HP P420 User Manual
QuickSpecs
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
Overview
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
HP Smart Array P420i Controller
The HP Smart Array P420 Controller is a low profile, 6 Gb/s, PCIe 3.0, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID controller that provides
enterprise class, storage performance and data protection for select HP ProLiant Gen8 rack servers and tower servers.
It features eight internal SAS ports and delivers increased server uptime by providing advanced storage functionality, including
online RAID level migration (between any RAID levels) with flash back write cache, global online spare, and pre-failure warning.
Data Compatibility among all models of Smart Array controllers allows simple and easy migration at any time when needs for
higher performance, capacity, and availability increase. Even new generations of Smart Array controllers can understand the data
format of previous generations of Smart Array controllers.
What's New
HP Smart Array Advanced Pack 2.0 features are now part of the base features for the HP Smart Array P420 Controller at
no additional cost
Models
HP Smart Array P420
Controller
HP Smart Array P420/1GB FBWC 6Gb 2-ports Int SAS Controller 631670-B21
HP Smart Array P420/2GB FBWC 6Gb 2-ports Int SAS Controller 631671-B21
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QuickSpecs
Standard Features
The Smart Array
Advantage
HP's innovative design and integration work of the Smart Array family of products creates customer
value that is unmatched in the industry. Use of Smart Array products across multiple applications
results in a much lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than any other server storage RAID product. The
HP Smart Array family brings an unparalleled return on investment through:
Data Compatibility among most current shipping Smart Array controllers allows simple and easy
upgrades any time needs for higher performance, capacity, and availability increase. Even successive
generations of Smart Array controllers understand the data format of other Smart Array Controllers.
Consistent Configuration and Management Tools. Most current shipping Smart Array products utilize
a standard set of management and utility software. These tools minimize Total Cost of Ownership
(TCO) by reducing training requirements and technical expertise necessary to install and maintain the
HP server storage.
SmartDrive Carrier form factor is for use across multiple HP servers, Universal Hard Drive form factor
is for disk enclosures and storage systems. With compatibility across many enterprise platforms, you
are free to deploy and re-deploy these drives to quickly deliver increased storage capacity, migrate
data between systems, and easily manage spare drives.
Pre-Failure Warranty means HP Insight Manager not only reports when a drive is going to fail but
allows replacement of failing drives prior to actual failure. For complete details, consult the HP
Support Center or refer to your HP Server documentation.
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
Key Features
The SA-P420 Controller supports up to 60 drives depending on the server implementation.
Seamless upgrades from past generations and upgrades to next generation HP high
performance and high capacity Serial Attached SCSI Smart Array controllers.
6Gb/s SAS technology delivers high performance and data bandwidth and contains full
compatibility with 6Gb/s SATA technology.
x8 PCIe 3.0 host interface technology delivers high performance and data bandwidth up to 8
GB/s maximum bandwidth.
Modular, easy-to-upgrade design lets you optimize performance by upgrading from 40-bit
512MB cache to 72-bit 1GB Flash Backed Write Cache or 72-bit 2GB Flash Backed Write Cache
(FBWC).
Addition of the flash backed cache upgrade enables array expansion, logical drive extension,
RAID migration, and stripe size migration.
Standard on the P420 are RAID 6 ADG, RAID 60 ADG, RAID 1 ADM, Capacity Expansion, mirror
split, recombine, and rollback in Online Mode, Drive Erase, Performance OptimizationDegraded Reads and Read Coalescing, Move/Delete any individual LUNS and Online Split
Mirror
The HP SSD Smart Path feature included in the Smart Array software stack improves SSD read
for all RAID levels and RAID 0 write operations by optimizing the path to each SSD attached to
the controller
The HP SmartCache licensed feature (available as an additional option) is a controller-based
read caching solution in a DAS environment that caches the most frequently accessed data
("hot" data) onto lower latency SSDs to dynamically accelerate application workloads.
Mix-and-match SAS and SATA hard drives, lets you deploy drive technology as needed to fit
your computing environment.
