5

I bought a HP Proliant gen8 microserver. In it I installed 1 * 500GB SSD connected to SATA port 5 as a bootable disk and 4 * 3TB HDD connected to a HP smart array p212.

What I would like to do is create 1 array using HDD 1 and 2 as a RAID 1 configuration. The other hard drives will contain data that does not need mirroring and may be in a RAID 0 configuration, one array for HDD 3 and one array for HDD 4. This would become array A (RAID HDD 1 and 2), array b (RAID 0, HDD 3) and array c (RAID 0, HDD 4). I was able to do this on the soft RAID functionality. But using that also introduced other issues.

My issue is that I do not get the posibility for creating array c. It will let me create array a and array b. And it will show me that HDD 4 is a unassigned disk. In the image below you can see that the 'create array' button is gone.

Current array config

I am able to create array A and array B both in RAID 1 and use all 4 HDD's. So connecting to all drives is not an issue.

Could the fact that I am not using any cache memory on the p212 card be the issue? From what I understand this would mainly upgrade your throughput of read and write data.

If I do need this RAM module, do I realy need a backup battery to get it operational like the seller for the card is telling me? From what I understand the battery is only needed in case of a power outage and it is not mandatory. From a risk perspective I am willing to take the risk of power outage because I would not mind if some data gets scrambled since this system would be a backup for photo's on mobile devices. The other data on the RAID 0 disks are more of a 'nice to have' nature, so data loss on those disks wouldn't matter anyway.

Thanks in advance.

Improve this question
3
  • (It's been a while but) select unassigned drives, select the drive and then select "create array."
    – Mark Wagner
    Mar 7, 2019 at 0:15
  • BBWC has nothing to do with it.
    – Mark Wagner
    Mar 7, 2019 at 0:16
  • @MarkWagner I already tried to do that. when I select the drive, I only get the options 'View details' and 'Identify device'.
    – tinus087
    Mar 7, 2019 at 6:52

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

Only 2 arrays (logical volumes as per HPE) are supported without cache memory. Check controller specifications: https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getdocument.aspx?docname=c04111625

Logical Volumes Supported

Zero Memory, Up to 2 logical volumes

256mb cache, Up to 64 logical volumes

Improve this answer
5
  • I did look at this document but I was not able to find this information. Would I also need the backup battery as well? I was hoping to avoid it.
    – tinus087
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:09
  • 1
    Page 19. If you don't care about data safety, you can configure RAID0 with HDD3 and HDD4 and then create two volumes in OS.
    – batistuta09
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:18
  • 1
    Alright, found it. thanks a lot. I will buy a cache module and test it. what kind would you prefer? BBWC or FBWC?
    – tinus087
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:22
  • 1
    I don't think that cache type will play any role in your case. Check the article to understand the difference: community.hpe.com/t5/BladeSystem-Server-Blades/…
    – batistuta09
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:27
  • 1
    Roger that, I just ordered a 512 MB FBWC module. It was a bit more priced but I think it will worth it. Thank you again. I'll mark your answer when I installed en tested it. I expect it to arrive the day after tomorrow. I can't wait to finally start working on my server.
    – tinus087
    Mar 7, 2019 at 14:41

You must log in to answer this question.

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