I have a P2000 LFF Storage Enclosure with a pair of iSCSI controllers installed. The controllers are p/n BK829A
I want to verify, firstly, that I can attach these three enclosures by SAS in a supported configuration:
1x P2000 LFF p/n AP844B
2x D2700 SFF p/n AJ941A
...such that the full "stack" of disk enclosures will look like this:
P2000 - BK829A - 12x LFF 300GB 6G SAS 15k
P2000 Enclosure - AP844B - 12x LFF 300GB 6G SAS 15k
D2700 Enclosure - AJ941A - 25x SFF 300GB 6G SAS 15k
D2700 Enclosure - AJ941A - 25x SFF 300GB 6G SAS 15k
Secondly, assuming that all drives are equal in capacity (300gb) and spindle speed (15k) but not of the same form factor (LFF/SFF) I want to know if it is possible to construct a single RAID10 logical drive from ALL of the drives across the four enclosures, including one or two hot spares in the array. In other words, is there are any restriction here that will prevent me from constructing a logical array using physical drives that differ only in form factor?
Thirdly, I am seeking to verify that this particular stack of hardware is "6G" bandwidth from top to bottom.
Fourthly, I am seeking to verify that I can use with this stack, a SAS cabling configuration consistent with the dual-port "performance" cabling configuration specified by the HP D2700 cabling guide. I would like to know that the BK829A controllers at the top of the stack support this configuration.
I am intending to use this stack as a secondary storage tier for VMWARE Replication. (I use NIMBLE for primary storage). What I am hoping to do with this stack is to construct a 72-disk RAID 10 array with a couple of hot spares. Speed is important, reliability (relatively) less so.
I appreciate any feedback or observations in addition to any specific answers to the above questions.
Many thanks.