New LSI 9200 series controllers: 6Gb/s, 2.88 GB/s seq. reads, 1.87 GB/s seq. writes

[Computurd]

yes..here is a vantage run with no cache used, ran direct. it is number 10
Hall Of Fame

[Mastakilla]

and still not available in the Benelux

I think I better move to Siberia or Antartica... They'll probably have it sooner then here

[Anvil]

New firmware and drivers for the 92xx series controllers. (dated 2010-01-29)

Link

Bug Fixes and Enhancements:
===========================

Firmware:
This is a major update with numerous bug fixes and enhancements.

Maybe this is the one...

----------------------------

Oh boy, you better install, looks like its getting very close to the 9211
Hmmm, its a bit of both, +20' iops at small blocks (512B-4KB @ QD64) and down a bit on larger block sizes according to my initial tests. (still testing)

update:
- They've released a new version of the MSM as well. (6.50-11, release 4.3)

[felix_w]

Does anyone know if compatibility with AMD boards improved with this FW? Can anyone try if he has AMD board available ?

Thank you.

[XS Janus]

Wait somebody actually uses AMD and Hardware raid controllers?!







lol just j/k

[felix_w]

Yeap, solution found...compatible board according to user "MustangGT" from sweclockers.com and secondly to user "SLK320" from OCZforums is ASUS M4A79 Deluxe...

This board works with LSI 9260-4i...

[S1nn3r]

Looking at perhaps picking up a 9260 ..

Is the 4i PCIE X8 just like the 8i ?

Also what is the difference between these 9260-4i SKU's ? besides price ?

MRSAS9260-4I/SGL
MRSAS9260-4I/KIT

I am going to be using this with an AMD board .. namely Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5, have been told on another forum that this board will be just fine with LSI based raid cards.. any further thoughts here ?

[felix_w]

Looking at perhaps picking up a 9260 ..

Is the 4i PCIE X8 just like the 8i ?

Also what is the difference between these 9260-4i SKU's ? besides price ?

MRSAS9260-4I/SGL
MRSAS9260-4I/KIT

I am going to be using this with an AMD board .. namely Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5, have been told on another forum that this board will be just fine with LSI based raid cards.. any further thoughts here ?

The first SKU refers to single controller package, while the second to a Kit, which includes an SFF-8087 to 4-SATA cable.

I think trans am has tested the board you're mentioning, but i think that the controller was not recognised... investigate further before you purchase it...

[S1nn3r]

The first SKU refers to single controller package, while the second to a Kit, which includes an SFF-8087 to 4-SATA cable.

I think trans am has tested the board you're mentioning, but i think that the controller was not recognised... investigate further before you purchase it...

Hm that is a bit troubling to my grand plans for this build..

The post im refering to is this one i made on oc.net regarding compatibility with LSI cards on the 790FXTA ..

http://www.overclock.net/amd-motherb...ml#post8291111

[felix_w]

The answer to your post is about the Dell Perc5i/6i cards with LSI FW loaded.

Here's the post from trans am :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...0&postcount=13

He actually tested the 9260-4i on the GA-MA790FXTA-UD5, but no go with current bios available.

[S1nn3r]

The answer to your post is about the Dell Perc5i/6i cards with LSI FW loaded.

Here's the post from trans am :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...0&postcount=13

He actually tested the 9260-4i on the GA-MA790FXTA-UD5, but no go with current bios available.

Oh crap, well now im a bit stuck then it seems, what are my options aside from the LSI 9200 series in terms of inexpensive (<-£300) well regarded RAID cards for 2+ SSD RAID 0 use ? i did look at some Intel controller based ones (Highpoint i think ..) but they were all fan cooled and id want passive as i suspect those little fans are very noisy ..

[S1nn3r]

The answer to your post is about the Dell Perc5i/6i cards with LSI FW loaded.

Here's the post from trans am :

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...0&postcount=13

He actually tested the 9260-4i on the GA-MA790FXTA-UD5, but no go with current bios available.

Also I guess if the 9260 didnt work there is not much chance of its little brother the 9211 HBA working ?

[S1nn3r]

My storage strategy for my new build is now a huge mess.. realy dont know what to do as the appeal of the AMD build i had in mind was extra money to do something extra special on the storage side vs the Intel build as the price difference was enough to get the 9260 and faster/more SSDs.

Now im stuck..

[felix_w]

My storage strategy for my new build is now a huge mess.. realy dont know what to do as the appeal of the AMD build i had in mind was extra money to do something extra special on the storage side vs the Intel build as the price difference was enough to get the 9260 and faster/more SSDs.

Now im stuck..

Have you already bought the Gigabyte board? If not you can get the ASUS M4A79T, which i think works with the LSI, at least the DDR2 version of the board does, that's why i got it. I don't have the controller yet, but i was informed by MustangGT @ sweclockers.com who has this setup and i saw a guy "SLK320 @ OCZforums that also has this setup.

You can try to contact trans am and see what his conclusion for the GA-MA790FXTA-UD5 was.


PS : As for the SB750...the reason it does not behave as the ICHXXR's is the lack of WriteBack setting in it's configuration.
You can set it only in WriteThru mode and that way the same SSD array underperforms in small-file-size read rates...
you can browse the oczforums and see various results.
But (there's always a but), its performance is not something that is complete crap.

