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I have a HP DL380p Gen8 server with ESXi 5.5 running on it and HP Smart Array P420i. I've installed 4 new hard disks on it and want to put them in a RAID 6 array (Although RAID 10 would be OK too).

Hoping to run hpacucli, this is what I thought would work: http://www.virtualtothecore.com/en/manage-an-hp-smart-array-directly-from-vmware-esxi/

But now, when I run hpacucli via esxcli, I get this error:

Error: No controllers detected.

Is there anything I forgot? Or any advice how to find the problem?

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The tool you should be using today is hpssacli. The older hpacucli utility doesn't work on current-generation ProLiant servers.

In case you don't have hpssacli, the support download bundle for your server is here (if you're not already using the HP ESXi build).

Also, RAID6 for 4 disks doesn't make sense. Do RAID 1+0

~ # /opt/hp/hpacucli/bin/hpacucli
HP Array Configuration Utility CLI 9.40.12.0
Detecting Controllers...Done.
Type "help" for a list of supported commands.
Type "exit" to close the console.

=> ctrl all show config

Error: No controllers detected. 

=>

versus

~ # /opt/hp/hpssacli/bin/hpssacli
HP Smart Storage Administrator CLI 1.50.4.0
Detecting Controllers...Done.
Type "help" for a list of supported commands.
Type "exit" to close the console.

=> ctrl all show config

Smart Array P420i in Slot 0 (Embedded)    (sn: 001438023DA3BF0)


   SEP (Vendor ID PMCSIERA, Model SRCv8x6G) 380 (WWID: 5001438023DA3BFF)

=>
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  • Thanks! Really saved me lots of time! But I didn't get your point about RAID6. What is the disadvantage? Do you mean that it's a waste of capacity and I need more disks in a RAID6 array?
    – Mohammadreza MontazeriShatoori
    Feb 16, 2014 at 4:45
  • @MohammadrezaMontazeriShatoori There's a performance penalty. RAID 1+0 with 4 disks will perform better.
    – ewwhite
    Feb 16, 2014 at 16:52
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    @MohammadrezaMontazeriShatoori RAID6 requires two parity disks, which leaves you with the same usable storage as RAID 1+0 does. RAID1+0 performs a lot better.
    – pauska
    Feb 16, 2014 at 17:19
  • And if hpssacli shows no controllers detected, run modprobe sg and try again, as per support.hp.com/id-en/document/c04647234 . This is a problem today on RHEL/Centos 7.1.
    – Mike S
    Sep 10, 2015 at 15:27
  • I would say that RAID 6 does "make sense" for four disks, and unlike RAID 1+0 it does allow any two drives to fail without losing integrity. The obvious trade off is the speed, but I would reserve a term like "doesn't make sense" for logical impossibilities like RAID 10 on three disks, or RAID 6 on two disks.
    – mwfearnley
    Apr 9, 2018 at 13:59

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