Samsung F2 1.5TB drives in RAID-5

[Funkstar]

Does anyone know of any specific issues with these drives in RAID-5 arrays?

I have three on my PERC 5/i and am getting frequent drive drops from the controller.

From this post it appears that you cannot hard set the CCTL at anything other than 0 and have it survive a re-boot.

Anyone got any thoughts on this?

[arthurleung]

I don't have the Samsung drives but I have Seagate 7200.11 1.5TB and WD15EADS on PERC6/i. Both doesn't have TLER (CCTL = 0) but doesn't drop from array.

My Seagate array drops quite frequently (probably due to the SD17 firmware) if I have the disk cache on. Once I switch the disk cache off (controller cache on), it doesn't drop any more.

I lose about 50~100MB/s off the 4-disk array by switching off that disk cache (which isn't much consider I get 250MB/s~320MB/s with the cache off)

Does the same drive get dropped? If it is the same drive everytime, and switching the cache off doesn't help, it is most likely that the drive is faulty.

[Funkstar]

I've just killed the array and re-created with the drive cache off. Lets see what happens now.

It is mainly one drive that keeps dropping, but I have a feeling one of the others has also dropped randomly as well. I'll have to pay more attention

I'd really like to get another three of these so I can separate all my data a bit more, but not really comfortable until I know they are reasonably stable.

[arthurleung]

I've just killed the array and re-created with the drive cache off. Lets see what happens now.

It is mainly one drive that keeps dropping, but I have a feeling one of the others has also dropped randomly as well. I'll have to pay more attention

I'd really like to get another three of these so I can separate all my data a bit more, but not really comfortable until I know they are reasonably stable.

I guess you wish you got a PERC6/i then
RAID6 with 6 drives would be pretty as safe as RAID1.

And why not 4 drives?

[Funkstar]

The idea of getting a 6/i had crossed my mind to be honest. I probably will at some point.

I will eventually expant it all the way up to 8x 1.5TB, but buying two lots of three and then two works better for me financially.

[pinocchio]

I used to get problems with drives dropping off arrays...

Then I bought the Supermicro CSE-M35T Hot Plug chassis with in built fans and I haven't had a drop off since (even during the super hot summers we had a couple of years back).

[Funkstar]

All my drives are in IcyDock hot swap cages, also with active cooling, I don't think this is the problem.

Looked at the box this morning and drive 0 was flagged as Foreign, and drive 1 marked as Failed. It was drive 0 that was causing all the problems before.

I think I'm going to order up 3 or 4 WDs, I can always use these Samsung's for backups, god knows I should be backing up more!

[alsenior]

iirc correctly anydrive that changes it's rotational spped such as the f2 and reports it via smart can have issues with raid controllers. the perc5 has some particular issues with it iirc. the only "green" drive that will work properly with these is the western digital RE2-GP.

[Funkstar]

Just bit the bullet and ordered 4x WD15EADS from Dabs (a few pence cheaper than Scan and 5% back from Quidco).

These are my first three Samsung drives and so far not impressed.

[arthurleung]

Just bit the bullet and ordered 4x WD15EADS from Dabs (a few pence cheaper than Scan and 5% back from Quidco).

These are my first three Samsung drives and so far not impressed.

You know I actually planned to get 8x Samsung 1.5TB in RAID6...only if my personal PERC6/i is not DoA pending replacement :S

WD15EADS works perfectly with PERC6/i on my server.

[Funkstar]

In that case I hope they work the same with the Perc 5/i

I did look on ebay for a PERC 6/i, but there was only 1 and it was about $300. In fact there seems to be a distinct lack of the 5/i's as well. Looks like the cheap source of these has dried up in the last six months or so.

[arthurleung]

In that case I hope they work the same with the Perc 5/i

I did look on ebay for a PERC 6/i, but there was only 1 and it was about $300. In fact there seems to be a distinct lack of the 5/i's as well. Looks like the cheap source of these has dried up in the last six months or so.

I bought mine in China, they're in very abundant supply for about $130 for a whole set include BBU.
I got the PERC6/i becuase the Adaptec 5805 SAS source dried up. I guess ebay don't tends to have PERC because of the poor compatibility with many motherboard and the return rate will be so high to make it unprofitable.

[Funkstar]

I bought mine in China, they're in very abundant supply for about $130 for a whole set include BBU.
I got the PERC6/i becuase the Adaptec 5805 SAS source dried up. I guess ebay don't tends to have PERC because of the poor compatibility with many motherboard and the return rate will be so high to make it unprofitable.

That Adaptec looks nice! I don't really like the massive connectors on the top edge of the PERC's, those are much neater.

I'll report back in a couple of days, once the drives arrive and the RAID volume is set up

[12GaugeShotty]

iirc correctly anydrive that changes it's rotational spped such as the f2 and reports it via smart can have issues with raid controllers. the perc5 has some particular issues with it iirc. the only "green" drive that will work properly with these is the western digital RE2-GP.

Change it's rotational speed? The F2 is constant 5400RPM.

[Funkstar]

I was away for New Year, so the 4x WD15EADS just went into the server last night.

All seems good. Built the array, initialised it and now 88% through a full format. Not a single hiccup so far. By now at least one of the samsungs would have dropped.

Oh and those WD Green drives are quiet Not really any difference in sound over the case, processor, PSU and the other drives in there. The Samsungs were quiet, but you could tell they were on, these are silent!

[arthurleung]

I was away for New Year, so the 4x WD15EADS just went into the server last night.

All seems good. Built the array, initialised it and now 88% through a full format. Not a single hiccup so far. By now at least one of the samsungs would have dropped.

Oh and those WD Green drives are quiet Not really any difference in sound over the case, processor, PSU and the other drives in there. The Samsungs were quiet, but you could tell they were on, these are silent!

Good to hear your array is running fine.

I'll probably go with 4xWD15EADS for my PERC6/i and move my WD1002FYPS from my 3Ware to PERC6/i, then run 4xSamsung F2 1TB on my old 3Ware card (should be slightly more compatible, although not as fast)