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Allow non-Dell Certified Drives to work with PERC H700 and H800 RAID controllers
February 11, 2010
36 Votes
Status: Implemented
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The newest PERC H700 and H800 RAID Controllers have this new "feature" that should be removed in the next firmware release:
"Blocking of non Dell certified drives being used with PERC H700 or PERC H800"
That quote was taken directly from perc-technical-guidebook.pdf
Dell has confirmed that those controllers will prevent an off-the-shelf SAS or SATA drive from being used. Right now there is no way around this besides purchasing a different controller.
There is NO indication of this "feature" when purchasing the system.
Dell claims that they do this becasue their drive firmware is superior and that they will be selling them for at least 10 years. What do I do after 10 years?
What if I need a replacement NOW and can't wait a few days?
What if I don't want to pay Dell's 250% markup on drives when I can get the same drive from the same manufacturer from newegg.com for less than half the price?
I (and many people on the linux-poweredge mailing list) propose this solution:
The controller or OMSA should remind the user that the non-Dell drive is not supported by Dell and require the user to acknowledge this before the drive can be used.
That way Dell can cover their behind and the user has the freedom they expect from Dell.
The current approach of blocking the drive can only be described as greedy. Especially because Dell does not make an effort to inform people before the purchase the hardware.
Status Update: Please see Dennis_s' comment for further details. Thanks for posting!
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Aug 18, 2011 Comment Link
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Posted By:
dennis_s
Firmware was released in July 2010 that allowed these controllers to support non-Dell branded drives. You can find the firmware at the links below.H700
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R269684&SystemID=PWE_R710&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=20602&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=4&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=46&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=397306
H800
http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&releaseid=R269683&SystemID=PWE_R710&servicetag=&os=WNET&osl=en&deviceid=20604&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=4&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=46&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=397303
Jun 18, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: trebligb
Another comment... we have found that the ordering process to get Dell parts for upgrades is slow and frustrating, besides which the hard drives are extra expensive for the same hardware.If those two problems were fixed so that the drive costs were competitive with other vendors and the ordering process was fast I would be less inclined to care about the drive locking.
Jun 18, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: trebligb
Is the release for the updated firmware really Q2 of 2011? That is a really long way out!FYI - Dell lost 2 server sales today due to this restriction.
Jun 17, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: matt_d
@vidkun: the product managers for the MD3000/MD1000 line have advised me that due to the unique requirement to provide High Availability capabilities in these products, in combination with the multi-initiator capability which off-the-shelf disk drive firmwares don't support, these products will continue to require Dell-branded disks which contain proper supporting firmware.Thanks,
Matt
Jun 16, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: vidkun
Matt_d,That's a great start, but this needs to be rolled out across all Dell products and NOT just the H700/H800's. This needs to be fixed in all Dell servers including the MD3000/MD1000 line of products.
May 3, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: codekrash
Like everyone else said, I no longer buy Dell servers because of Dells new policy to block non-dell drivers. I keep a lot of drives in stock for quick repair. The same EXACT drive dell sells for $479 I get it from our vendor for $99. I just purchased 4 new servers with 6 drives each for 2 of our branch offices. With dell i would have paid almost $11,496 for those 24 drives vs $2376 from our vendor. A difference of $9,120!! I switched mostly to HP and an occasional Dell without the raid option - I buy adaptec controller + drives from our vendor. Make no mistake, Dell will loose business over this.Apr 14, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: matt_d
This is in the process of being addressed, in large part due to comments here on IdeaStorm, the community forums, and the linux-poweredge mailing list. Seehttp://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/servers/f/906/p/19324790/19689719.aspx#19689719 for the official statement.
Apr 8, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: BenDover
These are NOT mainframes. They're commodity servers. The whole point of buying Dell was the fairly open and standard architecture.Apr 8, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: BenDover
This is nothing more than an appallingly greedy rort.EVEN IBM SAN equipment allows you to download a set of supported firmware and flash the drive.
Mar 30, 2010 Comment Link
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Posted By: Helium
Dell hard drive proprietary solutions are only cash cows, Dell's hard drives are overpriced. Dell is stupid and greedy!!!1 2 Next