RAID controller for Dell CS24-TY C1100 (Quanta model)

[Aliv Cherevko]

Hi,

I have two of C1100 S99K Quanta models. One is having 4 x 4TB Seagate SATA drivers in JBOD and running just fine without pass-through. Second is ready to go with 4 x 1TB SAS drives, but I still don't have SAS card and cables. Each machines is having SAS/SATA backplane, so all I need is a proper SAS controller card. Since I'm not planning to use PCI-E slot, both PCI-E or Mezz slots are available for SAS controller.

So I have a few options about where to go:
1. JBOD and pass-through of disks to a software raid based on ZFX or FreeNAS.
I'm still guessing what is better hardware RAID of ZFX or FreeNAS?
2. If the best option is to go with pass-through and a software RAID, then I need a SAS controller for C1100 which I will be able to pass-through with XenServer.
3. If the best option is to go with a RAID controller, then what is the best model for C1100 which is cheap enough (let's say ~ $100).
4. Fourth option is to just have JBOD and to not pass disks through, but just use them separately. The server is going to be used for testing purposes, so nothing serious, if some VMs will dead sometime.

Could someone please recommend any best options/models?
Thank you.

 

[Aliv Cherevko]

Answering to myself. Here is the topic I found with the list of all useful RAID controllers and statuses of ability to flash them to IT firmware:

https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...and-hba-complete-listing-plus-oem-models.599/

So I shortlisted:

- IBM M1015
- Dell PERC H200
- Dell PERC H310
- LSI MegaRAID SAS 9240-8i
- LSI SAS 9211-8i

All are PCI-E cards.

The only question I still have is there any difference in performance with 4 x Seagate 4TB SAS drives and ZFS between the above cards?

 

[Aliv Cherevko]

Okay, so for anyone who will be solving a similar task I ordered the 85M9R DELL RAID controller and is going to flash it to IT mode to jet JBOD. Ordered this type of cables: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-Mini-SAS-Breakout/dp/B018YHS8BS/

Update:

Okay, I've got 85M9R and installed it with the cables mentioned above (I had to press a bit on the cover to close it due to long connectors - not good, but working). Select other cable with L connectors not I.

I also was able to successfully flash 85M9R to IT mode.
Here is the full list of steps:

1. sas2flsh -listall
2. sas2flsh -c 0 -list
3. Write down your own SAS Address (otherwise you will loose it!)
4. megarec.exe -writesbr 0 sbrempty.bin OK
5. reboot
6. sas2flsh -o -e 6 (if this will not work, proceed to step 7 then return to step 6 and continue to 7 again)
7. sas2flsh.exe -o -f 2118p7.bin
8. s2fp19.exe -o -sasadd {your SAS address, don't forget to remove "-"}
10. sas2flsh.exe -o -f 2118it.bin
11. sas2flash.efi -o -b mptsas2.rom

Last step is to flash BIOS, so you will be able to boot from the drive.
For steps 1-8 I've used files downloaded from here: Updated: SAS HBA crossflashing or flashing to IT mode, Dell Perc H200 and H310
For steps 10-11 I used P20 firmware and BIOS downloaded from here: 9211-8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows (1700 KB)

I also found some comments, that performance on P20 might be not good - will measure it and decide if I want to step back to P19.
That's it for now. Have XenServer 7.0 running on it with no problems.