From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Douglas Gilbert Subject: Re: Good SAS adapters for 6 Gb/s SATA SSD's (with TRIM)? Date: Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:42:31 -0400 Message-ID: <4E452DC7.7060004@interlog.com> References: <4E43F2C3.9000808@computerix.info> <4E4434A4.7010808@interlog.com> <4E449BB1.3060300@interlog.com> <4E44D348.30003@stud.tu-ilmenau.de> Reply-To: dgilbert@interlog.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-15; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE Return-path: Received: from smtp.infotech.no ([82.134.31.41]:44058 "EHLO smtp.infotech.no" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1752670Ab1HLNmj (ORCPT ); Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:42:39 -0400 In-Reply-To: <4E44D348.30003@stud.tu-ilmenau.de> Sender: linux-scsi-owner@vger.kernel.org List-Id: linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org To: stefan.huebner@stud.tu-ilmenau.de Cc: "Prof. Dr. Klaus Kusche" , linux-scsi@vger.kernel.org Stefan, My test was done with IT firmware. Actually I switched from IR (initiator raid?) to IT (initiator target) firmware in the process of upgrading from 9 to 10. [Wouldn't it be great if someone would hookup these controllers in target mode to the Linux kernel's new target infrastructure.] As far as I have seen, most LSI SAS HBAs come with IR firmware on them. Switching IR to IT firmware with their sas2flash tool is a bit of a pain. First sas2flash didn't work on a AMD 64 bit platform (DOS to the rescue), then it refuses to load IT over IR firmware. The latter problem is solved by clearing the flash ("-o -e 6" was the magic for the clear (in the past when I did "-o -e 7" I had to program the controller's SAS address back in by hand)). Doug Gilbert On 11-08-12 03:16 AM, Stefan /*St0fF*/ H=FCbner wrote: > Douglas, > > have you double-checked to use the IT (Initiator Mode) Firmware from > LSI? I mean we build up systems based on the X8SI6-F mainboard from > Supermicro which has a LSI SAS2008 with 8 Lanes on-board. If using > HW-RAID (Modes 0, 1, 1E, ...) on those, we have to flash the "IR" > firmware. If using the chip as HBA for Linux software RAID, we flash > the "IT" firmware, and if the customer needs HW-RAID5-Support, they g= et > an extra chip onto the board and we have to flash "iMR" firmware... > > So you have 3 different firmware versions. IT would be the way to go > here... > > Greets, > Stefan > > Am 12.08.2011 05:19, schrieb Douglas Gilbert: >> On 11-08-11 03:59 PM, Douglas Gilbert wrote: >>> On 11-08-11 11:18 AM, Prof. Dr. Klaus Kusche wrote: >>>> I'm looking for ways to hook up fast 6 Gb/s SATA SSD's (non-RAID!) >>>> to (server or i-X58) mainboards which do not have native 6 Gb/s SA= TA. >>>> >>>> From the reviews I've read so far, two things became obvious: >>>> * The SSD's I'm looking at really want a working SATA TRIM command= =2E >>>> * All the onboard Marvell 88SE9128 (or ASmedia) solutions >>>> seriuosly lack performance, as do PCIe cards based on those chips. >>>> >>>> So basically, there seem to be two choices: >>>> 1.) LSI 2008 >>>> 2.) Marvell 9485 >>>> >>>> 1.) seems to be fast, reliable and well-supported, >>>> but as far as I can tell, it doesn't support TRIM at all: >>>> It neither maps SCSI unmap to SATA TRIM, >>>> nor accepts TRIM as a SATA passthrough command. >>>> >>>> Is that true? >>> >>> What counts in Linux for "trim" support on a SSD (SATA, >>> SAS or FC) is correctly processing the SCSI WRITE SAME (16) >>> with the UNMAP bit set. In the case of a SATA SSD, a SCSI >>> to ATA Translation Layer (SATL) should map that SCSI WRITE >>> SAME (16) with the UNMAP bit set to the ATA DATA SET >>> MANAGEMENT command with the TRIM attribute set. >>> >>> Many Linux SATA low level drivers use libata which >>> implements the above mapping. However some SAS HBAs >>> (e.g. LSI MPT Fusion 3 and 6 Gbps) implement the SATL >>> in their own HBA firmware. >>> >>> I tested a LSI SAS 9212-4i4e HBA running its most recent >>> firmware (9.0 from Feb 26, 2011) with a Intel SSDSA2M080 >>> which does support trim. I used my ddpt utility and the >>> SCSI WRITE SAME (16) with the UNMAP bit set was rejected >>> as an "illegal request". With the UNMAP bit clear it >>> accepted the command. I also checked the SCSI UNMAP >>> command and it was also rejected. >>> >>> LSI have some more work to do on their firmware. >> >> I did check the LSI support page for my HBA just before sending >> my original reply. And the version 9 firmware was showing at the >> top of the list. Alas, that page had been alpha sorted on the >> file names so that version 10 of the firmware (May 2011) was >> hiding further down the page :-) >> >> So I installed the newest firmware and redid the above tests. >> Now the SCSI WRITE SAME (16) with the UNMAP bit set works on >> that SSD. The SCSI UNMAP command was rejected and I did not >> test sending the ATA DATA SET MANAGEMENT command through >> the pass-through (but I expect that would work). >> >> So Linux file systems will be able "discard" (=3D"unmap"(SCSI); >> =3D"trim"(ATA)) data using LSI HBAs based the LSI 2008 chip >> which are running recent firmware. >> >> Doug Gilbert >> >>>> I didn't find much about 2.) >>>> * The only cards based on this chip are the HighPoint 27xx, >>>> or did I miss something? >>>> * Running a 27xx with the mvsas driver was reported to have stabil= ity >>>> problems or random errors. Are these problems solved? >>>> * Is the 27xx fast (with SATA SSD's& mvsas driver), >>>> i.e. significantly faster than onboard SATA 3 Gb/s ports? >>>> * Does the 27xx+mvsas support TRIM when connected to SATA drives? >>>> >>>> Are there any other solutions? >> >> -- >> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-scsi= " in >> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org >> More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html > > -- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-scsi" i= n the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html