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

[F@32]

excellent. this will be very interesting to find optimal stripe, as from my testing im sure that the 64k isnt it. still fast though
im very interested to see how this handles at larger/smaller sizes. that would be a great controller for me to pick up, thinking of splitting my array into two rigs....great thing about the 9211 was that you get fastpath speeds at such a cheap price!
dollar for dollar that 9240 could be hard to beat! what is the ETA on it? and if you dont mind, where did you pick it up?

CT, here's the deal on this card: $45+shipping. 7 in stock (12-12-2010). No bracket, and description claims it's LSI SAS9220-8i, which does not exist? Might pick one up anyway just for testing...

$75+shipping with the bracket. 8 in stock (12-12-2010).

EDIT: It's actually 9211-8i, not 9240...

The ServeRAID M1015 SAS/SATA Controller has the following specifications:

* Eight internal 6 Gbps SAS/SATA ports
* Supports SAS and SATA drives (but not in the same RAID volume)
* Two Mini-SAS internal connectors (SFF-8087)
* 6 Gbps throughput per port
* LSI SAS2008 6 Gbps RAID on Chip (ROC) controller
* x8 PCI Express 2.0 host interface
* Supports RAID levels 0, 1, 10 (RAID levels 5 and 50 with optional ServeRAID M1000 Series Advanced Feature Key)
* Connects to up to 32 SAS or SATA drives
* Supports up to 16 logical volumes
* Supports LUN sizes up to 64 TB
* Configurable stripe size up to 64 KB
* Compliant with Disk Data Format (DDF) configuration on disk (COD)
* S.M.A.R.T. support

And if it's sounds too good to be true... Some folks report no-boot issue similar to Dell PERCs. Will do a litlle bit research.

[zalbard]

Damn, looks awesome!
If one can boot from it just fine then I'd definitely go for it...
I suppose the performance of C300 would be a lot higher than when just using ICH10R, right?

[F@32]

Damn, looks awesome!
If one can boot from it just fine then I'd definitely go for it...
I suppose the performance of C300 would be a lot higher than when just using ICH10R, right?

Yeah, it will blow ICH10R away... and then not scale after 64KB> file sizes. LSI gimped 9211's, but what's amazing 9240 are uncapped and cost only marginally more. I really need ability to set larger stripes than 64K... No go for now, but for $45, wow!

Notice SteveRo hits the wall, but it's at 1.2Gb/s above 64Kb files. At 4Mb file sizes it drops below ICH10R, 520MB/s.

[Tiltevros]

@ f@32

here u go something from the past with the legentery 9211

[Computurd]

yea i wish i didnt sell mine....why did i do that!? gah!

[flamenko]

Got the new LSI on the way as of today... Maybe I can contribute in here a bit!

[Computurd]

i miss my 9260 too. damn it!
(this areca is nice though )

[odditory]

Nothing will beat the Areca 1880 until LSI SAS2208 based parts start rolling out.

[flamenko]

New LSI 6Gb/s 9260-8i on the way with cables.. Wonder what 8xC300 256GB what total in RAID0 ... It is bootable...

[mbreslin]

New LSI 6Gb/s 9260-8i on the way with cables.. Wonder what 8xC300 256GB what total in RAID0 ... It is bootable...

oddly this configuration sounds familiar..

[Computurd]

rofl~!

Mr. Mbreslin, meet Mr. Flamenko, and Mr. Flamenko, meet Mr. Mbreslin! he has just about the best results in the world with his 9260 in the exact same config, and a spot in teh top of PCMV to prove it

[flamenko]

I apologize for not seeing your thread at all but will dig it up. I am active in many sites with a few other things as well.

Wait...How many 256GB C300s did you have attached? and was the card SATA 6Gb/s?

[mbreslin]

The main threads were:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=247100
and here:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=252750

Your other questions: 8 drives, yes all 9260s are sata 6gb/s

(also my system config is in my sig)

[flamenko]

Got the UD7 arriving Mon as well eheheh

[Mastakilla]

I did some more testing of my issue with the RAID controller and got some new questions

here is the issue explained shortly:
WebBIOS does not start if my RAID5 is attached, when having a recent firmware:
version 12.0.1: WebBIOS starts and works fine with my RAID5
version 12.12.0, 12.11.0, 12.9.0: WebBIOS does not start with my RAID5 attached
When I press ctrl-h, with the RAID5 attached, to load WebBIOS, it says that it will start WebBIOS after the POST (so it does register the ctrl-h pressing).
But it does not start (it simply continues starting Windows, without any WebBIOS error message)

I also tried flashing back to 12.7.0, but that destroyed my first controller (I now work with an RMA replacement which has the exact same issue)
Because of this, I don't want to flash back my LSI to older versions and having the risk of destroying another controller (I think all firmware older then 12.9.0 might have this effect)

A few days ago I did some more testing. Besides the 4 HDs from my RAID5, I have 2 more identical drives that are not in use yet.
So I tried to figure out what exactly triggers the issue:

If I attach the 2 drives without configuring them in Virtual Drive ("unconfigured good"), then WebBIOS does start.
As soon as I configure them in a Virtual Drive, WebBIOS does not start anymore.
I've tried RAID0 and RAID1 using both default settings and settings like "always write through", no "fast initialize". I've also tried configuring a smaller array with it, like a 10GB RAID1.

