3rd party SSD drive in HP Proliant server only shows 3G transfer speed

Question

After receiving some excellent advice in a previous question, we've bought a OWC Mercury Extreme Pro drive for use in our HP Proliant DL360 G7 server. Both the drive, and the P410i array controller, will apparently support a 6Gb/s connection.

However, when I view the drive in the HP Array Config Utility, the transfer speed is only listed as 3Gbp/s:

enter image description here

Is there anything I need to do to kick this drive into 6Gb/s mode, or is the HP ACU just confused by the non-HP drive? The P410i array controller firmware is v6.00-2, which I believe is the most recent.

Now I've proved they work, we're going to buy a dozen (not all for the same server)! This was just a "test purchase" :) — KenD, Aug 16 '13 at 14:24
It's difficult to tell at the moment as the HP SSD is in use. I'll know more this weekend when I can take things offline and benchmark them. It's definitely very fast so far, can't wait to see 4 or 6 of these in an array! — KenD, Aug 16 '13 at 16:20
Just as a follow up - we now have 6 of those drives in a RAID1+0 array. And ... wow it's fast :) I have another question about monitoring the drives, but I'll ask it separately to keep things tidy. — KenD, Aug 20 '13 at 18:25

score 8 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 16 '13 at 13:57

8

The 410 / 410i seemsto be limited to 3Gb/s for SATA disks (6Gb/s SAS and 3Gb/s SATA support)

http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/proliantstorage/arraycontrollers/smartarrayp410/index.html

answered Aug 16 '13 at 13:57

Jaydee

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3
11

1

Thanks for the clarification. I usually use SAS disks and did not know that the P410 stepped 6G SATA drives down in speed. – ewwhite Aug 16 '13 at 14:11
Any particular reason for using SATA in this case? – Jaydee Aug 16 '13 at 14:12
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Yes, it's [**outlined here**](http://serverfault.com/questions/529942/hp-storage-arrays-multiple-channels). A $400 disk versus a $2500 disk. – ewwhite Aug 16 '13 at 14:17
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Ok, that would do it:-) – Jaydee Aug 16 '13 at 15:25

ewwhite · Answer 2 · 2013-08-16T14:07:18.353

This is normal... It's not an issue, as you won't be saturating the link. It's just a controller limitation.

This is with an OWC Mercury disk:

   physicaldrive 2I:1:7
         Port: 2I
         Box: 1
         Bay: 7
         Status: OK
         Drive Type: Data Drive
         Interface Type: Solid State SATA
         Size: 240.0 GB
         Firmware Revision: 502ABBF0
         Serial Number: MX6G24012E20K3259   
         Model: ATA     Mercury EXTREME 
         SATA NCQ Capable: True
         SATA NCQ Enabled: True
         Current Temperature (C): 35
         Maximum Temperature (C): 58
         SSD Smart Trip Wearout: Not Supported
         PHY Count: 1
         PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0Gbps

Looking at the HP-branded SATA SSDs and 6G SATA drives in a DL360 G7, we get a similar result of PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0Gbps:

  physicaldrive 1I:1:3
     Port: 1I
     Box: 1
     Bay: 3
     Status: OK
     Drive Type: Data Drive
     Interface Type: Solid State SATA
     Size: 120 GB
     Firmware Revision: HPG7    
     Serial Number: S0CWNEAB501611      
     Model: ATA     MK0120EAVDT     
     SATA NCQ Capable: True
     SATA NCQ Enabled: True
     Current Temperature (C): 19
     Maximum Temperature (C): 65
     SSD Smart Trip Wearout: Not Supported
     PHY Count: 1
     PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0Gbps


  physicaldrive 2I:1:8
     Port: 2I
     Box: 1
     Bay: 8
     Status: OK
     Drive Type: Data Drive
     Interface Type: SATA
     Size: 1 TB
     Rotational Speed: 7200
     Firmware Revision: HPG3    
     Serial Number: 9XG0MW8V            
     Model: ATA     MM1000EBKAF     
     SATA NCQ Capable: True
     SATA NCQ Enabled: True
     Current Temperature (C): 27
     Maximum Temperature (C): 52
     PHY Count: 1
     PHY Transfer Rate: 3.0Gbps

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 19 '16 at 00:49

-1

In the G7, 6Gb/s SAS is possible because of the dual port SAS drives. The individual PHYs are still 3Gb/sec each.

answered Nov 19 '16 at 00:49

Tomuo

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I don't think that's correct. – ewwhite Nov 19 '16 at 01:51

3rd party SSD drive in HP Proliant server only shows 3G transfer speed

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