zfs discuss - Jan 2010 - Does OpenSolaris mpt driver support LSI 2008 controller ?

Does anyone know if the current OpenSolaris mpt driver supports the recent LSI
SAS2008 controller?

This controller/ASIC is used in the next generation SAS-2 6Gbps PCIe cards from
LSI and SuperMicro etc, e.g.:
1. SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8e and the AOC-USAS2-L8i
2. LSI SAS 9211-8i

Cheers,
Simon

http://breden.org.uk/2008/03/02/a-home-fileserver-using-zfs/
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

On 22/01/10 12:28 AM, Simon Breden wrote:
> Does anyone know if the current OpenSolaris mpt driver supports the recent
LSI SAS2008 controller?
>
> This controller/ASIC is used in the next generation SAS-2 6Gbps PCIe cards
from LSI and SuperMicro etc, e.g.:
> 1. SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8e and the AOC-USAS2-L8i
> 2. LSI SAS 9211-8i
No, the 2nd generation non-RAID LSI SAS controllers make
use of the mpt_sas(7d).

Second generation RAID LSI SAS controllers use mr_sas(7d).

Code for both of these drivers is Open and you can find
it on src.opensolaris.org.


James C. McPherson
--
Senior Kernel Software Engineer, Solaris
Sun Microsystems
http://blogs.sun.com/jmcp	http://www.jmcp.homeunix.com/blog

Thanks a lot for the info James.

For the benefit of myself and others then:
1. mpt_sas driver is used for the SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8e
2. mr_sas driver is used for the SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8i and LSI SAS 9211-8i

And how does the maturity/robustness of the mpt_sas & mr_sas drivers compare
to the mpt driver which I''m currently using for my LSI 1068-based
AOC-USAS-L8i card? (in the default IT mode)

It might be hard to answer that one, but I thought I''d ask anyway, as
it would make choosing new kit for OpenSolaris + ZFS a bit easier.

Cheers,
Simon

http://breden.org.uk/2008/03/02/a-home-fileserver-using-zfs/
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

On 22/01/10 06:14 AM, Simon Breden wrote:
> Thanks a lot for the info James.
>
> For the benefit of myself and others then:
 > 1. mpt_sas driver is used for the SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8e
 > 2. mr_sas driver is used for the SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8i and LSI SAS 
9211-8i

Correct. I only know the internal chip code names, not what
the actual shipping products are called :|
> And how does the maturity/robustness of the mpt_sas&  mr_sas drivers
> compare to the mpt driver which I''m currently using for my LSI
> 1068-based AOC-USAS-L8i card? (in the default IT mode)
> It might be hard to answer that one, but I thought I''d ask anyway,
as
> it would make choosing new kit for OpenSolaris + ZFS a bit easier.

I really don''t have any specs re maturity or robustness, sorry,
but I can tell you that

(a) these two drivers were joint development efforts between Sun
     and LSI,

(b) the requirements list that we had for the drivers is extensive,
     [note that MPxIO is on by default with mpt_sas]

(c) we went through an insane amount of testing (and with some
     very rigorous tools) at every stage of the cycle before integration,

and
(d) we''re confident that you''ll find these drivers and chips
to be
     up to the task.


If you do come across problems, please bring it up in storage-discuss
or zfs-discuss, and if necessary file a bug on bugs.opensolaris.org
solaris/driver/mpt-sas, and solaris/driver/mr_sas are the two subcats
that you''ll need in that case.



James C. McPherson
--
Senior Kernel Software Engineer, Solaris
Sun Microsystems
http://blogs.sun.com/jmcp	http://www.jmcp.homeunix.com/blog

> Correct. I only know the internal chip code names, not what the actual
shipping products are called :|
Now ''knew'' ;-)

It''s reassuring to hear your points a thru d regarding the
development/test cycle.

I could always use the ''try before you buy'' approach: others
try it, and if it works, I buy it ;-)

Thanks a lot.
Simon

http://breden.org.uk/2008/03/02/a-home-fileserver-using-zfs/
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

We tried the new LSI controllers in our configuration trying to replace Areca
1680 controllers. The tests were done on 2009.06
Unlike the mpt drivers which were rock solid (but obviously do not support the
new chips), the mr_sas was a complete disaster. (We got ours from LSI website).
Timeouts, missing drives, errors in /var/adm/messages. The driver may have
stabilized since then, but I wouldn''t use it in production yet. 2010/03
- may be, but not 2009.06
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Ouch. Was that on the original 2009.06 vanilla install, or a later updated
build? Hopefully a lot of the original bugs have been fixed by now, or soon will
be.

