HP Smart Array P822 and SAS / SATA Expander

[_Adrian_]

Hi Everyone, 

First post in here, but by no means its an easy one I think ( at least for me ).
I have some server hardware kicking around that i would like to use for a budget NAS box. 
Controller is an HP Smart Array P822 with the Battery Backed Write Cache ( HP PN: 615418-B21 ) and 6Gb SAS SATA Expander ( HP PN: 487738-001 )

Question is can I use these in unraid

[sota]

yes, but with issues, as the P-series controller is meant to run in RAID mode, not JBOD/HBA mode, even if it can do it.

Edited June 8, 2020 by sota

[_Adrian_]

18 hours ago, sota said:

yes, but with issues, as the P-series controller is meant to run in RAID mode, not JBOD/HBA mode, even if it can do it.

I've run the P800 in the past in Windows Server as a JBOD controller on an MSA600 and allocated each drive into windows storage spaces as individual drives which in turn were added into storage pools. This can be done either the ACU in windows or  "offline" during bootup sequence when the controller prompts for setup . I mean its not pretty solution but it does work, and the reason why I'd like to use this controller is the 4 External SAS links that it provides which in reality add another 16 full speed SATA links to each attached drive plus a grand total of 24 Drives internally with the Multiplexing Card in place. And the beauty of it all is that you can get SFF-8088 To SFF-8087 brackets  that can be mounted in any old or cheap PC case and easily turned into a JBOD chassis around the $100USD mark ( pricing 2x adapter cards, 4x mini sas to sata cables and 4x SFF8088 cables ) 

Edited June 8, 2020 by _Adrian_

[sota]

You're right... it's not a pretty solution and it'll make management and array repair a lot harder if a drive tosses its cookies.

I get the desire for all those external lanes, but are you seriously going to be moving that much data and need to move it that quickly?

You gotta keep in mind, you'll never be moving data to/from multiple disks as a cohesive block, like you would in a proper RAID array, so it's like sticking a blown big block in Yugo.

Have you considered an HP H241 controller board instead, to get you external connectivity?

 

eta: or for cost sake, an H240 controller and one of those adapter brackets.  you'll burn 2 slots but it'll be 1/2 the cost or less.

Edited June 10, 2020 by sota