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We're looking at using velociraptor 10k SATA drives in a Dell Poweredge R720.

The late-2012 1 TB WD velociraptors seem like a great fit for our situation (need 10s of TBs of storage in a 2.5" format for servers with solid performance).

I can't find any examples online of people using these disks in a 2.5" server RAID configuration, but I see at Switch SATA disks in DELL PowerEdge R410 suggesting that only certain Velociraptor models have the right connection for a Poweredge backplane setup.

Does anybody know if there will be problems connecting the new velociraptors to the server backplane? Are there issues combining the 4k sector "advanced format" design with a standard RAID card?

We would go with a Dell H710P.

ewwhite
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JZeta
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4 Answers4

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Yes, they will work. Everything will fit and will be recognized by the controller, etc.

But please consider using proper SAS drives or the actual Dell-branded models. Don't pay retail. You can find them for less.

If you need capacity, go with nearline SAS disks (7.2k).

If you need performance, go with enterprise SAS disks (10k or 15k RPM).

Why?

How can a single disk in a hardware SATA RAID-10 array bring the entire array to a screeching halt?

SAS vs Near-line SAS vs SATA

Community
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ewwhite
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If you want a disk that will definitely work in a brandname server, you should look into what that brandname vendor has to offer. These disks are usually more expensive, but you get replacement support and an assurance that these disks were tested with the hardware you are purchasing.

dyasny
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Most of the Dell PERC controllers are OEM versions of LSI, Adaptec... units, so it would help to consult the HCLs for these...

Be sure to understand the difference between RAID optimized and desktop/single-disk-server optimized drives (TLER and vibration handling!), and research if there are tools available to configure the relevant settings (with some drives you can with others you cannot).

Also, SAS systems usually handle unorthodox failure modes of drives in an array better (a SATA drive with the right kind of electronics fault can freeze some RAID controllers solid).

rackandboneman
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I would say yes, those drives will work fine with your configuration. I say that based on the fact that I went to Dell's website and configured R720 with H710P controller, RAID 5 or 6 setup and 16 500GB SATA drives. If it accepted these drives, I see no reason why it would not accept Velociraptors.

Having said that, if you need a lot of storage, have you considered R720xd servers? They support up to 26 drives (instead of 16 in R720). With that kind of setup you'll be able to get more spindles(or even SSDs), which gives you more IOPS, and you won't have to buy 'maximum capacity' drives which usually have a significant premium in $/GB.

Mxx
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