NASLite Network Attached Storage

Hello,
I'm using NasLite on a P II 266 MHz platform with 64 MB RAM, one 160 GB IDE drive, one 250GB SATA drive (on an Adapter 2410SA card) and recently two 1TB SATA drives on the same 2410SA card.
It seem's not be possible to built a RAID1 array with two 7K1000.B drives on a 2410SA card, so I tried to use the drive as volume with the card and I got some other problems:

# ug 5 14:10:19 user.info kernel: p1 p2
# Aug 5 14:10:26 user.warn kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1950351360 512-byte hdwr sectors (998580 MB)
# Aug 5 14:10:26 user.info kernel: unknown partition table
# Aug 5 14:10:29 user.warn kernel: SCSI device sdb: 1950351360 512-byte hdwr sectors (998580 MB)
# Aug 5 14:10:29 user.info kernel: p1
# Aug 5 14:11:05 user.notice kernel: __alloc_pages: 0-order allocation failed (gfp=0x1d0/0)
# Aug 5 14:18:53 user.info kernel: p1 p2
# Aug 5 14:19:01 user.warn kernel: SCSI device sdc: 1950351360 512-byte hdwr sectors (998580 MB)
# Aug 5 14:19:01 user.info kernel: unknown partition table
# Aug 5 14:19:04 user.warn kernel: SCSI device sdc: 1950351360 512-byte hdwr sectors (998580 MB)
# Aug 5 14:19:04 user.info kernel: p1
# Aug 5 14:19:08 user.notice kernel: __alloc_pages: 0-order allocation failed (gfp=0x1d0/0)

while formating the 1 TB 7K1000.B drives !!!
Is this a size limitation in NasLite ?
Did anyone had such a similar problem with Hitachi drives or is it a Adaptec 2410SA card problem ??
Thanks,
DH

You first need to RAID the drives in the BIOS of the 2410SA card, follow the directions in the manual from Adaptec. If all goes right the drives should appear as one big 1.9TB drive to NL. You then need to add the drive as you would any in the NL control console. You will also need to add a whole lot more memory to that box as it will bonk on FSCK for the big drive. You need around 512MB of memory or more. The plus to the added memory is that the general transfers will happen much faster for small transactions as they are buffered in memory and then written out to the drive.

Mike

Mikeiver1,
I don't want a big 1,9 Tb but just 1 TB because I want to do RAID1 and not RAID0. But, no, it does't work, I opended a case by Adaptec but for the moment they haven't a solution for me. Perhaps you're right the amount of memory is probably not enough for this disk size, perhaps increasing it to 512 MB could also solve the Adaptec problem ?
Thanks for your suggestion,
DH

Memory will not solve the problem in regards to the cards BIOS not allowing you to setup the mirror. Try first flashing the firmware of the card, also the MB as well if there is a firmware update for it. You may also need to put the card in a newer machine and setup the mirror first then move it back to the PII machine. There are times that there are hardware conflicts and the best way to solve them is to side step.

Mike

Mike,
I already flashed the BIOS with no change, in fact, I can setup a RAID1 array with the controller BIOS but it fails during built/verify process which ends before the job is done.
I'll try to setup in a newer machine, good idea.
Damien

Are the two drives *exactly* the same size? You could try swapping the drive order on the card to see if that makes any difference.

Also, are you absolutely sure that both drives in question are totally error free? This could stop the build / verify process.

Have you initialised both of the drives?

Hello Nick,
Nice to read you again !!
Yes, the two drives are exactly the same size, and I tried to built an array with only 250 GB and got the same result: 'IMPACTED'.
To test the drives I used DFT (Drive Fitness Test) from Hitachi and no errors were detected.
Yes, drives were initialized (you can't built an array if it's not done).
Thanks for your answer because I know (thanks to a previous exchange of message) you use (or used) also Adaptec cards.
Damien

Have you tried changing the power / data cables for the drives, or even which sockets on the 2410SA they are attached to? I had problems with "loose" SATA cables (i.e. SATAII cables in a SATA socket) for a while until I firmed them up a bit.

Impacted implies that a drive couldn't be seen when the card booted itself then became available after a reboot.

How are you building the array - foreground or background?

Hello Nick,
No, I didn't change even SATA cable nor power cable, could be an idea.
IMPACTED comes after a while (some hours !!) after starting the Build / Verify process. (extract fron Adaptec documentation: Build / Verify: Array is available for use immediately. The Build operation continues in the background. Therefore, an operating system installation may begin while the array is going through the Build process, although performance will be impacted until the process has completed.)
I have to other options:
- Clear:• Array is not available to use until the operation completes.
• Fastest way to set the disks into a known good state.
• Writes only zeroes to the disk.
Although no real redundancy/parity is created, all disk sectors contain zeroes (no data) so none is required. Any future write operations will create required redundancy.

I'm not sure but I think I tested it with no better results, but I'll try again.


- Quick Init: • Array is available for use immediately.
• Only creates metadata on member disks of the array, the build process is bypassed. While this is the fastest method for creating a RAID array, it is only recommended for use with new drives. Performance will be impacted while the logical drive is in Quick Init mode until a Verify with Fix is performed from the Adaptec / ICP Storage Manager software.

I can't test the Quick Init because I don't know how to run the Adaptec/ ICP Storage Manager Software under NasLite !!


At the beginning of the process I can see the increasing of the percentage value of completion and after some hours the status is IMPACTED and not OPTIMAL as expected, even the reboot doesn't change anything.
Regards,
Damien

To run the software you are going to have to put the card in a machine that has an OS that the software will run on. If there is a Linux version then you can boot from a live CD and go at it that way.

Mike

I have exactly the same problem, however I wanted to build a VMWare ESXi system. I have a boot disk (250GB, connected to the MB) and an additional adaptec 2410SA with 2 hitachi 7K1000.B drives that I wanted to run in RAID-1.

However I never succeeded in building the RAID-1 array. When creating the array (using the 'clear' option) it start building, takes a couple of hours, but never completes. Status of the RAID array is always put into 'impacted'.
As hinted above I already installed a Windows 2003 server with the latest drivers, flashed the card with the latest firmware and installed the latest adaptec storage manager ... but without any results. I can see the array, but can fix the array as much as I want, I end up with a 'impacted' array.

I also checked the drives with the Hitachi DFT and all seems to be fine. Could this be a compatibility issue?

Hi prostar,
Something news with your 7K1000.B Hitachi disks ?
I tried to use the disks without any RAID and even this doesn't work !!
Bye,
Damien

Hi,

No, I ended up buying another raid card (LSI 3041E-R) which works like a charm.

As for the adaptec, I tried a number of things, but never succeeded ... I was never able to create a volume larger then 100GB, but never took the time to exactly find out where it goes wrong. Some other forums talk about the 137GB limit and propose some workarounds, but none have worked with me.

Adaptec cards use to be just about the best one could get and their customer support was second to none. Now they just suck and live off of their past reputation. I refuse to buy any product that they put out.

LSI makes a great product but their customer service is fair at best for the general consumer from what I hear on the 3Ware side of things.

Mike

I also have this issue with 1TB Hitachi drives on my 2410SA.

FYI The 1TB Seagate 7200.12 drives don't have an issue at the 137GB point like the Hitachi's.