SAS to USB
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@travisdh1 said in SAS to USB:
@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
SAS to USB, does such a thing exist? (that doesn't cost a small fortune). Based on my own searching and research I think the answer is no, but figured I'd ask here in case I've missed something.
Found this, but can't justify the price
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/offer-listing/B07KZRCT8H/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=newI've got a bunch of 2.5" drives that we pulled when swapping SSDs into a few servers. We're using them as spares to replace dead drives in other machines for which they're compatible but they have to be cleared / blanked before being used as replacements in order for the RAID controller to properly accept the drive and rebuild.
Right now I've got to boot a spare server into the PERC's configuration interface and use that to clear the drive before I can swap it in. Ideally I'd like to be able to just connect the drive via USB to a workstation or laptop and use fdisk / gparted or something else to blank it.
Have you tried plugging them into a standard USB to SATA adapter? Should work from what I know, but I've never tried it myself.
The interfaces won't mate, there's a notch that prevents just that. We tried what looks to be a simple pin to pin adapter with a USB to sata that I found online and couldn't get anything to see the drive on the other end.
SATA drives fit into SAS backplanes but SAS drives don't fit SATA backplanes/connectors.
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If you have a bunch of them and don't like the work, you can just send them to a place that wipes disks. They'll wipe them and send them back.
A real wipe is a lot more involved than just wiping the partition table as you do with fdisk/gparted.
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@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Just plug them into a server that doesn't have a stupid perc controller and wipe them there.
We're almost exclusively Dell, so finding someplace to connect a SAS that isn't a PERC is going to be difficult, if not impossible.
I'd like to avoid having to use a server at all to blank them, might have to dig through some of the boxes of "junk" to see if there might be a SAS-compatible card that I could throw into a desktop
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Just plug them into a server that doesn't have a stupid perc controller and wipe them there.
We're almost exclusively Dell, so finding someplace to connect a SAS that isn't a PERC is going to be difficult, if not impossible.
I'd like to avoid having to use a server at all to blank them, might have to dig through some of the boxes of "junk" to see if there might be a SAS-compatible card that I could throw into a desktop
That's probably your best bet.
Dell also makes pure HBAs, like HBA330. Maybe it's even called PERC as well, I don't know. Anyway, if you put the disk in a SAS controller that isn't raid it doesn't think it's part of an array or something.
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@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
If you have a bunch of them and don't like the work, you can just send them to a place that wipes disks. They'll wipe them and send them back.
A real wipe is a lot more involved than just wiping the partition table as you do with fdisk/gparted.
Not concerned with data security as they aren't leaving the organization, just need to clear them to the point that they'll be picked up by the RAID controller when used as a spare. I've had to swap around some of the SATA SSDs that we've used in place of these SAS drives and there's a function in the "Disks" gui that comes with the Cinnamon DE that did the trick. Can't remember what exactly it was at the moment though.
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
If you have a bunch of them and don't like the work, you can just send them to a place that wipes disks. They'll wipe them and send them back.
A real wipe is a lot more involved than just wiping the partition table as you do with fdisk/gparted.
Not concerned with data security as they aren't leaving the organization, just need to clear them to the point that they'll be picked up by the RAID controller when used as a spare. I've had to swap around some of the SATA SSDs that we've used in place of these SAS drives and there's a function in the "Disks" gui that comes with the Cinnamon DE that did the trick. Can't remember what exactly it was at the moment though.
You can also run
wipefs -a /dev/sdX -
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Just plug them into a server that doesn't have a stupid perc controller and wipe them there.
We're almost exclusively Dell, so finding someplace to connect a SAS that isn't a PERC is going to be difficult, if not impossible.
I'd like to avoid having to use a server at all to blank them, might have to dig through some of the boxes of "junk" to see if there might be a SAS-compatible card that I could throw into a desktop
That's probably your best bet.
