ssd firmware, linux: updating large batch of drives

Solution 1:

Some controllers allow to flash drive firmware with built-in utilities (adaptec does for sure), but anyway - it's not safe, especially for arrays. Even utilities can do that - I won't.

It's better to update drives one-by-one and rebuild them. There is a risk that drives might not work after firmware flash and in case of batch upgrade - you may lose several drives at once and as a result lose whole RAID data, not talking about single drives.

For SAS drives - consult your disk and controller vendor for compatibility. There are no generic and USB-SAS adapters (couldn't find or seen after searching, need them too for safe erase). For SATA - just connect them to your desktop via SATA/eSATA cable or use adapter as you already said. I do have few of these multibrand Chinese adapters and they're working fine enough - I've updated firmware on many SATA drives.

Good luck