connecting EMC VNX-6G-DAE to server using SAS

Question

I've recently got a gift from a friend: an EMC DAE enclosure with 15 3TB SAS drives, and I would like to connect it to a server using the 8088 SAS connectionץ This shelf was part of a VNX 5300 solution.

My questions: The DAE is pictured here

To which SAS connector do I connect the cable? there are 4
I have not turned it on yet, but I assume the 7-segment-LCD will probably show a channel number. Is there a way to change it to 1 without connecting it back to the VNX solution?
Can this shelf accept SATA drives?

Thanks

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 05 '18 at 14:30

0

It sounds like you're interested in connecting it to a single server. You should consider using multipath because that's what these enclosures are designed for.

The cable you'd use depends on the HBA and controller you have in your server, but the enclosure's connector requires a SAS SFF-8088 cable.

I would NOT use SATA disks in this because they are not dual-port disks.

answered Feb 05 '18 at 14:30

ewwhite

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Agreed, it would be great if you could make a photo of your primary server so we could advise you. – Stuka Feb 06 '18 at 12:18
@Stuka - on the server side this DAE will go to the HBA. My question was about the DAE - which of the ports to connect. – Hetz Ben Hamo Feb 06 '18 at 15:28
You don't understand the question @HetzBenHamo - We don't know what's in your server. – ewwhite Feb 06 '18 at 15:30
Nothing special is in the server, it will be probably just a simple Dell R610 with a simple HBA card.. – Hetz Ben Hamo Feb 06 '18 at 15:33
I'm not going to help with this anymore. You're not giving us the information we're asking for. – ewwhite Feb 06 '18 at 19:10

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 30 '19 at 04:54

Nice gift! I know this is an old question, I'm answering the original in case anyone else wonders this way.

1.) To which SAS connector do I connect the cable? there are 4

The photo you posted shows two, redundant IO modules (A and B). The ports with circles are primary ports, the ports with diamonds are expansion ports (this device is intended to be daisy-chained, hence the expanders). You want to connect the HBA ports on your server to the inner ports with circles on the first DAE. If you are daisy chaining, you would connect the diamond ports on the first DAE to the circle ports on the second DAE.

Here's a photo from yhe "Introduction to the EMC VNC Series" whitepaper:

Only one connection (path) is required to access your disks. As ewwhite mentioned, this device is intended to be used as a multi-path device for throughput and redundancy purposes.

2.) I have not turned it on yet, but I assume the 7-segment-LCD will probably show a channel number. Is there a way to change it to 1 without connecting it back to the VNX solution?

If you are not using this in a VNX system, don't worry about it. I have three of these setup on Linux and the LEDs flash a "-" (hyphen) symbol. The bus/channel/home stuff is for VNX solutions.

3.) Can this shelf accept SATA drives?

Yes...but this all depends on the hard drive caddies you have with your enclosure, not the enclosure itself. If you want to use SATA, purchase interposers that fit in the caddies that accept SATA. You can purchase these easity on eBay (search, "KTN-STL3 interposer sata"). Again, as ewwhite mentioned, you really don't want to do this. SAS drives support multipath (two paths for throughput and reliability); SATA only has one path. SAS, 2-3TB, 3.5", 7200RPM drives are pretty cheap, it's worth it.

connecting EMC VNX-6G-DAE to server using SAS

2 Answers2