I am in contact with LSI on this, but so far they have no solution.
They suspect this is a compatibility issue between the LSI 9260 controller and the Gigabyte UD7 mobo
They think it may have something to do with the new LSI firmware/WebBIOS being bigger (new functionality for SSDs) and doesn't fit in the Gigabyte flash mem anymore (or something like that)

I have now asked them if they want to contact their WebBIOS / Firmware programmers to have them explain how WebBIOS starts (so I can ask Gigabyte for help as well)
WebBIOS starts a bit special. It starts after the POST (or at least as the latest of the POST).

So my first question to you is:
Does anyone know how WebBIOS starts? (in which memory / boot block / ??? is WebBIOS triggered / loaded?)

My second question is:
Can someone with a Gigabyte UD7 (rev1), the LSI 9260 and a recent firmware test if WebBIOS still starts when a configured RAID array is attached?
Please let me know your Gigabyte UD7 firmware, your LSI 9260 firmware and what HDs / SDDs you use.

Thanks

[Computurd]

there is a new firmware revision out. can anyone test with an evga motherboard? this one has a HUGE changelog...

[tiro_uspsss]

there is a new firmware revision out. can anyone test with an evga motherboard? this one has a HUGE changelog...

I've downloaded it but am too chicken to go any further; why?
- do I leave the HDDs attached to it?
- my card is a re-badged 'IBM M1015' (LSI 9240-8i) - will this be a problem?

if I can leave my HDDs attached & no problem, I'll do it straight away.. tho I wont be able to give any info on evga mobos or performance boosts etc (my fileserver hardware is ancient )

[Mastakilla]

Normally you can keep your HDs attached during flashing (I flashed my LSI 9260 more than 10 times now and although I did destroy the controller itself once by flashing it to an older version, I have never lost my Virtual Drive...)

I just tried the new firmware, driver and software and all seem to work fine (I did need to uninstall MSM before upgrading it, else it refused to start)

But... My WebBIOS issue still remains...

Can anyone please try to answer my questions from 3 posts above?
Also I would greatly appreciate if someone with a Gigabyte UD7 (rev1) and a LSI 9260 could try to see if you have the same issue...

[DooRules]

hey comp, this is in the FW list of bios fix's LSIP200100054 (DFCT) System hangs during OpROM POST in some systems

[mbreslin]

ud7 rev1 bios: F7p
9260 fw: 12.11.something

web bios works fine (control-h during boot)

[Mastakilla]

ud7 rev1 bios: F7p
9260 fw: 12.11.something

web bios works fine (control-h during boot)

Thanks a lot for the info!

Do you happen to remember if you ever tried it with the final F7 bios of the Gigabyte UD7?

I think I'll try some different BIOS for my UD7 tonight to see if this helps...

[mbreslin]

I may have tried it with an f8 beta but I got poor OC results and went back to f7p.

[Mastakilla]

I just tried F7p and F8g
Both did not help

I only tried the "default" BIOS settings
Is there some way you can give me a list of ALL your BIOS settings?
Not like a binary BIOS save file (my system isn't really the same ), but a textual file or screenshots or something, so I can look for "interesting differences"?

Thanks in advance

[mbreslin]

I doubt there is anything different besides things that pertain to my overclock. I'm not going to write down every setting but you can ask some specific setting and if I know offhand I'll tell. And if I don't know I can be coaxed into checking.

[Mastakilla]

Thanks for help!

I completely understand you don't want to type them over one by one
I now asked in the UD7 thread if there is an easier way to do this.

There must be some difference though

As far as I can think, it can only be one of the following:
* A UD7 BIOS Setting difference
* A big controller setting difference (e.g. BBU vs no BBU, Fastpath vs no Fastpast).
* Using SSDs on the LSI controller vs using regular Green SATA HDs
* Having the LSI array as boot drive vs having a separate SSD as bootdrive

It cannot be:
* A controller defect (I already replaced it once)
* A smaller controller setting difference (tried all relevant ones)