HP ProLiant DL380 G9 - HBA

Hey guys,

I am a total beginner when it comes to TrueNas and server Hardware. I got my first HomeServer running in a Dell T20 using Truenas Scale. At the moment I use it mainly to organise my media and run HomeAssistant. I also plan to add 1-2 Windows or Linux VMs.

For this - as well as for my storage needs - I needed some more performance and more space (as in: phyisical space within the chassis) for drives.

I got my Hands quite cheaply on a HP ProLiant DL380 Gen 9.

From the Hardware site it has:
2x E5-2683 V3 CPUs
32 GB DDR4 RAM

Storage controller: 1x HP Smart Array P840 12Gb SAS RAID Controller 4GB FBWC 761880-011

Is there any way to get the P840 working reliably with Truenas. I know it has an HBA Mode - but I do not know if it still interfers with the ZFS Filesystem.

The resources I found on this controller are quite limited.

I still have a DELL Perc H200 (needs to be flashed to IT-Firmware, failed yesterday…I have to re-visit that) and another LSI 9207-8i (on the way from ebay, supposedly allready in IT-Mode). Using these 2 controllers together within the DL380 chassis would work with replacing the cables (at the moment the chassis uses 2 cables with SFF-8654 to Dual-SFF-8087).

What would be your recommendations? In the beginning I plan to run 6x4TB drives. So I will have space to expand to up to 12x 4TB.

Thanks for your help,
Max

I have had good results using the HPE H240 (HBA Mode) in Gen 9 servers running TrueNAS however, I have also seen a number of posts from people with varying issues (Slow SSD Speeds & SMART Errors) with the same card.

I have also ran the H220 in Gen9 without issue.

I am running the latest HP firmware on my cards so I suppose the issues reported could of been resolved now, YMMV.

Have you tested the P840 in HBA mode?

I just picked up a DL380 Gen9 with a Smart Array P840ar Controller running in HBA mode. It replaced my ML330 G6.

Works like a charm. I’ve not had any issues (so far). What are your concerns with it?

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Thanks guys for your replies.
I just got my PERC H200 working.

@TnT I’ve read only that it is not shure if the P840 is running in “true” HBA mode and it may still do something to the ZFS file systems as some other Raid-Cards do.

I am not able to switch my P840 to HBA-Mode. It is not “selectable” from the cards BIOS.

Maybe I have to upgrade the bios - but first I have to find a guide on how to do that through truenas. Any Ideas?

Press F10 at POST to enter Intelligent Provisioning, and choose the Smart Storage Administrator option when prompted. You can change it in there.

I doubt there will be a need to update the BIOS, but if you choose to, the easiest way is though the firmware section in iLO.

Thanks for the Tip. That actually worked…Kind of…now there are only 5 of the 6 installed Drives visible…using the “old” LSI Adapter, all 6 were visible.

Any Idea in how to fix that. I allready tried moving the affected Drive in another Slot, reseated all cables and rebooted.

Are you able to check if all 8 SAS ports are working with the P840 in RAID mode?

When you were using the PERC H200, was it with the same backplane and cables?
Check the SAS cables, they are usually the lowest hanging fruit.

I think I have to revisit this…

I can unfortunatly not easly (or lets say: due to my lack of knowledge) test, if the card sees all ports in Raid mode.

i allready re-seated the sas cable multiple times to check that. And I use the same backplane with my PERC H200 - but different cables.

But I found another issue and maybe this is the culprit:
Using the PERC H200 i can see all 6 drives reporting 3.64 TB as expected. BUT: one drive does not work - it is not acceissble - probably a faulty drive. This is the drive with the same drive (serial number) as the drive that did not show up using the P840.
Maybe the P840 just does not show the faulty drive, because…I do not know. Reasons.

I am allready in the process of switiching / rma the affected drive.