Has anyone got any "from the trenches" experience of using the mpt_sas
driver? Any comments?

Cheers,
Simon

http://breden.org.uk/2008/03/02/a-home-fileserver-using-zfs/
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Vanilla 2009.06, mr_sas drivers from LSI website. 
To answer your other question - the mpt driver is very solid on 2009.06
-- 
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On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 7:37 PM, Moshe Vainer <mvainer at doyenz.com>
wrote:
> Vanilla 2009.06, mr_sas drivers from LSI website.
> To answer your other question - the mpt driver is very solid on 2009.06
>
>
Are you sure those are the open source drivers he''s referring to?  LSI
has a
habit of releasing their own drivers with similar names.  It sounds to me
like that''s what you were using.

On that front, exactly where did you find the driver?  They have nothing
listed on the downloads page:
http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/internal/sas9211-8i/index.html?locale=EN&remote=1




-- 
--Tim
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http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/6gb_s_value_line/sas9260-8i/index.html

2009.06 didn''t have the drivers integrated, so those aren''t
the open source ones. As i said, it is possible that 2010.03 will resolve this.
But we do not put development releases in production.


From: Tim Cook [mailto:tim at cook.ms]
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 5:45 PM
To: Moshe Vainer
Cc: zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
Subject: Re: [zfs-discuss] Does OpenSolaris mpt driver support LSI 2008
controller


On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 7:37 PM, Moshe Vainer <mvainer at
doyenz.com<mailto:mvainer at doyenz.com>> wrote:
Vanilla 2009.06, mr_sas drivers from LSI website.
To answer your other question - the mpt driver is very solid on 2009.06


Are you sure those are the open source drivers he''s referring to?  LSI
has a habit of releasing their own drivers with similar names.  It sounds to me
like that''s what you were using.

On that front, exactly where did you find the driver?  They have nothing listed
on the downloads page:
http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/host_bus_adapters/sas_hbas/internal/sas9211-8i/index.html?locale=EN&remote=1



--
--Tim
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On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 8:05 PM, Moshe Vainer <MVainer at doyenz.com>
wrote:
>
>
http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/6gb_s_value_line/sas9260-8i/index.html
>
>
>
> 2009.06 didn''t have the drivers integrated, so those
aren''t the open source
> ones. As i said, it is possible that 2010.03 will resolve this. But we do
> not put development releases in production.
>
>
You should probably make that clear from the start then.  You just bashed
the opensource drivers based on your experience with something completely
different.


-- 
--Tim
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I thought i made it very clear - mr_sas drivers from LSI website. No intention
to bash anything, just a user experience. Sorry if that was misunderstood.

From: Tim Cook [mailto:tim at cook.ms]
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 6:07 PM
To: Moshe Vainer
Cc: zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
Subject: Re: [zfs-discuss] Does OpenSolaris mpt driver support LSI 2008
controller


On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 8:05 PM, Moshe Vainer <MVainer at
doyenz.com<mailto:MVainer at doyenz.com>> wrote:
http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/6gb_s_value_line/sas9260-8i/index.html

2009.06 didn''t have the drivers integrated, so those aren''t
the open source ones. As i said, it is possible that 2010.03 will resolve this.
But we do not put development releases in production.


You should probably make that clear from the start then.  You just bashed the
opensource drivers based on your experience with something completely different.


--
--Tim
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Those aren''t sorry for any misunderstanding. They are from the LSI site
-
http://lsi.com/storage_home/products_home/internal_raid/megaraid_sas/6gb_s_value_line/sas9260-8i/index.html
since 2009.06 didn''t have them integrated yet. What i was trying to say
is that the current release of OS is not yet ready for those controllers. Dev
versions/ 2010.03 may work great with them, but the current release
doesn''t.
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

OK, gotcha.

Relating to my request for robustness feedback of the other driver, I was
referring in fact to the mpt_sas driver that James says is used for the non-RAID
LSI SAS2008-based cards like the SuperMicro AOC-USAS2-L8e (as opposed to the
RAID-capable AOC-USAS2-L8i & LSI SAS 9211-8i cards, which use the mr_sas
driver).

