SAS RAID Controller Module (43W3584) may fail when adding drives to an array - IBM BladeCenter S

Resolving The Problem

Source

RETAIN tip: H194963

Symptom

IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module, Option 43W3584, may not be able to add specific drives into an array with other drives when using Storage Configuration Manager (SCM). The drives will also show as having zero RPMs under the drive speed.

These drives are affected:

• 450 GB Option 42D0519, replacement part number: 42D0520
• 300 GB Option 43X0802, replacement part number: 43X0805

The model numbers of the affected Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) are:

• IBM-ESXSST3300657SS
• IBM-ESXSST3450757SS

Affected configurations

The system may be any of the following IBM servers:

• BladeCenter S, Type 1948, any model
• BladeCenter S, Type 7779, any model
• BladeCenter S, Type 8886, any model

The system is configured with one or more of the following IBM Options:

• 300 GB 15,000 RPM 3.5-inch SAS Hot Swap HDD, Option 43X0802, replacement part number: 43X0805
• 450 GB 15,000 RPM 3.5-inch SAS Hot-Swap HDD, Option 42D0519, replacement part number: 42D0520
• IBM BladeCenter S SAS RAID Controller Module, Option 43W3584, replacement part number: 43W3630

This tip is not software specific.

The system has the symptom described above.

Solution

There is no Fix for this issue. The SCM software is working as designed.

Workaround

The SCM "allow system to choose drives (easy)" option will group the HDDs by size, speed, etc. This option will not allow the user to build storage pools with different types of HDDs. However, in the "manually choose drives (advanced)" option, the user can filter the HDDs selected for a storage pool by various factors or choose "all sas drives." This option will allow the user to group any HDD into a storage pool.

The option page is found on the BladeCenter S-SAS Raid Module --> Configuration --> Storage Pool --> Create Storage Pool page. The following screen shot of this page is shown for convenience:.

Another option is to use the SAS RAID Controller Module Command Line Interface (CLI) to create storage pools and volumes.

Additional information

The SAS RAID Controller Module firmware update package maintains a list of HDD models that it supports. If the installed HDD is not on the supported list, then its firmware will not be updated. In version V1.0.3.025 and earlier, the 42D0520 and 43X0805 HDDs are not supported. Since their firmware is not updated, some of the Vital Product Data (VPD) fields are left with zeroes. This includes the speed field. The SCM easy option will not group this HDD with the other HDDs. The advanced option will allow this HDD to become part of the storage pool with HDDs that have non-zero speed VPD fields. These HDDs will be supported in RAIDed Shared Storage Module (RSSM) firmware package 1.2.0.093 and later.