Dell also makes pure HBAs, like HBA330. Maybe it's even called PERC as well, I don't know. Anyway, if you put the disk in a SAS controller that isn't raid it doesn't think it's part of an array or something.
AFAIK they use the PERC moniker on everything that's a drive controller for the servers. All of our HBAs are perc, mostly H710 if my memory is correct. From some research a while back I seem to recall that it's mostly LSI stuff that's either just rebranded or possibly tweaked for Dell
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
I've got a bunch of 2.5" drives that we pulled when swapping SSDs into a few servers. We're using them as spares to replace dead drives in other machines for which they're compatible but they have to be cleared / blanked before being used as replacements in order for the RAID controller to properly accept the drive and rebuild.
Why would you use old drives as replacements? Hard drives are cheap and data is expensive. Spend the money on new drives for swapping.
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@IRJ said in SAS to USB:
@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
I've got a bunch of 2.5" drives that we pulled when swapping SSDs into a few servers. We're using them as spares to replace dead drives in other machines for which they're compatible but they have to be cleared / blanked before being used as replacements in order for the RAID controller to properly accept the drive and rebuild.
Why would you use old drives as replacements? Hard drives are cheap and data is expensive. Spend the money on new drives for swapping.
Because they're running Dell. Always best to replace with identical drives with the exact same firmware - which you're not getting if you are buying new drives.
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@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Always best to replace with identical drives with the exact same firmware - which you're not getting if you are buying new drives.
I've never had this experience. What's the concern? I'm not saying I have lots of experience one way or the other, just never seen an issue like this and wondering what happens.
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Just plug them into a server that doesn't have a stupid perc controller and wipe them there.
We're almost exclusively Dell, so finding someplace to connect a SAS that isn't a PERC is going to be difficult, if not impossible.
I'd like to avoid having to use a server at all to blank them, might have to dig through some of the boxes of "junk" to see if there might be a SAS-compatible card that I could throw into a desktop
That's probably your best bet.
Dell also makes pure HBAs, like HBA330. Maybe it's even called PERC as well, I don't know. Anyway, if you put the disk in a SAS controller that isn't raid it doesn't think it's part of an array or something.
AFAIK they use the PERC moniker on everything that's a drive controller for the servers. All of our HBAs are perc, mostly H710 if my memory is correct. From some research a while back I seem to recall that it's mostly LSI stuff that's either just rebranded or possibly tweaked for Dell
That's correct. PERC is a "brand" that they slap on things that they resell. They don't make PERC gear themselves.
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@notverypunny said in SAS to USB:
SAS to USB, does such a thing exist? (that doesn't cost a small fortune). Based on my own searching and research I think the answer is no, but figured I'd ask here in case I've missed something.
We've looked before and the answer always came back "no". There's essentially no need for it, so no one makes it.
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@scottalanmiller said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Always best to replace with identical drives with the exact same firmware - which you're not getting if you are buying new drives.
I've never had this experience. What's the concern? I'm not saying I have lots of experience one way or the other, just never seen an issue like this and wondering what happens.
You might have to upgrade the firmware on the older drives as well as firmware on the controller just because you want to replace one old drive.
It also depends on what you mean with "new" drive. Is it new model or new old stock.
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@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
@scottalanmiller said in SAS to USB:
@Pete-S said in SAS to USB:
Always best to replace with identical drives with the exact same firmware - which you're not getting if you are buying new drives.
I've never had this experience. What's the concern? I'm not saying I have lots of experience one way or the other, just never seen an issue like this and wondering what happens.
You might have to upgrade the firmware on the older drives as well as firmware on the controller just because you want to replace one old drive.
It also depends on what you mean with "new" drive. Is it new model or new old stock.
In my experience, new as in shipped from Dell as a replacement, so it could be either.
And I have never had an issue plugging in a drive and it just working and beginning a rebuild. Unless the drive was not empty.
Connecting the drive to anything, starting DBAN for a moment, and then cancelling out works enough.
