64 replies to this topic

[timekills]

Vinylfreak,

Thanks for the pictures and clarification. I don't think they are the same controllers but same idea. I think I'll be spending a lot of time on these forums picking peoples brains because this is all new to me

Yes; same idea. I have the HP 2720 which uses the same technology of 2 x SAS ports which break out into eight (four each) SATA or SAS drives. I use SATA drives because they're cheaper.

[sebringsc]

Thanks for all the help so far, perhaps someone can chime in and let me know about the setup I want to use. I recently purchased four 1.5TB seagate goflex drives from Staples (they were on sale) and have removed them from their external casing. What I need now is a RAID controller to setup a RAID 5 array but there are a TON of options out there for controllers. My drives are SATA III so it would be nice to have a card that would support that, but I don't want to spend anymore than $150 (and thats more than I want to spend really). Any suggestions as to what to get? I have an extra hard drive I will be using to setup windows and run the server from but what is really confusing me is the RAID controller.

Thanks in advance,
Steve

[pcdoc]

Go for the 2720 for about $137. That is what I am running in my server and I love it. Have one more in a box as well for my next build.

http://www.amazon.co...23664531&sr=8-2

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

pcdoc can confirm but I believe you have to buy the break out cables separately so don't forget those.

[Server Grunt]

Hi,

As always - Great job!

Now I have a peculiar RAID-array set-up problem with my newly completed build

Setting
OS: Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V currently running WHS 2011 and W7 as VM's
HW: RockerRaid 2760 with 6 WD Green Drive 3TB in 2 ICY dock cases
I have set up 2 Raid 1 arrays for the host OS and the VM respectively - These are stable and error free so far
Boot is done through the controller card as the OS sits on a raid 1 array (SSD)


Problem
When I try to set up a RAID 5 storage array as a pass-through to the WHS 2011 VW, something happens.
I followed the process described above and everything goes well until I, for any reason, restart the Server 2008 (host).
Then the RAID 5 array is gone (the raid 1:s are still there) and the controller interface shows 2 HDDs as Legacy (an L at the icons representing the HDDs in question) while the others are indicate with a U at the icons representing the HDDs in question.
I have tried to set-up the array in forefront and background mode as well as via the BIOS interface. I have even set it up, then verified it - but same end result

Comment
As the Raid 1:s works with out a hitch my bet is not on the controller card and neither the HDDs for the 5-array, as it builds and checks out fine until re-start

Question
What could be the problem? What have I missed?

//Grunt

[jmwills]

The process I used was to create the Array and have that show up int he host environment with no errors. You then want to take that Drive (array) offline so it can be passed thru to the VM. The Hyper V client will have to be shut down so you can add the hard drive to the exisiting client.

It should be fairly straightforward. You boot up the client, go to the Disk Management console and possible rescan the disks to make sure the drive(array) is seen by the client.

[Server Grunt]

@jmwills:
Thanks for the answer, but you misunderstood the question, or rather apparently the question was not enough clearly stated.
The error is not related to the VM, i.e. once initialized as you describe it is there even when I restart the VM
The problem is on the fundamental level, that when the host OS is restarted, as in physically turning of the computer, the problem with the raid 5 array as described above occurs.

//Grunt

[pcdoc]

@jmwills:
Thanks for the answer, but you misunderstood the question, or rather apparently the question was not enough clearly stated.
The error is not related to the VM, i.e. once initialized as you describe it is there even when I restart the VM
The problem is on the fundamental level, that when the host OS is restarted, as in physically turning of the computer, the problem with the raid 5 array as described above occurs.

//Grunt

Try preventing your VM from starting up automatically for a few restarts. Assuming you have run this for awhile and the card is properly seating and functional, the problem may occur while the OS and VM are starting. The only time I have seen the Highpoint do that is when it was not seated correctly.

[ikon]

Try preventing your VM from starting up automatically for a few restarts. Assuming you have run this for awhile and the card is properly seating and functional, the problem may occur while the OS and VM are starting. The only time I have seen the Highpoint do that is when it was not seated correctly.

Remember all the issues with PCI cards not seating properly because they didn't have any hold-down clips at the back end? That could be a nightmare. I don't know how many metal PCI card brackets I 'massaged' in order to get the card to fully seat in the slot. PCIe is certainly better, but sometimes those hold-down clips can be a real PITB to unlock when you want to remove a card.

