>>>>> "b" == Blake <blake.ir...@gmail.com> writes:
b> http://www.provantage.com/lsi-logic-lsi00117~7LSIG03X.htm
I'm having trouble matching up chips, cards, drivers, platforms, and
modes with the LSI stuff. The more I look at it the mroe confused I
get.
Platforms:
x86
SPARC
Drivers:
mpt
mega_sas
mfi
Chips:
1068 (SAS, PCI-X)
1068E (SAS, PCIe)
1078 ???
-- from supermicro, seems to be SAS, PCIe, with support for 256 -
512MB RAM instead of the 16 - 32MB RAM on the others
1030 (parallel scsi)
Cards:
LSI cards
http://www.lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/index.html
I love the way they use the numbers 3800 and 3080, so you are
constantly transposing them thus leaving google littered with all
this confusingly wrong information.
LSISAS3800X (PCI-X, external ports)
LSISAS3080X-R (PCI-X, internal ports)
LSISAS3801X (PCI-X, external ports)
LSISAS3801E (PCIe, external ports)
LSISAS3081E-R (PCIe, internal ports)
I would have thought -R meant ``suports RAID'' but all I can really
glean through the foggy marketing-glass behind which all the
information is hidden, is -R means ``all the ports are internal''.
Supermicro cards http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/index.cfm
wow, this is even more of a mess.
These are all UIO cards so I assume they have the PCIe bracket on backwards
AOC-USAS-L4i (PCIe, 4 internal 4 external)
AOC-USAS-L8i, AOC-USASLP-L8i (PCIe, internal ports)
based on 1068E
sounds similar to LSISAS3081E. Is that also 1068E?
supports RAID0, RAID1, RAID10
AOC-USAS-L4iR
identical to the above, but ``includes iButton''
which is an old type of smartcard-like device with
sometimes crypto and javacard support.
apparently some kind of license key to
unlock RAID5? no L8iR exists though, only L4iR.
I have the L8i, and it does have an iButton socket
with no button in it.
AOC-USAS-H4iR
AOC-USAS-H8iR, AOC-USASLP-H8iR (PCIe, internal ports)
based on 1078
low-profile version has more memory than fullsize version?!
but here is the most fun thing about the supermicro cards. All
cards have one driver *EXCEPT* the L8i, which has three drivers
for three modes: IT, IR, and SR. When I google for this I find
notes on some of their integrated motherboards like:
* The onboard LSI 1068E supported SR and IT mode but not IR mode.
I also found this:
* SR = Software RAID IT = Integrate. Target mode. IR mode is not supported.
but no idea what the three modes are. searching for SAS SR IT IR
doesn't work either, so it's not some SAS thing. What *is* it?
also there seem to be two different kinds of quad-SATA connector on
these SAS cards so there are two different kinds of octopus cable.
Questions:
* which chips are used by each of the LSI boards? I can guess, but
in particular LSISAS3800X and LSISAS3801X seem to be different
chips, while from the list of chips I'd have no choice but to guess
they are both 1068.
* which drivers work on x86 and which SPARC? I know some LSI cards
work in SPARC but maybe not all---do the drivers support the same
set of cards on both platforms? Or will normal cards not work in
SPARC for lack of Forth firmware to perform some LSI-proprietary
``initialization'' ritual?
* which chips go with which drivers? Is it even that simple---will
adding an iButton RAID5 license to a SuperMicro board make the same
card change from mega_sas to mpt attachment, or something similar?
For example there is a bug here about a 1068E card which doesn't
work, even though most 1068E cards do work:
http://bugs.opensolaris.org/view_bug.do?bug_id=6736187
Maybe the Solaris driver needs IR mode and won't work with the
onboard supermicro chip which supports only ``software raid''
whatever that means, which is maybe denoted by SR? What does the
iButton unlock, then, features of IR mode which are abstracted from
the OS driver?
* What are SR, IT, and IR mode? Which modes do the Solaris drivers
use, or does it matter?
* Has someone found the tool mentioned here by some above-the-table
means, or only by request from LSI?:
http://www.opensolaris.org/jive/message.jspa?messageID=184811#184811
The mention that a SPARC version of the tool exists is encouraging.
The procedure to clear persistent mappings through the BIOS
obviously won't work on SPARC.
Here are the notes I have so far:
-----8<-----
> The driver for LSI's MegaRAID SAS card is "mega_sas" which
> was integrated into snv_88. It's planned for backporting to
> a Solaris 10 update.
There is also a BSD-licensed driver for that hardware, called
"mfi". It's available from
http://www.itee.uq.edu.au/~dlg/mfi
> a scsi_vhci
> sort of driver for the LSI card in the Ultra {20,25}
Well yes, that's mpt(7d) as delivered into NV build 63, and
backported to Solaris 10 Update 5, found in patch 125081-14
and 125082-14. We've got support for both SAS (1064/E, 1068/E
and 1078) and Parallel SCSI (1030) chips from LSI in that driver.
SATA disks will always show up when attached to a SAS HBA,
because that's one of the requirements of the SAS specification.
> LSISAS3801E
I think you might actually be referring to the LSI SAS3801-R
You're correct in that it's not using mpt, but mega_sas or mfi.
But it's not a SATA framework driver.
-----8<-----
which doesn't seem to be internally consistent.
note that SAS3801-R is not a product that exists on LSI's site. There
is LSISAS3801X (without the -R), or LSISAS3081E-R, LSISAS3080X-R (with
-R).
note also that 1068, 1068E, and 1078 in the middle statement suggests
mpt supports every LSI card we are discussing (probably---LSI doesn't
say what chips are on each card), while the last statement contradicts
it by mentioning a nonexistant card of the same era we are discussing
which doesn't work with mpt driver.
--
READ CAREFULLY. By reading this fortune, you agree, on behalf of your employer,
to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all
NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap,
browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use
policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its
partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my
ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the
authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer.
pgpvAF8XGrL6J.pgp
Description: PGP signature
_______________________________________________ zfs-discuss mailing list zfs-discuss@opensolaris.org http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
