Dell R730xd – Best way to configure storage for simultaneous use with ZFS & Hardware RAID

delldell-percdell-poweredgeraidzfs

I recently purchased a Dell R730xd that came with an H730 RAID card. I would like to bring an existing 6 disk ZFS pool to this server as well as create an additional 6 disk hardware RAID.

Is it possible to configure an H730 RAID card to operate in both HBA and RAID mode simultaneously? And then only manage 6 of the disks in a hardware RAID and allow the OS to manage the remaining 6 disks in a software RAID?

If not, can a Dell R730xd use both an H730 RAID card and an LSI 9207-8i HBA card simultaneously? Would you simply plug one SAS cable from each card into each part of the Backplane? Will I need to purchase any new cables to connect the LSI 9207-8i to the backplane in my R730xd?

Is there a better card to use for ZFS in an R730xd using spinning disks than the LSI 9207-8i?

Best Answer

Regarding your question about splitting the backplane across controllers, yes, it's possible. I've done this with 8-bay enclosures where two 4-lane SAS SFF-8087 connectors were present. 4 disks to one controller, 4 disks to the other. I don't know the composition or expander situation on the Dell server you're describing, though.

The only controllers that would allow this are those that have Mixed/Hybrid mode ports. HPE Smart Array controllers on Gen10 systems are a good example. They allow hardware RAID or HBA mode on a per-port/per drive basis.

I also have this running on an Avago MR9363-4i. /dev/sdy at the bottom is a RAID1 Hardware RAID1 for the OS. The remaining disks are split across two normal ZFS pools.

[0:0:4:0]    enclosu LSI      SAS3x40          0601  -
[0:0:5:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sda
[0:0:6:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sdb
[0:0:7:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sdc
[0:0:8:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sdd
[0:0:9:0]    disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sde
[0:0:10:0]   disk    SEAGATE  ST1800MM0128     E002  /dev/sdf
[0:0:11:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdg
[0:0:12:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdh
[0:0:13:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdi
[0:0:14:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdj
[0:0:15:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdk
[0:0:16:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdl
[0:0:17:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdm
[0:0:18:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdn
[0:0:19:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdo
[0:0:20:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdp
[0:0:21:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdq
[0:0:23:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdr
[0:0:24:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sds
[0:0:25:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdt
[0:0:26:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdu
[0:0:27:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdv
[0:0:28:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdw
[0:0:29:0]   disk    ATA      SAMSUNG MZ7LM1T9 204Q  /dev/sdx
[0:2:0:0]    disk    AVAGO    MR9363-4i        4.68  /dev/sdy

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