As far as I''m aware, the standard mpt driver is used for the card I
already own, the LSI SAS1068E-based AOC-USAS-L8i etc.

Cheers,
Simon

http://breden.org.uk/2009/05/01/home-fileserver-a-year-in-zfs/
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

I''m about to try it!  My LSI SAS 9211-8i should arrive Monday or
Tuesday.  I bought the cable-less version, opting instead to save a few $ and
buy Adaptec 2247000-R SAS to SATA cables.

My rig will be based off of fairly new kit, so it should be interesting to see
how 2009.06 deals with it all :)
-- 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

On  7/03/10 12:28 PM, norm.tallant wrote:
> I''m about to try it!  My LSI SAS 9211-8i should arrive Monday or
> Tuesday.  I bought the cable-less version, opting instead to save a few
> $ and buy Adaptec 2247000-R SAS to SATA cables.
>
> My rig will be based off of fairly new kit, so it should be interesting
> to see how 2009.06 deals with it all :)
As far as I recall, the chip on that card is
supported with the mpt_sas(7d) driver, not the
mp(7d) driver.

It won''t, however, be detected by a 2009.06
installation, since that was based on build snv_111b,
and the mpt_sas driver wasn''t introduced until build
snv_118.

So you could either wait until 2010.$spring comes out,
or start using the /dev repo instead.


hth,
James C. McPherson
--
Senior Software Engineer, Solaris
Sun Microsystems
http://www.jmcp.homeunix.com/blog

On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 3:12 AM, James C. McPherson <jmcp at
opensolaris.org>wrote:
> On  7/03/10 12:28 PM, norm.tallant wrote:
>
>> I''m about to try it!  My LSI SAS 9211-8i should arrive Monday
or
>> Tuesday.  I bought the cable-less version, opting instead to save a few
>> $ and buy Adaptec 2247000-R SAS to SATA cables.
>>
>> My rig will be based off of fairly new kit, so it should be interesting
>> to see how 2009.06 deals with it all :)
>>
>
> As far as I recall, the chip on that card is
> supported with the mpt_sas(7d) driver, not the
> mp(7d) driver.
>
> It won''t, however, be detected by a 2009.06
> installation, since that was based on build snv_111b,
> and the mpt_sas driver wasn''t introduced until build
> snv_118.
>
> So you could either wait until 2010.$spring comes out,
> or start using the /dev repo instead.
>
>
> hth,
> James C. McPherson
> --
> Senior Software Engineer, Solaris
> Sun Microsystems
> http://www.jmcp.homeunix.com/blog
>
>
Or manually load the driver onto the older version of OSOL :)

--Tim
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On  8/03/10 01:42 AM, Tim Cook wrote:
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 7, 2010 at 3:12 AM, James C. McPherson <jmcp at
opensolaris.org
> <mailto:jmcp at opensolaris.org>> wrote:
>
>     On  7/03/10 12:28 PM, norm.tallant wrote:
>
>         I''m about to try it!  My LSI SAS 9211-8i should arrive
Monday or
>         Tuesday.  I bought the cable-less version, opting instead to
>         save a few
>         $ and buy Adaptec 2247000-R SAS to SATA cables.
>
>         My rig will be based off of fairly new kit, so it should be
>         interesting
>         to see how 2009.06 deals with it all :)
>
>
>     As far as I recall, the chip on that card is
>     supported with the mpt_sas(7d) driver, not the
>     mp(7d) driver.
>
>     It won''t, however, be detected by a 2009.06
>     installation, since that was based on build snv_111b,
>     and the mpt_sas driver wasn''t introduced until build
>     snv_118.
>
>     So you could either wait until 2010.$spring comes out,
>     or start using the /dev repo instead.
...
> Or manually load the driver onto the older version of OSOL :)

Well yes, you could do that, then you''d have to watch
your system fail to load the module because it depends
on changes that also went into snv_118 in other modules.


Or it might just panic. Either way, you''re not going to
be successful in trying this option.


James C. McPherson
--
Senior Software Engineer, Solaris
Sun Microsystems
http://www.jmcp.homeunix.com/blog

So I did manage to get everything to work after switching to the Dev repository
and doing a pkg image-update, but what happens when 2010.$spring comes out? 
Should I wait a week or so after release and then change my repository back to
standard and then image-update again?

I''m new to Osol; sorry for the newbie-ish question and the slight
derailment.
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