NexentaStor 2.2 with LSI MegaRAID SAS 8888ELP

Fresh install of Nexenta 2.2 running on the following hardware:

• Supermicro X8STE Motherboard
• Intel XEON E5520
• LSI MegaRAID SAS 8888ELP
• Intel Quad Gigabit nic PRO/1000 PT
• 12gigs ram (Nexenta loves RAM!)

We reused a LSI MegaRAID, and had to set each drive connected, to be a single "virtual" RAID0 drive - in the MegaRAID onboard bios configuration (Ctl - H on startup from memory). Then this presents a bunch of individual drives to Nexenta. NexetaStor 2.2 includes all the mega_sas drivers, so once we had the drives recognized by the controller, they then appeared immediately to NexentaStor.

Only after we had flashed both the motherboard and the LSI card (by putting it into a Windows computers to flash) to the latest firmware revisions, were we able to get Nexenta installed at all. Please always flash flash flash to the latest firmware and save yourself a bunch of time!

In the pic below, you can see a pair of 2.5" SSDs which we are using for the Nexenta OS in a RAIDZ mirror config. The mounting kits for these drives on the free PCI slots are from A-Tech Fabrication. I did toy around with running Nexenta off a USB flash stick, and use the SSDs for cache and logs, but will wait until that configuration has been tested by Nexenta.

Finally, would like to wish all the website visitors, and my clients a Happy and Prosperous New Year for 2010! Also proud to have made end of year contribution to Chatswood Computer Consultants charity of choice: MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÈRES (MSF)