[Server Grunt]

@doc:
The card is seated - I actually opened the case up once more and checked it.
I will try the VM strtupsetting as well

[pcdoc]

@doc:
The card is seated - I actually opened the case up once more and checked it.
I will try the VM strtupsetting as well

Good luck. I only mention seating as I found the Highpoint cards to be overly sensitive in some boards. I found one that appeared to be seated but it was not until i removed the bracket that I discovered it was not seated good enough. Let us know what happens. with the delayed start.

[Server Grunt]

One thing that does confuse me is that when you go into the BIOS utility and try to create an array in "front" mode there is a warning that comes up, saying the array is not fault tolerant until a verification and rebuild has been done.
However, this warning does not show in the web GUI

[pcdoc]

One thing that does confuse me is that when you go into the BIOS utility and try to create an array in "front" mode there is a warning that comes up, saying the array is not fault tolerant until a verification and rebuild has been done.
However, this warning does not show in the web GUI

This is primarily due to the fact that the controller can be used as a stand alone controller. Not sure why they do not give you the same message in the WebUI.

[Server Grunt]

@doc: Do I need to run a vreification after setting up an array in the web GUI?

Also: I just saw that in Device manager under Storage controller there are 3 High Point RCM Device posts, as well 3 RocketRAID 2760 SAS Controller posts and finally a Microsoft VHD HBA post - Could this be part of my problem?
(I intended to incude a picture from my PC but could not find a way to do this)

[pcdoc]

@doc: Do I need to run a vreification after setting up an array in the web GUI?

Also: I just saw that in Device manager under Storage controller there are 3 High Point RCM Device posts, as well 3 RocketRAID 2760 SAS Controller posts and finally a Microsoft VHD HBA post - Could this be part of my problem?
(I intended to incude a picture from my PC but could not find a way to do this)

You do not need to run a verify. The initial will verify it. Verify is if you want to validate data integrity later downstream. What you are seeing in the device manager is normal. Two are from the highpoint and the third (MS VHD) is from Hyper-V. If you kill Hyper-V, that will go away. This should not be a problem.

[Server Grunt]

ok thanks
FYI, I have registered a support issue for this problem with High Point Support to see what they say. I will report back on this.

//Grunt

[pcdoc]

ok thanks
FYI, I have registered a support issue for this problem with High Point Support to see what they say. I will report back on this.

//Grunt

I doubt you will get a response as I have not heard of anyone getting help. The downside of lower cost cards. I am convinced the problem you are describing is not the card. I would disable Hyper-V for now and see if the system works correctly by itself. Also make sure you have updated BIOS for the card and your motherboard as well as current highpoint drivers.

[Server Grunt]

Well, behold an answer, maybe not the most comprehensive, but still an answer:
From Highpoint Support:

Dear sir,

Thanks for your help and we will report to our engineer team with that
please try to connect the HDD directly and test if it is the compatibility with ICY DOCK cases
thanks for your help

Highpoint Taiwan team

I do doubt that this is the issue as I have seen ICY Dock builds s with Highpoint RAID cards , but I might be wrong, in which case I will have to either change to SuperMicro or reduce the number of HDDs and mount them in the Lian-Li original mounts.

/Grunt

[pcdoc]

Well, behold an answer, maybe not the most comprehensive, but still an answer:
From Highpoint Support:

Dear sir,

Thanks for your help and we will report to our engineer team with that
please try to connect the HDD directly and test if it is the compatibility with ICY DOCK cases
thanks for your help

Highpoint Taiwan team

I do doubt that this is the issue as I have seen ICY Dock builds s with Highpoint RAID cards , but I might be wrong, in which case I will have to either change to SuperMicro or reduce the number of HDDs and mount them in the Lian-Li original mounts.

/Grunt

Actually I missed this key point in your earlier post. Running a IcyDock on a HighPoint is running a controller on controller which is not a good plan. Can you just move the IcyDock to a motherboard connector? There response though not detailed might have actually brought up a key point that was missed earlier.

[Server Grunt]

Wel, in some cases you are right but the ICY DOCK "MB455SPF-B 5 in 3 SATA Internal Raid Backplane"-case has no chipset inside - just the ports - so hardware conflicts are unlikely

In addition, according to the compability information from Icydock, there are no known incompatibilities between this case and RocketRAID cards