2

has anyone experience with using consumer SSDs like the Samsung 850 Pro in an HP ProLiant Gen9 server with a Smart Array P440ar controller?

Judging by various reports about older versions (Gen6 to Gen8) third-party SSDs seem to work in principal, but might cause problems with the monitoring features of the server. I would like to know if this is still the case, or if it got better/worse.


Some background information:

We are looking for a development server for a team of 7 to 12 people. The server would host multiple VMs (Hyper-V) running SharePoint 2010 and 2013, potentially each with its own SQL Server installation.

Our hardware guy advises strongly against using third-party drives, saying consumer SSDs would not run at all, and wants to use HP 10k SAS disks. I would prefer 8x 1 TB Samsung 850 Pro SSDs in a RAID 10 or 1 configuration (the 850s GC should be good enough so we can lose TRIM support).

My take on this is: We do not need enterprise-level reliability and longevity, nor will the write-volume be high enough to cause wear-level problems. What we need is high IOPS and enough space for multiple VMs. The HP SSDs seem way overpriced, given these requirements. Missing compatibility would be a deal-breaker of course.

I don't have any experience with server hardware, though. All I know is that my notebook with a 3 year old 120 GB OCZ SSD by far out-performs our existing server with 6x 10k SAS drives, as it does the development system at a client (also HDD-based, unknown specifics/configuration). The new server would have larger SAS disks, and more of them (8 instead of 6), but I still would expect the performance to be considerably inferior when compared to an SSD setup.

Feel free to comment on the general topic (server requirements for SharePoint development).

2
  • usenix.org/system/files/conference/fast16/… something to take into consideration, when evaluating. EDIT: Note this makes no claim of what can or will work inside a specific set of hardware, that's trial and error really, but in terms of life and reliability as a whole. Apr 7, 2016 at 15:02
  • @tmo what was your final solution? And does it work well?
    – mstrap
    Jun 22, 2017 at 14:38

1 Answer 1

2

Everything I wrote here continues to be true: Third-party SSD solutions in ProLiant Gen8 servers

I'll add that you should avoid consumer SSDs for this purpose, and possibly try to avoid SATA devices if you can.

My solution to the SSD interoperability issue has been to move to PCIe-based SSDs or leverage the SSD caching features of the RAID controllers to bolster 10k enterprise disks.

2
  • Thank you for the information, could elaborate a little on why you wouldn't use consumer SSDs or SATA? Especially on the SATA subject. I'm already looking into PCIe SSDs, but the cost difference is still very high. Although we might be fine with a single 800 GB Intel P3700 where all databases live, the VMs themselves probably don't need that kind of I/O performance.
    – tmo
    Jan 23, 2015 at 9:38
  • hp ProLiant with Samsung ssd and eBay caddie for g9 drive is cheap and works, but you should expect failed mirror once a month. that's my experience, samsung and kinkston firmware are not perfect so droping drive happens ... it's not safe. BUT, intel DC series ssd is perfect :) and still cheaper than hp drives.
    – philippe
    Nov 16, 2016 at 19:21

You must log in to answer this question.

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