Hi, folks,
This is a test post; to make it of interest, here's an issue you might
want to be aware of, those with not brand new hardware. We've got a few
Dell PE R415s. A 2TB b/u drive on one was getting full, so I went to
replace it with a 3TB drive (a WD Red, not that it matters.) We got the
system in '11.
I built the drive - a GPT, 1 3TB partition, on an R320, from '12.
smartctl understood it perfectly well. Anything else, not so much. parted
*crashed* When I managed to force it to see it without crashing - I think
I had to create a new GPT, it only saw 2199G. Put the drive back on the
other box, parted complained that the "backup block" wasn't at the end of
the disk.
I finally talked to Dell, and was told, and I quote,
<...> three terabyte drives aren't supported the raid controller installed
in this server, the SAS 6 i/r.
It likely worked fine in the R320 due to the age difference and the raid
controller installed in it, I don't believe firmware updates will make the
drive usable or extra space visible to the controller.
<snip>
IMPORTANT NOTE! Only the Dell H700 and H800 currently support the 3TB
drives (H200 will add support later this year) - NO earlier controllers,
such as the PERC4/5/6, SAS5/6 (or ANY other Dell controller not mentioned)
have this support and in some cases, even though you may be able to see
the drive, this has NOT been tested or validated, so possible data loss
could be experienced. ONLY use the Dell H700 and H800 with the proper
firmware to ensure a tested and validated >2TB solution! For non-Dell
controllers, contact the controller vendor for their support statement on
>2TB drives.
mark