-1

I want to bypass the Smart Array Controller built into the HP ProLiant DL360p Gen8 (P420i) with an LSI 9211-8i (I need JBOD or pass-through support). Can anyone tell me how to accomplish this?

Edit: The reason for enabling JBOD is for server fail-over clustering (with Hyper-V's). It's been explained to me that the drives cannot be listed as RAID devices but as SAS devices.

1
  • been reading the comments on the answer below, and I have some bad news for you. You can't use clustered storage (CSV, clustered storage spaces etc) without having shared storage - like a JBOD enclosure shared between the hosts. There is a block replication feature coming in Windows Server 2016, but until then your only option is having RAID on each server and using Hyper-V replication to copy VM's back and forth.
    – pauska
    Jun 8, 2015 at 19:34

1 Answer 1

3

Two things.

  • You don't need any additional cables to do this. Just connect the SAS SFF-8087 cables currently linked to the motherboard RAID controller to your add-in LSI-9211-8i card.
  • The Smart Array P420i controller with current firmware has a JBOD mode that can be set with the hpssacli utility.

modify [hbamode=on|off|?] Turning on HBA Mode will expose the physical drives to the operating system and Smart Array configuration will not be allowed.

The target can be any valid controller which supports this feature.

modify [raidmode=on|off|?] Turning on Raid Mode will allow Smart Array configuration on the specified controller.

It would be helpful to understand why you're looking to run JBOD mode on this particular server. Are you planning on using ZFS or something like Storage Spaces? Or is it something more involved like VMware vSAN? Otherwise, this is an odd request for this type of server.

Please add some context, because it will help us help you.

edit

That controller is capable of 64 logical drives. It sounds like you're running this controller with NO read/write cache module. That's important to have. See this HP advisory.

14
  • 1
    I apologize for the brevity of my initial question and truly appreciate your response. After hours of searching everything pointed to turning RAID off on that particular controller and therefor I had to go with an external option. The reason for enabling JBOD is for server fail-over clustering (with Hyper-V's.) It's been explained to me that the drives cannot be listed as RAID devices but as SAS devices. Jun 8, 2015 at 15:52
  • I'll see if we can get anyone who knows Hyper-V and this use case to chime in.
    – ewwhite
    Jun 8, 2015 at 15:55
  • @thomashill - I'm confused - a P420i is for internal-only disks, are you looking to connect the internal disks of a server to a second server's HBA for failover clustering or have you got an external disk shelf that you've not mentioned?
    – Chopper3
    Jun 8, 2015 at 15:59
  • @Chopper3 I am trying to create a failover cluster between two identical machines with identical hardware. However, the P420i is limiting me to 2 logical drives (I have a RAID10 and a RAID0 in each.) Therefor, I was told that I need to use a 3rd party controller with JBOD or passthrough in order to accomplish this. Jun 8, 2015 at 16:12
  • 1
    I'm not understanding how you're implementing your storage for the failover cluster nodes. Assuming you're using Windows Server 2012 R2, are you planning on using SMB 3, Clustered Storage Spaces or a Cluster Shared Volume?
    – joeqwerty
    Jun 8, 2015 at 16:26

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .