Home / server / Questions / 642360
In Process
Joel K
Asked: 2014-11-06 17:24:06 +0800 CST

How do I monitor RAID status when using an external eSATA RAID5 SATA port multiplier?

  • 772

I am using an external eSATA device which takes 5 SATA drives and presents them as one large HW RAID5 to linux (ubuntu).

It uses a SiI3726 chipset.

Linux sees and handles the sata device just fine, but I'm wondering if there's any way to query/monitor the RAID5 status that's hiding behind this HW RAID.

(from dmesg -- I swear I don't have a 16T single drive...)

[   16.409678] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] 31255691264 512-byte logical blocks: (16.0 TB/14.5 TiB)
[   16.409727] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] Write Protect is off
[   16.409730] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] Mode Sense: 00 3a 00 00
[   16.409752] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[   16.463573]  sde: sde1
[   16.463785] sd 4:0:0:0: [sde] Attached SCSI disk

(from lshw)

   *-disk:4
        description: ATA Disk
        product: SATA H/W RAID5
        physical id: 4
        bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
        logical name: /dev/sde

Any guidance on peering at the system underneath would be appreciated.

RAID status is my big concern, but actual drive models would be helpful too.

I looked at some libatasmart tools, but couldn't find anything regarding SATA port multipliers in general.

There are utilities to check/set the RAID settings in OSX/Windows, so it is apparently possible. I'm looking for a way to do this in Linux and then potentially add to Nagios, etc.

Here's what the HW looks like: card in chassis

linux

3 Answers

  1. You may be one of the only people who have run into this issue :)

    Well, possibly... The use of SATA multipliers is a no-no in server-class systems. Heck, using SATA is a bit risky these days, with ever-increasing drive capacities.

    It's not surprising that you've had a difficult time finding information about the SATA port multiplier and monitoring under Linux. Using a SAS expander is the preferred and more supportable approach. Expanders are the norm for server backplanes and external storage JBOD enclosures. As a result, port multipliers are somewhat rare and don't have much mindshare. Adding a layer of abstraction through eSATA almost eliminates any chance of your drives being exposed to the OS, unless the card you're using in the host has OS-lever driver support.

    What type of eSATA host card are you using?

    At this point, I would rely on the enclosure and visual LED status checks to determine array health. Provide more information about the device, and there's a slim chance status can be communicated to the host (if using the right card), but I wouldn't expect it otherwise.

    Edit:

    The enclosure being used here does not have LED indicators for drive health. You won't have any way of visually determining drive array status or doing this via your host.

    enter image description here

    enter image description here

    Edit

    I reached out to the manufacturer for support:

    The OP post a wrong part that is why no one can help :-) See: https://serverfault.com/a/644247/13325

    • 5

  2. This is DATOptic-Support Team, the manufacture of the 1U stand-alone Hardware RAID.

    The control uses in this 1U rack is NOT SiI-3726.

    It is JM393: http://www.datoptic.com/ec/5x-drive-hardware-raid-controller.html There is some GUI in Linux but not all flavor - go the page and click support TAB There is some CLI and OpenSuSE RAID GUI...

    • 2

  3. I feel like the enclosure you're using has this RAID/port-multiplier board in it. (The pictures seem to match-up.) (Ugh-- actually, it's close but not exactly the same. The jumper layout is like the model SPM393PS-SEV, but that model is supposedly 4 disks / 2 hosts.)

    If that's the case, the manufacturer's web site purports to have a "X86 - Linux Daemon Tool - CLI" package available, among other software offerings. Not having one of these things, obviously, I can't actually run it, but the strings in the file seem to be promising.

    If it is that unit and the Linux-based software doesn't work you could always strap an Arduino to the pins of the status LED on the back and monitor that. (Ugly, to be sure, but it could be made to work...)

    • 1