LSI SAS6160 Switch First Look

We are looking to scale out our two node Hyper-V failover cluster configuration beyond the two redundant SAS connections per controller on the Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem.

So, we brought in a couple LSI 6Gbit/Second SAS switches.

• LSI SAS6160 Switch Product Page

We see the possibility of going beyond the maximum six nodes in the Intel Modular Server using Intel R1208GZ Server Systems (previous blog post) with dual Intel RS25GB008 SAS Host Bus Adapters.

It will be interesting to see when we connect all four external SAS connectors on the two RS25GB008 HBAs for a total of four quad port SAS connections running at 6Gbit/Second at each port what kind of throughput, bandwidth, and IOPs we will see.

We have the switch out of the box, plugged in, and powered up. We changed a Windows 7 VM’s IP address to 192.168.1.101 so that we would be able to connect to the switch at its default static IP of 192.168.1.100.

Note that Java is required to connect to the management console.

The default username and password:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin
• Default IP: 192.168.1.100

Once logged in we are greeted with the SAS Domain Manager GUI:

From there we went into the Operations tab so we could configure networking for management:

Now, the next step in the process is to get the firmware updated if need be.

Out of the box this particular switch has 200.10 which has the publishing date of August 1, 2011.

• LSI SAS6160 Switch Support and Download Page
• LSI SAS6160 Switch User Guide PDF
• LSI KB 16556: Firmware for SAS Switch must be upgraded one version at a time!

So, in this case it looks as though we need to run through the upgrade process as indicated in the above KB article twice to get to the most recent version. The KB is very specific about the process too!

Note that the dates must be goofy on the downloads because the April 11th download is Phase 12 with a later version number than the firmware the switch came with.

Once we have run through the firmware updates we will be plugging in the four Intel Server System SR1695GPRX2AC servers with dual 3Gbit/Second SAS connections each into the two switches we have for a fully redundant configuration.

We will start with one Promise VTrak E610sD RAID Subsystem for destination storage. We will add a second E610sD once we have worked our way through the first few rounds of configuration and testing.

More to come . . .

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

New Intel Server System R1208GZ Integration Notes for 2 Node Cluster Deployment

We are in the process of working on some new additions to our 2 node Hyper-V Cluster setups based on the new Intel E5-2600 Xeon Processor series.

The one we are focused in on at the moment is the Intel Server System R1208GZ. It is a dual CPU server in a 1U form factor.

• Intel Server System R1200GZ Family Product Page

This particular 1U Server System gives us two PCI-E full height slots thus allowing us to install two LSI SAS Host Bus Adapters for our redundant storage connections. We are in the process to find out which LSI SAS HBAs have been given the green light for use in this Intel Server System.

Since it is so new the Tested Hardware and Operating System List is a bit shy on third party components at this time.

It is important to note that the bus connection for the second PCI Riser slot is directly connected to CPU 2. Thus it will only function if a second CPU is present!

The same is true for the DIMM slots associated with CPU 2. DIMMs can only be accessed in the slots designated for CPU 2 if there is a CPU present in that socket!

We have four Intel i350 Gigabit Ethernet NICs out of the box with the ability to add in a Quad port 1Gbit I/O Module based on Intel Ethernet Controller i350 if there was a need. 10Gbit Ethernet and other connectivity options are also available.

We would be adding the Intel Remote Management Module 4 LITE plus the dedicated NIC option for the RMM to give us total out-of-band access to the server’s baseboard management controller (BMC) as well as KVM over IP.

A pair of 120GB Intel 320 Series SSDs set up in a RAID 1 array would round out the configuration.

By default we will always be installing two Intel Xeon Processors along with a minimum of 48GB (3x 8GB Kingston Intel Certified ECC) of RAM at 1333MHz for the mid-level Xeons and 1600MHz for the top tier CPUs.

Some further reading on the new server systems (pages with PDF download links):

• Intel Server System R1000GZ/GL Family Technical Product Specifications
• Intel Server System R1000GZ/GL & R2000GZ/GL Family Spares/Accessories List and Configuration Guide
• Every Intel based option available for this product family is in this list. If an Intel part number isn’t in there it isn’t supported!
• Drivers and Product Downloads for the R1000GZ/GL and R2000GZ/GL Family
• Note that there are already firmware updates available for the Server Board.

This new line looks to be a promising 1U form factor addition for our Hyper-V Cluster configuration offerings.

We just need to wait and see what happens with LSI compatibility.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer