HPE Storage Users Group

A Storage Administrator Community




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: disk size compatibility
PostPosted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:16 am 

Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:57 pm
Posts: 7
Anybody here using an S400? What's the biggest FC drive installed in your S-class? We wanted to upgrade from 146GB to 600GB but our sales rep told us that this drive is "too hot" for the S-class and 450GB FC is EOL. We were told that the only FC option is 300GB :roll:

We have a feeling that HP/3PAR is simply making it hard for us to extend the life of the S400 so we will be forced to upgrade to a newer model.

I'm reading the 3PAR concept guide and it is clearly mentioned that the S and T class both use the same drive chassis, DC2 and DC3.

--
bigiron


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: disk size compatibility
PostPosted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 1:25 am 
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:35 pm
Posts: 1328
Location: Dallas, Texas
I'm not sure what he meant by "too hot". Perhaps that was a nice way of saying the S-class is nearing retirement age. I don't see it listed on 3PARs products page anymore.

I personally am a tinkerer, in theory the 600gb drives should work just fine in the old hardware, if uts a plug and play environment. However, this is an Enterprise grade data system, and I think when it comes to delivering the promise of data integrity, it is permissable for a manufacturer to deny any assumption/expectation of "open hardware compatability" and limit support to limited "known to be good" parts list. I suspect thats what 3PAR does inside their Inserv OS by maintaining a table of supported drive models and firmware, and the images to flash firmware for those supported drives within the OS.

That said, it would require code/data changes to the old Inserv code (compiled for the S-class processors which are different than the new T series Intel based systems) and the standard slew of testing to validate the new drives and firmware work as intended with all the existing legacy components out there in the various possible combinations that may occur in the real world... in order to continue to guarantee the promite of data integrity.

Spot checking the EMC Clariion Disk and FLARE OE Matrix (attached) you can see that EMC never added support for 450gb drives to many of their older systems (CX200, CX400, CX600), and only supports the 500gb FC drive on 2 of their systems. The 600gb FC drive is not even listed as supported and this document is roughly 2 weeks old, January 6, 2011.

Attachment:
File comment: EMC Clariion Disk and Flare OE Matrix
014003111.pdf [590.58 KiB]
Downloaded 2865 times


The DMX1000, DMX2000, DMX3000 (comparable age wise to a S-class) only support up to 10k rpm 300gb FC disk. No 600gb option. It lists a 7.2k rpm 500 gb disk, but its unclear to me if thats native FC or sata. The same appears to be true for the IBM DS products from DS6800 thru DS8300.

I believe its an industry wide practice to not spend too much time/effort into refreshing code/firmware on old EOL platforms to stay up to date with modern spindle sizes.

You should be able to continue to reap the value of your S400 investment by adding more magazines and drive shelves to your existing system using supported drive types. How does scaling that compare to buying a new T400?

_________________
Richard Siemers
The views and opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 2 posts ] 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 36 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group | DVGFX2 by: Matt