Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Finding the WWN on an HS22 SAS connectivity module

Recently obtained an IBM HS22 blade server with a SAS connectivity module, and was attempting to map a RAID volume in a disk storage module to this blade..  when I realized the AMM did not report the SAS ID (WWN) as it normally does with my HS21 blades.

I figured it was a firmware issue, so I upgraded the AMM firmware - but still nothing.

I found this link:http://www-947.ibm.com/support/entry/portal/docdisplay?brand=5000020&lndocid=MIGR-5083823  which scared me - seemed to indicate I had the wrong hardware.

I poked around the LSI BIOS and noted every SAS ID I could find.. and tried using those to map the volume, all to no avail.

It didn't help that the AMM reported the SAS module part number as 49Y8009, whereas I had ordered 43W4068.. thought there was a shipping error or something, but it turns out the 49Y8009 is just the internal IBM part number.

Thinking it was still related to firmware.. I upgraded the uEFI and the IMM firmware on the HS22.  Again, this helped nothing.

In a desperate final attempt, I decided to delve into the SAS RAID controller itself..  accessed the web interface, selected "Monitor SAS Module", and voila!  There, next to "Blade Slot Connection 2" was a SAS ID that was never presented anywhere else.  I mapped the volume using this WWN, and now all is good.

What a nightmare to find though..   found forum posts with no answers:  https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=14418964&#14418964

Someone from IBM, please update your documentation!!