 port expender "HP 487738-001 468405-001 24-Bay 3Gb SAS" since built int controlelr only have 8 ports.
the expender works fine but Adaptec card does not work as I expected. it does not have an HBA mode.
and the JBOD mode that it does have still requires me to Initialize the drives and if I am reading the manual and other forums correctly it is not a simple pass-through mode. I can not just take the drive and plug it in into some other machine and access data from it once I set it up on this controller.
I have always (mistakenly apparently ) thought that JBOD is the same as simple HBA. as in once adapter is set to JBOD mode it will just pass-through any disks connected to it as is.
hence my question(s):
#1. is there a firmware flush for Adaptec card to turn it into full HBA as I needed ?
#2. is there a firmware flush for my built in controller to make it support large drives
#3. is there anyone can suggest an inexpensive HBA SAS card that would do what I need as per my setup.
I need and want to go with SAS setup now as I already invested in all the cables and expander card and I think it is a better way to go. if I can return the Adaptec, I will, if not I will try to sell it.
please help me figure this out and teach me some new things in the process.
I have dealt with raid setups in the past.
I have dealt with plain HBA setups as well
but it was simple as old setup had plain super micro SAT2-MV8 PCI-X cards 8 port SATA direct hookup.
I am not in unfamiliar territory and so far can not figure the way out of it.
Tanks VL