Thomas Glanzmann wrote:

>>Is there a limit to how large the disks can be in a Netra X1 (possibly
>>with OBP updates)? I'm wondering if I could install a couple of
>>100-200GB drives in it, so we can use it as a media/jumpstart server.
>
>
> it depends on the Solaris version.

Only true for Solaris8_FCS/Update1/Update2's limits (at least on x86).
The device driver (and therefore Solaris) version you use is just a
"soft-limitation", true.
BUT the 128GB bug is hardware related (with rare exceptions, i.e.
CMD/Sil0 649, where it is kind of "hybrid limit" [UNDOCUMENTED]).


I guess Solaris 10 is fine. Anything
> below will break at 127Gbyte++;


THOMAS GLANZMANN, WRONG!
It depends on the builtin (IDE-Controller-) chipset.
Several older chipsets of various vendors including CMD/Sil had their
hardwired HARDWARE limit at 128GB.
In those cases even "Solaris 18", maybe in 2018, wouldn't help at all.

Guess-work is of no help, but here are FACTS:

bash-3.00$ uname -a
SunOS unknown 5.11 smb_1__20050731sun sun4u sparc SUNW,Sun-Blade-1000
bash-3.00$ isainfo -v
64-bit sparcv9 applications
vis2 vis
32-bit sparc applications
vis2 vis v8plus div32 mul32
bash-3.00$ grep ata /etc/driver_aliases
uata "pci1095,646"
uata "pci10b9,5229"
uata "pci1095,649"
uata "pci1095,680"
bash-3.00$

You see ALL IDE-chipsets currently supported (or at least "just
working") on SPARC Solaris2.11_nv18 (OpenSolaris Nevada build 18
[Solaris11 from July]).

The CMD 646 is slow crap (used in U5/U10 and maybe others).
The CMD/Sil (0)649 is not built into any SUN system I am currently aware
of. However, it has been a very very good solution for ca. three years,
as it was the ONLY one also available in form of IDE-PCI boards (instead
of system board - integrated ONLY) AND working on SPARC Solaris hosts.
It was quite fast with Solaris([8/]9/)10's default ata driver (UDMA100).

uata "pci10b9,5229" represents the "Ali 5229 PCI Bus Master IDE Controller".
There are many UltraSPARC systems employing it (mainboard integrated):
SB100/SB150/SB1500/SB1500Silver(?)/Tadpole_SPARCle_500SX and certainly
low-end servers as well as ide-based TelCo's (including yours?!!).
I'm pretty sure it is hard-limited to 128GB (not 100.00% sure).
It all depends on access mode/addressing issues.

YOUR SOLUTION is the ultracheap (starting at $9 on eBay) CMD/Sil 0680
Dual Channel pci-board!!!
It will support >= 128GB (at least 500GB). It is very fast
(UDMA/UATA_133). You can have as many of them as you have free pci
slots. You can use them with volume manager/raid.
etc. etc., all you ever dreamt of!
YEZ, also on any NON-IDE (SCSI based) SUN SPARC machine (without boot
support then).



martin

Martin Bochnig (mbochnig@arcor.de) wrote:
: BUT the 128GB bug is hardware related (with rare exceptions, i.e.
: CMD/Sil0 649, where it is kind of "hybrid limit" [UNDOCUMENTED]).

It may be more than that. Freebsd (V5.?) sort of works with 200
gig disks but it will result in catastrophic disk corruption.

Even formatting the disk as just a 128 gig disk (and even 100 gig
on a 200 disk) seems to be unreliable with Solairs 9/10 and Freebsd
5. I wouldn't put anything bigger than 128 gig in an X1 or v100.

-tim
http://web.abnormal.com

Tim Hogard wrote:
> Martin Bochnig (mbochnig@arcor.de) wrote:
> : BUT the 128GB bug is hardware related (with rare exceptions, i.e.
> : CMD/Sil0 649, where it is kind of "hybrid limit" [UNDOCUMENTED]).
>
> It may be more than that. Freebsd (V5.?) sort of works with 200
> gig disks but it will result in catastrophic disk corruption.
>
> Even formatting the disk as just a 128 gig disk (and even 100 gig
> on a 200 disk) seems to be unreliable with Solairs 9/10 and Freebsd
> 5. I wouldn't put anything bigger than 128 gig in an X1 or v100.


Absolutely correct Tim, that's just what I wanted to shorten by writing
>>"hybrid limit [UNDOCUMENTED]".
That's the strange thing with cmd649 on *bsd_sparc.
There is even a SUNW-internal Solaris_sparc driver for it, with support
for (ways)MORE than 128GB, sources told me (I don't have access to it
and therefore cannot verify this claim).
I didn't find any hint for this in the (public) sources.
Most probably stability issues prevented SUNW from publicly releasing
it, just as you suggested.
Even Silicon Image by themselves treated it as a product lacking support
for anything greater than 128GB.


Martin

Martin Bochnig wrote:

<snip>
> YOUR SOLUTION is the ultracheap (starting at $9 on eBay) CMD/Sil 0680
> Dual Channel pci-board!!!
> It will support >= 128GB (at least 500GB). It is very fast
> (UDMA/UATA_133). You can have as many of them as you have free pci
> slots. You can use them with volume manager/raid.
> etc. etc., all you ever dreamt of!
> YEZ, also on any NON-IDE (SCSI based) SUN SPARC machine (without boot
> support then).
>
>
Any idea whether/when that functionality will get into Solaris 10?
Or even Solaris 9?

>
> martin


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Martin,
I did a quick search on the PCI board on ebay and couldn't find it. Do
you happen to know what a brand name might be?

Also, does it support booting IDE drives from it? I would be looking
to get one in my SB100, but would want to boot from the large drives if
possible.

Thanks!

Martin Bochnig wrote:

>
> YOUR SOLUTION is the ultracheap (starting at $9 on eBay) CMD/Sil 0680
> Dual Channel pci-board!!!
> It will support >= 128GB (at least 500GB). It is very fast
> (UDMA/UATA_133). You can have as many of them as you have free pci
> slots. You can use them with volume manager/raid.
> etc. etc., all you ever dreamt of!
> YEZ, also on any NON-IDE (SCSI based) SUN SPARC machine (without boot
> support then).
>
>
>
> martin

According to <te@ivorypetal.com>:
> Martin,
> I did a quick search on the PCI board on ebay and couldn't find it. Do
> you happen to know what a brand name might be?
>
> Also, does it support booting IDE drives from it? I would be looking
> to get one in my SB100, but would want to boot from the large drives if
> possible.

My wife is currently using a SB100 with a 120 GB IDE drive as
the boot drive. I believe that over 137GB you start having problems,
but the 120 GB works fine.

This is working from the IDE ports built into the motherboard,
FWIW -- not from any PCI board.

Good Luck,
DoN.
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