Yeah, old hardware is great for this. Especially if you can get something that will hold a lot of drives.
Yeah, old hardware is great for this. Especially if you can get something that will hold a lot of drives.So is this going to be your backup device or your storage/backup device? I have an UnRAID server. It's made up of an old Dell i5-2500, 8GB of RAM and 4 hard drives. 1 drive acts as a parity drive while the other 3 make up the array. It's simple to set up, easy to use and access on all my other devices. No special hardware unless I need more SATA ports. When I need more storage I can just add a drive to the array. There's a whole lot of stuff you can do with it but I just use it as a NAS.
When I do my setup, I'll be doing it as much as a project to exercise my mental faculties as anything else. The potential of Proxmox virtual containers running virtual machines seems fascinating, at least to me.
However, it sounds like for simplicity then a RAID 1 mirror may be what you want. However, do remember, that no version of RAID is in any way suitable for use as a substitute for proper backups (especially if you are depending on Microsoft to do your RAID for you -- just look at how Windows 11 is turning out). I mean, you could take a chance, but 30TB of music is a major investment to possibly have to replace.
So, you still need to puzzle out a backup option. If you have good Internet, a cloud backup might work. And, though I've never used it, Backblaze advertises a single computer backup for $9/mo or $99 a year. I'm sure someone here will chime in as to whether it is worth a subscription or not.
Actually my ripped surround music collection, is now (just checked) is north of 34TB. That is primarily .iso files. Does not include ripped or hi rez stereo files. I also have several 6 ft tall disc racks, and several smaller ones. Somewhere north of 2000 discs.Very important, and often overlooked advice. Raid is not a backup!
@boondocks - I’m a music junky but in no way is my collection as big as yours. 30TB is a huge amount of music . You ever try plex?
I explained it all above.So where are all of your current files stored? On the same PC you use for playback?
I explained it all above.
How will that resolve the issue with the software exactly? I just want MSM or LSA working. Thanks.Yeah as mentioned on page 1, he should flash the HBA to IR mode. Assuming that resolves the issue, RAID-6 should be okay for a low-throughput application (audio playback).
As Steltek suggested could be the issue, if the card is in IT mode, none of the RAID features are available.How will that resolve the issue with the software exactly? I just want MSM or LSA working. Thanks.
I want to configure RAID through one or the other softwares, to be clear.
So essentially you're saying if the card is flashed to a different mode, then that will enable software to manage RAID? I thought that HBA mode would allow software to manage the discs?As Steltek suggested could be the issue, if the card is in IT mode, none of the RAID features are available.
We aren't certain this is the problem, but it seems logical (HBA is detected, and you can see the drives).
That's the hypothesis, but you'll have to find out for yourself. This may require some CLI learning, as flashing appears to use a command-line program. (I would start by installing StorCLI to learn a few commands; you don't have to use it when everything is working properly. But StorCLI can interrogate the card for information.)So essentially you're saying if the card is flashed to a different mode, then that will enable software to manage RAID? I thought that HBA mode would allow software to manage the discs?
Noted, good luck getting it going, I'm not versed on your card so I'll bow out now.Well the thread has certainly drifted from my intent, and I'll take some responsibility for that.
I only have one goal here: to get either MSM or LSA functioning and usable, not advice on what others would do.
What I currently do has no bearing on that.
Sorry, we aren't that familiar with the 9400-16i. Apparently there isn't a separate IR firmware. So perhaps our guess wasn't quite right.
I skimmed through this thread, and it seems somewhat informative (but not relevant to your question):
HBA Card Firmware
Hello guys, So, i recently got LSI 9400-16i and i went to download the firmware for updating it. When extracting the firmware package, i see the following: For the main firmware, i guess the Mixed Profile is for those who want to run SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + NVMe (U.2) and the SAS_SATA...www.truenas.com
Needless to say,AvagoBroadcom makes it somewhat complicated, and their terse documentation doesn't help.
Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.
If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.
Yes. That's why I thought either the MSM or LSA software would do the job, as that's what is (was) supported by Broadcom. I believe LSA is still updated, actually , so it's a shame it's not working for me.Sorry, we aren't that familiar with the 9400-16i. Apparently there isn't a separate IR firmware. So perhaps our guess wasn't quite right.
I skimmed through this thread, and it seems somewhat informative (but not relevant to your question):
HBA Card Firmware
Hello guys, So, i recently got LSI 9400-16i and i went to download the firmware for updating it. When extracting the firmware package, i see the following: For the main firmware, i guess the Mixed Profile is for those who want to run SAS/SATA (HDD/SSD) + NVMe (U.2) and the SAS_SATA...www.truenas.com
Needless to say,AvagoBroadcom makes it somewhat complicated, and their terse documentation doesn't help.
Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.
If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.
!Reading up a little more, I think what's going on is that this isn't a RAID controller.
The HBA SAS 9400 series is distinct from the MegaRAID 9400 series.
If you must have hardware RAID, I believe you will need a different controller. To use what you have, some form of software RAID can do the trick.
Yeah, LSI didn't use to separate their products into non-RAID and RAID sub-models. There was just a single model that you had to flash to either IT or IR mode.
Yeah, LSI didn't use to separate their products into non-RAID and RAID sub-models. There was just a single model that you had to flash to either IT or IR mode.
Apparently, they did have separate sub-models with that particular product, though. Took us a while to figure it out.
It has the latest firmware, came that way fortunately.Yep, seems yourself and manly were digging into it last night same time I was. Servethehome and truenas had a few threads that leads to the conclusion that this card is built for software raid setups.
OP can go with the JBOD or software RAID.
I’d still flash it to the latest firmware before using it.