Software consistency on most current shipping Smart Array products: HP Smart Storage
Administrator, HP Systems Insight Manager (SIM), and Intelligent Provisioning.
Low-profile PCI Express form factor - ships with a full size bracket for deployment in either a
low-profile or full sized slot.
Management Features
Online array expansion (with FBWC)
Online Advanced Capacity Expansion (with FBWC)
Online logical drive extension (with FBWC)
Online RAID level migration (with FBWC)
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QuickSpecs
Standard Features
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
Online stripe size migration (with FBWC)
Online mirror split, recombine and rollback (with FBWC )
Unlimited global online spare assignment
User selectable expand and rebuild priority
User selectable RAID level and stripe size
User selectable read and write cache sizes
Supports Predictive Spare Activation
Ports
Performance
Native Command Queuing
Capacity
Eight (8) SAS physical links distributed across 2 internal x4 wide port connectors.
6Gb/s SAS [(600MB/s bandwidth per physical link)]
x8 6Gb/s SAS physical links (compatible with 3Gb/s SATA )
512 MB 72-bit wide DDR3-800MHz Flash Backed Write Cache, 1 GB 72-bit wide DDR3-
1333MHz Flash Backed Write Cache or 2GB 72-bit wide DDR3-1333MHz Flash Back Write
Cache provides up to 10.6 GB/s maximum bandwidth (on the DDR3-1333MHz cache)
x8 PCIe 3.0 host interface provides maximum bandwidth
Read ahead caching
Write-back caching (with FBWC)
Native Command Queuing (NCQ) is a technology designed to increase performance of SATA hard disk
drives by allowing the individual hard disk to internally optimize the order in which received read and
write commands are executed. This can reduce the amount of unnecessary going back-and-forth on
the drive's heads, resulting in increased performance for workloads where multiple simultaneous
read/write requests are outstanding, most often occurring in server or storage-type applications.
Without NCQ the drive has to process and complete one command at a time. For NCQ to be enabled, it
must be supported and turned on in the controller and in the hard drive itself.
NOTE: Please see the SATA Hard Drive QuickSpecs for specific SATA hard drive capacities that support
NCQ: http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/11940_div/11940_div.html
Given the increasing need for high performance and rapid capacity expansion, the SA-P420 Controller
offers:
Up to 240TB of total internal storage with 60 x 4TB LFF SATA hard drives
Up to 24TB of total internal storage with 27 x 900GB SFF SAS hard drives
Above stated total internal storage LFF is based on the HP SL4540 Gen8 server. Maximum internal
storage is dependent on the server.
Availability
Provides increased server uptime by providing advanced storage functionality:
Online RAID level migration between any RAID levels (with FBWC )
Online stripe size migration
Online capacity expansion
Online logical drive extension
Online active drive replacement
Online drive firmware upgrade
Unlimited global online spare
Pre-Failure Warranty
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QuickSpecs
Standard Features
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
Fault Prevention
Fault Tolerance
The following features offer detection of possible failures before they occur, allowing preventive
action to be taken:
S.M.A.R.T.: Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology first developed at HP detects
possible hard disk failure before it occurs, allowing replacement of the hard drive before a real
failure occurs.
Drive Parameter Tracking monitors drive operational parameters, predicting failure and
notifying the administrator.
Dynamic Sector Repairing continually performs background surface scans on the hard disk
drives during inactive periods and automatically remaps bad sectors, ensuring data integrity.
Smart Array Cache Tracking monitors integrity of controller cache, allowing pre-failure
preventative maintenance.
Keeps data available and server running while a failed drive is being replaced; several fault tolerance
configurations are supported including:
RAID 6 (Advanced Data Guarding): Supported with a minimum of 4 drives. This allocates two
sets of parity data across drives. This level of fault tolerance can withstand a double drive
failure without downtime or data loss.
RAID 60: Supported with a minimum of 8 drives. This volume is composed of two or more RAID
6 sub-volumes (parity groups) where data is striped across each parity group as if it were a
single physical drive. Each RAID 6 parity group can sustain up to two drive failures without
incurring data loss.
