Download the current firmware for the LSI SAS 9211-8i and extract the file 2118it.bin from 9211_8i_Package_P20_IR_IT_Firmware_BIOS_for_MSDOS_Windows.Place these three files into a directory named P07 on a FAT32-formatted USB flash drive.Download the P05 UEFI flasher for the LSI SAS 9211-8i and extract the file sas2flash.efi from EFI_Installer_P5.zip.Download the P07 firmware for the LSI SAS 9211-8i and extract the file 2118it.bin from 9211_8i_Package_For_P7_Firmware_BIOS_Upgrade_on_MSDOS_and_Windows.zip.Download the firmware for the Dell 6Gbps SAS HBA (this is a variant of the H200 with 8 external ports instead of 8 internal ports) and extract 6GBPSAS.FW from SASHBA_Firmware_6GBPS-SAS-HBA_07.03.06.00_A10_ZPE.exe.Please note that this operation is not supported by Dell or LSI, may void your warranty and could potentially damage the controller. Also, re-flashing allowed me to not flash a boot ROM to the card, speeding up the boot process of my server as my boot disk is connected to the Intel AHCI controller on the mainboard. The newer version also has the advantage that drives larger than 2TB are supported.
Here’s how I upgraded my Dell PERC H200, which came with Dell’s A10 firmware (equivalent to LSI SAS 2008 P07 firmware), to LSI P20 firmware. However, they need to be flashed with a regular LSI firmware to disable their RAID capabilities in order to passthrough the drives directly to the OS. Unless otherwise noted, controllers have been tested and pulled from working servers and are backed by our 90-day parts replacement warranty.OEM version of the LSI SAS 9211-8i, such as the Dell H200, H310 or IBM M1015 are quite popular for use with FreeNAS. When this happens, the battery must be replaced.
These batteries are known to eventually lose their ability to hold a charge. PERC H800: The PERC H800 external host RAID controller is designed for expanding storage to the Dell PowerVault MD1200 and MD1220 6Gb/s SAS enclosures.Ī rechargeable lithium-ion battery back-up (BBU) was provided with certain models to protect write cache in the event of a sudden power failure. The PERC H700 controller features battery-backed write cache in the event of a power failure and supports self-encrypting drives (SED). The H700 also supports solid state (SSD) drives and is required for individual (logical) hard drives over 2TB. PERC H700: The H700 controller supports both 6Gb/s hard drives and is backwards-compatible with 3Gb/s drives as well. The H200 uses different mini-SAS cables to connect to the backplane. The H200 provides RAID 0, RAID 1, and RAID 10 functionality as well as support for internal tape drives. PERC H200: Dell also introduced the H200 RAID controller to support the new 6Gb/s hard drives as well as solid state (SSD) drives. The controller provides onboard RAID options for the attached enclosure. PERC 6/E: The PERC 6/E is for connecting legacy external enclosure arrays such as the PowerVault MD1000 or MD1120 directly to the host server. There is also the stripped down SAS 6/iR variant which offers only RAID 0 and 1 and no battery backup. It also features battery-backed write cache (BBU) in the event of a power failure. PERC 6/i: The PERC 6/i controller is a carryover from Dell's 9th & 10th generation servers and offers support for RAID levels 0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50 & 60 with throughput of up to 3Gb/s. The Dell PowerEdge T410 server has several controller options available for internal and external RAID configurations. Dell PowerEdge T410 RAID Controllers & Batteries