Adaptec 29320LPE PCI-Express version

[CiscoKid]

Anyone use the Adaptec 29320LPE (PCI-Express) in their system with a success story? I am out of PCI-X slots and cannot install any PCI/PCI-X cards for my internal tape drive. I currently have my tape drive connected to my LSI 320-2E only to find out that LSI-MPT is not a support connection for tape drives and has to be a separate Adaptec card. I have an Adaptec 29160 that will require major system reconfiguration to install it. I would like to attempt to use the Adaptec 29320LPE but wanted to gather some ideas from this forum. Thanks.

Message was edited by:

CiscoKid

[mcwill]

Not an Adaptec 29320LPE, but today I successfully installed ESX on an

LSI Logic SAS Controller SAS3041E-R

It is a PCI-Express x4 card and offers SATA/SAS RAID0 or RAID1.

This is currently set up on a test machine with 2x150GB Raptors & 2x500GB SATA drives and is working great (after upgrading the FW + BIOS on the card)

The above card is on the HCL so is a fairly safe bet.

[CiscoKid]

I know that the 29320LP is on the HCL, but I did not see the 29320LPE...Maybe I overlooked it?

[mcwill]

Sorry I was referring to the LSI Logic SAS Controller SAS3041E-R as being on the HCL.

\[More apologies, I had assumed (incorrectly) that the 29320LPE was a SAS controller which is why I suggested the LSI unit. Please ignore the above.]

Message was edited by:

mcwill

[CiscoKid]

Anyone considering the Adaptec 29320 can be rest assured that the Adaptec 29320LPE DOES WORK with VMware ESX 3.01. I have a fully patched system running on an Intel 5000PSLSATA MB and the 29320LPE WORKS!!!!!!! I am glad that it does because I took the risk against the HCL and VMware ESX 3.01 recognizes the card as an AHA-29320ALP. I tested Computer Associates Brightstor 11.1SP2 on a VM guest that has a physical connection to the tape drive and was able to successful backup 7GB in 5 minutes and restore at 7GB at 10 minutes. Have fun with this card. I am certain that we will see the Adaptec 29320LPE added the HCL in the next revision.

[bobmc]

I was wondering did you install teh 29320LPE drivers or did you install something different? I've just purchased the 29320LPE card and didn't figure out it wasn't on the HCL until it was to late. How did you get the system to see the card. Any details you can provide would be great, i'm a bit very new to the Linux OS.

Thanks..

[rprante]

I have installed an Adaptec 29320LPE scsi card in my ESX 3.01 server, but the OS does not see it, as far as I can tell. Is there anything that needs to be done, after installing the hardware, in order to get the OS to recognize the card?

Thanks!

Rob

[Coinspinnr]

Tape Drive support in ESXi 4.1 or 5.0 using adaptec 29320LPE Controller
In VCenter or VSphere client verify that the tape drive path under storage adapters shows a dead path

To fix the dead path issue
Enable local and remote support via console
•    (ENABLE)
•    - go to your esx 4.1i console
•    - press “f2″
•    - select “troubleshooting options”
•    - enable “local tech support”
•    - select “escape”
•    - select “escape”
•    (USE)
•    - press “alt-f1″
•   
Login as root
Run the following command
esxcli nmp satp addrule --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver="aic79xx" --description="Specific rule for Adaptec Card"
use “mptspi”  if you have an LSI Card

use “mpt2sas” for dell SAS 6 controller
If you are using a tape changer
In the Adaptec BIOS, you need to change the option to enable multiple LUN support for the SCSI ID of the changer in order for windows to recognize the tape drive and changer properly.

In Backup Exec  virtual machine properties set the SCSI id of the tape drive to the same  id that is used by the changer. The changer can use any other available SCSI ID

In ESX 5 use the following commands
for the driver use  aic79xx   instead of mpt2sas if you are using an adaptec 29320 LPE controller.

esxcli storage nmp satp rule add --satp VMW_SATP_LOCAL --driver= “mpt2sas” --description=”Dell SAS 6 HBA”