RAID 5 (Distributed Data Guarding): Supported with a minimum of 3 drives. This allocates one
set of parity data across drives. This level of fault tolerance can withstand a single drive
failure without downtime or data loss.
RAID 50: Supported with a minimum of 6 drives. This volume is composed of two or more RAID
5 sub-volumes (parity groups) where data is striped across each parity group as if it were a
single physical drive. Each RAID 5 parity group can sustain a single drive failure without
incurring data loss.
RAID 1 & 10 (Drive Mirroring): Supported with a minimum of 2 drives. This allocates half of the
drive array to the data and the other half to the mirrored data, providing two copies of the
data.
RAID 1 ADM & 10 ADM (Advanced Data Mirroring): Supported with a minimum of 3 drives. RAID
1 ADM creates redundant copies of the data using 3 drives. RAID 10 ADM stripes data across
two or more sets of RAID 1 ADM volumes. This level of fault tolerance can withstand a double
drive failure within a RAID 1 ADM volume without downtime or data loss.
Fault Recovery
Minimizes downtime, reconstructs data, and facilitates a quick recovery from drive failure
Recovery ROM: This feature protects the user from a firmware image corruption by storing a
redundant copy of the firmware image. If the active firmware image becomes corrupt, the
controller will use the redundant firmware image and continue operating.
On-Line Spares: There is no limit to the number of spare drives that can be installed prior to
drive failure. If a failure occurs, recovery begins with an On-Line Spare and data is
reconstructed automatically.
DRAM ECC detects and corrects data bit errors.
Battery-backed write cache upgrade provides for up to two days of battery power for data
cache retention. The data backup duration could be extended anytime the server's auxiliary
power is available during system power down.
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Standard Features
HP Smart Array P420 Controller
Ease of Use
HP SSD SmartPath
Consistency and upgradeability on most current shipping Smart Array products make them unique in
the industry:
GUI based configuration, management and diagnostic software tools with the HP Smart
Storage Administrator
Common data format between generations of products
Data migration between servers and external Modular Smart Array enclosures
The HP SSD Smart Path feature included in the Smart Array software stack improves Solid State Disk
(SSD) read performance. With up to 4x better SSD read performance, HP SSD Smart path chooses the
optimum path to the SSD and accelerates reads for all RAID levels and RAID 0 writes. HP SSD Smart
Path Requires updated firmware, drivers, and configuration utility available at
www.hp.com/go/ssdsmartpath. HP SSD Smart Path is ideal for read intensive workloads and is
included as a base feature on HP Smart Array P-series controllers. The following operating systems are
supported by the HP SSD Smart Path feature:
Microsoft Windows Server 2008
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2
Microsoft Windows Server 2012
Microsoft Windows Server 2012 R2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, and 6.5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 (SP1, SP2, SPA)
VMware ESXi 5.0 U3
VMware vSphere 5.1 U2 and vSphere 5.5
HP SmartCache
Warranty
The HP SmartCache licensed feature is a controller-based read caching solution in a DAS environment
that caches the most frequently accessed data ("hot" data) onto lower latency SSDs to dynamically
accelerate application workloads. The HP SmartCache architecture is flexible and supports any HP
ProLiant Gen8 supported HDD for bulk storage and any HP ProLiant Gen8 supported SSD as an
accelerator.
HP SmartCache is deployed and managed using the HP SmartStorage Administrator (HP SSA) and HP
Array Configuration Utility (HP ACU).
The basic HP SmartCache architecture is comprised of the following three elements:
Bulk storage: The first element is the bulk storage device, which is any supported HDD
attached to the HP Smart Array controller.
Accelerator: The second element, the accelerator, is a faster/lower latency SSD device that
caches data.
Metadata: The final element is metadata, information held in a relatively small storage area
that maps the location of information residing on the accelerator and bulk storage devices.
For more information please visit www.hp.com/go/smartcache
The warranty for this device is 3-years parts only.
Pre-Failure Warranty: Drives attached to the Smart Array Controller and monitored under Insight
Manager are supported by a Pre-Failure (replacement) Warranty. For complete details, consult the HP
Support Center or refer to your HP Server Documentation.
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