The Dell H730 has only 8 Data lines (8 Disks). Are your disks hooked to the onboard SATA Controller(s)? Or is it a model with more data lines? A mix installation of more than one controller is also possible.
The ST6000NM030A has a SATA interface.
See here: https://www.disctech.com/Seagate-Exos-7E8-ST6000NM030A-6TB-4Kn-Enterprise-SATA-Hard-Drive?srsltid=AfmBOoqBLcxlPwQzXI-dwECVxK9owP1AHqeCrOZaayM-aDFAzVX5q_3Y
ruenas_admin@truenas[~]$ sudo sas2flash -list
LSI Corporation SAS2 Flash Utility
Version 20.00.00.00 (2014.09.18)
Copyright (c) 2008-2014 LSI Corporation. All rights reserved
Adapter Selected is a LSI SAS: SAS2116_1(B1)
Controller Number : 0
Controller : SAS2116_1(B1)
PCI Address : 00:04:00:00
SAS Address : 5000d31-0-006c-8e09
NVDATA Version (Default) : 14.01.00.14
NVDATA Version (Persistent) : 14.01.00.14
Firmware Product ID : 0x2213 (IT)
Firmware Version : 20.00.11.00
NVDATA Vendor : LSI
NVDATA Product ID : SAS9201-16e
BIOS Version : N/A
UEFI BSD Version : N/A
FCODE Version : N/A
Board Name : SAS9201-16e
Board Assembly : H3-25519-00A
Board Tracer Number : SV33129936
Finished Processing Commands Successfully.
Exiting SAS2Flash.
truenas_admin@truenas[~]$ sudo sas3flash -list
Avago Technologies SAS3 Flash Utility
Version 16.00.00.00 (2017.05.02)
Copyright 2008-2017 Avago Technologies. All rights reserved.
No Avago SAS adapters found! Limited Command Set Available!
ERROR: Command Not allowed without an adapter!
ERROR: Couldn't Create Command -list
Exiting Program.
128gb RAM, no apps or VMs on the server (yet - this is still a fresh install). Pretty sure there’s no write cache, but it’s possible (the drives are pretty old, and came out of a Nimble, which had dedicated flash cache). I haven’t specifically enabled SMART tests at all, everything is still pretty “vanilaa”.
They show up in iDRAC as being attached to the SAS bus (and their connectors seem to be SAS as well). 12x3.5" disks on the front, no “middle” drives, 2x2.5" drives on the back.
It seems you have this one : **Dell Extender Expansion NVMe U.2 PCIe x 16 SAS Controller 0X4TTX for R730, R73xd, R930, T630 0P31H2 4 Port mini SAS SFF-8643 or one of the 2 configuration options for 12 disks from the documentation below.
So it would be a good idea to check the firmware again.
For your system documentation : https://i.dell.com/sites/csdocuments/Shared-Content_data-Sheets_Documents/de/de/dell-poweredge-r730xd-spec-sheet.pdf
Unfortunately my German isn’t up to snuff reading that doc, but I can tell you from both the BIOS and from iDRAC that my listed storage controller is the PERC H730 Mini (Embedded), and it’s reporting fw version 25.5.9.0001. It shows all 14 disks as connected to that controller, rather than the internal SATA at all.
I did also load in an external SAS card that I pulled from my old Compellent controller (which is an R720), so that could be throwing a monkeywrench into any reporting…
So, this is the exact drive I’m using:
https://www.avadirect.com/6TB-Exos-7E8-ST6000NM030A-7200-RPM-SAS-12Gb-s-4Kn-256MB-cache-3-5-Inch-OEM-HDD/Product/13191294
Which means I’ve got a 256mb write cache
Sounds good! Sorry for the language mistake. Sometimes I do not recognize is it English or German in technical Sheets. You can google it with the keywords: Dell R730xd & spec I’m sure there is an English version as well.
No worries - I’ll check it out.
Yup, on the spec sheet I found it lists H330, H730 and H730p as the only internal storage adapters.
Hmm, SAS or SATA, that’s the question. Anyhow, it’s easy to figured it with a look at the connector out. Performance wise, it’s hard to see a difference with spinners
One additional hint, depending on the power supply you have, it’s recommended to do a firmware upgrade for it as well. Most people do not know it’s possible.
Here is the link for the English manual
This HBA is flashed to IT. That is good.
These are the relevant lspci
lines as far as I can tell. And I think these show that you have two HBAs. A SAS2116 which we have determined is in IT mode, and a SAS-3 3108 MegaRAID which cannot be flashed to IT mode and at best can be configured in BIOS to JBOD mode which is similar but not the same.
This can be the controller @baronfunke mentioned
I did also load in an external SAS card that I pulled from my old Compellent controller (which is an R720), so that could be throwing a monkeywrench into any reporting…
??
Yeah, that makes sense - I’m not using it for anything, and if it’s not addressable by TrueNAS I can just take it out (I have an SC220 shelf I was thinking I might use down the road, but easy enough to just make other plans)
Sounds like we have a solution. Huzzah!!
Thanks both of you for your guidance and assistance. Now I get to do some serious testing to see how best to leverage the immense toolset available in TrueNAS (to replace my rapidly-aging QNAP)
Hi @baronfunke, as we know, the Dell R730 XD has many configuration options (8 to 24 disks) and so on. The H730 controller has only an 8 disc capability (??), for this reason I recommend a cross-check to avoid the use of a real raid controller with JOBD capability (3108). Because the use of it with ZFS can sooner or later destroy the stored data. Please remove the unused controller and perform @Protopia’s commands after it, only to make sure the foundation you want to play with is ok.
If you see page 176 and 177 in the user manual, it seems you have a 2 controller solution.
I guess you have to dig deeper in your HW.
I’m not sure any more ZFS is with this setup is a good idea.
After removal of the SAS card, here is the output of LSPCI:
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D DMI2 (rev 01)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev 01)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev 01)
00:03.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 01)
00:03.2 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D PCI Express Root Port 3 (rev 01)
00:05.0 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D Map/VTd_Misc/System Management (rev 01)
00:05.1 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D IIO Hot Plug (rev 01)
00:05.2 System peripheral: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D IIO RAS/Control Status/Global Errors (rev 01)
00:05.4 PIC: Intel Corporation Xeon E7 v4/Xeon E5 v4/Xeon E3 v4/Xeon D I/O APIC (rev 01)
00:11.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset SPSR (rev 05)
00:11.4 SATA controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset sSATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 05)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset MEI Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:16.1 Communication controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset MEI Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 05)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset PCI Express Root Port #1 (rev d5)
00:1c.4 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset PCI Express Root Port #5 (rev d5)
00:1c.7 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset PCI Express Root Port #8 (rev d5)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 05)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset LPC Controller (rev 05)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation C610/X99 series chipset 6-Port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 05)
01:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller 10-Gigabit X540-AT2 (rev 03)
01:00.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation Ethernet Controller 10-Gigabit X540-AT2 (rev 03)
02:00.0 RAID bus controller: Broadcom / LSI MegaRAID SAS-3 3108 [Invader] (rev 02)
06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 01)
06:00.1 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation I350 Gigabit Network Connection (rev 01)
07:00.0 PCI bridge: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe Switch [PS]
08:00.0 PCI bridge: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe Switch [PS]
09:00.0 PCI bridge: Renesas Technology Corp. SH7758 PCIe-PCI Bridge [PPB]