Different RAID arrays on expander backplane

moritzhartwig · 2016-03-29T16:05:56.000Z

Hello,

I have a server with a Supermicro Case, 12x 3.5" Hot-swap SAS3/SATA Drive Bays on expander backplane conected to a LSI SAS 9361-4i RAID Controller.

Case

The plan is to run a 6x SATA SSD array (speed) and another 6x HDD array (SAS or SATA, bulk storage).

The Supermicro technician says it should work. But it is not recommended to mix SAS and SATA, and not recommended to mix SSD and HDD.

Well that leaves very little choices…

Maybe someone can share actual experiences. Thank you!

Denis-Kelley · 2016-03-29T16:29:06.000Z

I’m wondering if that 12x is made up of four 3x sections based on the tech note: 4x Mini-SAS HD connectors. I don’t use SuperMicro, but if that might be the case you could drop in a second controller.

moritzhartwig · 2016-03-29T18:45:09.000Z

The expander backplane is connected with 1x mini SAS HD cable (=4 channels) to the controller.

The backplane can be connected with 2 mini SAS HD cables(=8 channels). There are also 2 output connections for chaining expanders.

aaronreid · 2016-04-01T03:09:55.000Z

Sounds like the rep is trying to get you to buy all SSD… I would tell him to pound sand as mixing ssd and hdd is common practice in enterprise today, especially for DBs that want to run logs on SSD for the enhanced performance

my $.02