HP DL585 G1 with VMware ESXi 5 - SATA solution, need more storage
I have the following:
- 2 x DL585 G1 (8 cores) with built in Smart Array 5i (2 x 74GB SCSI in Raid 0)
I installed VMware ESXi 5 and got it all working :)
However I need more space.
I was thinking of getting 2 x P600 which I can install in the DL585 G1 however I am not sure if it will support SATA drives. It does states, SAS online. But I have been reading about SATA and SAS not able to work together. So, I came here. the place of experts. I have a lot of this sitting around.
Can anyone advise me please.
Please note that I am new to servers / vmware, in fact 3 weeks old. But I have been spending about 10 hours a day learning. Any help would be great.
My idea was to have a box outside with all the HDD's and the SATA cables going through the back to the P600
Thank you
Is this for production use, or test?
if it's for test or non-critical production, check out QNAP or SYNOLGY for a decent NAS box that supports iSCSI.
If you need something for production, checkout Equallogic, they make a nice SAN and are a real bang for the buck in the enterprise.
Edit1:
To answer your question, yes it will support SATA. See the following link: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12247_na/12247_na.HTML
3Gb/s SAS technology delivers high performance and data bandwidth up to 300 MB\s per physical link and contains full compatibility with 1.5G SATA technology.
I will say though, it probably will be cheaper per GB and a lot more flexiable to go with a NAS as you can run more generic drives. You'll also get the added benifits that come with shared storage in vmware such as vmotion, storage migration, etc.
I wouldn't invest much into getting this server working. The DL585 G1 is a bit old and was end-of-life in 2006. It's not supported under ESXi 5 and I'm not sure you'd be able to use 64-bit virtual machines within it. The VMWare hardware compatibility list implies that support for that model was limited to ESX 3.5.
Either way, the model you have was designed to work with external storage due to its limited internal drive space (4 hard drive bays). At the time, the preferred solution was an external SCSI MSA30 unit mated to a Smart Array 6400-series controller and later, the MSA20 and MSA60 units.
Please reference the detailed specifications and maintenance guide for the DL585 server.
You did not specify how much space you needed. Officially, the model can accommodate 4 x 300GB U320 SCSI disks (HP part #350964-B22). That's your path of least-resistance to maximize space inside the server. You can find the disks for $150US/each used.
The other option is to replace the SCSI drive cage with the SAS/SATA drive cage option (HP part #379090-B21). This will provide 8 x 2.5" internal SAS/SATA drive bays. You'd use this with a Smart Array P600 RAID controller. At this point, you could get away with nearly any basic 2.5" SATA or SAS disk (in an HP drive carrier), or look at the specific part numbers listed in the P600 quickspecs. SATA speeds will be limited to 1.5Gb throughput.
From this to this...
Any other solution will require an external storage chassis and an accompanying controller. Even used, those parts may not be worth the effort. It's old gear. BTW - The P600 controller is a bit of a dog. It was really a transitional product to help the migration from parallel SCSI to SAS.
The P600 does support SATA. But does not support every SATA drive. Any HP SAS or SATA drive will work with the P600 (or any of their other SAS Smart Array cards).
HP makes the MSA60, MSA70, P2012, and P2024 drive enclosures to hold the drives too. They take HP's standard drive sled in 2.5" and 3.5" drive sizes, holding 12, 25, 12, and 24 drives respectively.