You can see for example the SB600 performance on 2 Vertex 30GB here,
SB710/SB750 is almost the same, maybe a little better in small-size reads.

Meaning -> While an LSI9260+SSD configuration is superb, a simple SB750 Raid setup with SSDs is not something with same performance to HDD raid arrays.

[S1nn3r]

Have you already bought the Gigabyte board? If not you can get the ASUS M4A79T, which i think works with the LSI, at least the DDR2 version of the board does, that's why i got it. I don't have the controller yet, but i was informed by MustangGT @ sweclockers.com who has this setup and i saw a guy "SLK320 @ OCZforums that also has this setup.

You can try to contact trans am and see what his conclusion for the GA-MA790FXTA-UD5 was.


PS : As for the SB750...the reason it does not behave as the ICHXXR's is the lack of WriteBack setting in it's configuration. You can set it only in WriteThru mode and that way the same SSD array underperforms in small-file-size read rates...you can browse the oczforums and see various results.
But (there's always a but), its performance is not something that is complete crap. You can see for example the SB600 performance on 2 Vertex 30GB here , SB710/SB750 is almost the same, maybe a little better in small-size reads.

Meaning -> While an LSI9260+SSD configuration is superb, a simple SB750 Raid setup with SSDs is not something with same performance to HDD raid arrays.

Ive been talking with trans am via pm about the situation. And im working on rethinking some aspects of the build.

[S1nn3r]

The first SKU refers to single controller package, while the second to a Kit, which includes an SFF-8087 to 4-SATA cable.

The kit with the cable in it was my understanding is not the same as this though - http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Highp...-to-SATA-Cable ...

Which to my understanding would be the cable i would need. I am not planing on using any fancy backplanes or hot swap or anything.

[felix_w]

In the LSI's product selector guide here (pdf) saya that the cable bundled in the Kit is One mini-SAS to 4 SATA, so normally this is the one you need.

[Computurd]

yes it can be confusing with cabling... just make sure to get good quality cables, do NOT go cheap, you will live to regret it.

[felix_w]

yes it can be confusing with cabling... just make sure to get good quality cables, do NOT go cheap, you will live to regret it.

The one bundled in the Kit version of the controller is ok or should get better quality ?

[Anvil]

I've got the KIT cables and they are working just fine.

[Computurd]

yea the kit cables are fine

[idolclub]

LSI Announces Advanced Software Options for MegaRAID 6Gb/s SAS/SATA Adapters

LSI Corporation (NYSE: LSI) today announced three advanced software options designed to greatly extend the performance and data protection capabilities of LSITM 6Gb/s SAS/SATA MegaRAID controller cards. The new MegaRAID FastPath and CacheCade offerings help to optimize application performance in direct-attached storage environments configured with solid-state drives (SSDs). The MegaRaid Recovery option enhances data protection through new snapshot functionality, which enables rapid file and volume-level data recovery.

LSI MegaRAID FastPath optimizer software provides high-performance I/O acceleration for SSDs connected to a 6Gb/s SAS/SATA MegaRAID controller. The technology is designed to dramatically boost transactional application throughput, delivering up to 150,000 I/Os per second (IOPS). The software supports full optimization of SSD and hard disk drive (HDD) virtual disk groups to deliver a 3X improvement in read and write IOPS compared to MegaRAID controllers not utilizing FastPath technology.

"We’ve found that MegaRAID FastPath technology enables Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 to maximize the performance of SSD storage using non-parity RAID levels," said David Powell, Director of SQL Server Performance Engineering at Microsoft. "We’re blown away by the performance results we’re seeing from LSI – up to 150,000 8KB IOPS in SQL Server benchmark testing, and easily 2X faster than comparable RAID solutions for online transaction processing (OLTP) database workloads. Any business looking for cost-effective performance and scalability should try SQL Server with MegaRAID SAS RAID controllers, LSI FastPath software and today’s high-performing solid-state disk technology."

LSI MegaRAID CacheCade cache tiering software enables SSDs to be configured as a secondary tier of cache to maximize transactional I/O performance. Utilizing SSD devices as cache can deliver up to a 50X performance improvement in read-intensive applications, such as OLTP and file and Web server workloads. The solution is designed to accelerate the I/O performance of HDD-based arrays while minimizing required investments in SSD technology.

Enhanced data protection is provided by LSI MegaRAID Recovery, which uses snapshots to enable rapid file and volume-level data recovery capabilities. Users can capture snapshots of source volume data at designated points in time and restore data from those points should accidental or malicious data loss or corruption occur. MegaRAID Recovery is designed to satisfy the growing need for more frequent restore points and reduced recovery times, providing IT organizations with new levels of data protection and business continuity.

[SteveRo]

Based on the latest LSI F/W and new S/W which should now be better for acards - 9260 or 9211?
When I last tested - the 9211 scored better in vantage - would that still be the case?
If the simplist raid is best for SSD wouldn't that be doubly true for acard ramdisks?

[SteveRo]

For comparison - below is the most I think I can wring out of the 1231ML4G - this is with i7 @ 4.5, 1720 6-6-6 1T memory, 12x acard 9010 R0, pcie 119.
So much of this is inflated by cache - however note the iometer run at the bottom.
I would think both the 9260 or the 9211 can beat this in 4MB seq iops but what about 4K random read/writes?

[Tiltevros]

wait till next week i will get my 9260 8 port and i try some test for u. if u promise to fix my xls file