topic SSD Datacenter Tool hang Windows Server in Intel® Optane™ Solid State Drives

SSD Datacenter Tool hang Windows Server

IGavr1 — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 16:59:59 GMT

I have a remote production server with following configuration:

MB intel S2600GZ (BIOS SE5C600.86B.02.06.0002.101320150901, BMC 01.25.9398, SDR 1.13, ME 02.01.07.328)

CPU E5-2643 v2 x2

RAM 192 Gb: 12 x Kingston 16Gb 9965516-083.A00LF

RAID Adaptec 72405 w. latest firmware

Intel SSD DC3700 400Gb (Model SSDSC2BA40 FW 5DV10265/5DV10270) x8

Seagate SAS STxxxxxxx 300Gb x 8

OS Windows Server 2012 Standard with latest recommended windows updates and latest Adaptec driver.

Intel SSDs connected to the Adaptec controller and have built an RAID5 array

I upgrade FW on Intel SSDs:

1. Install Intel SSD Datacenter Tool 3.0.3

2. Start elevated command line (UAC is disabled)

3. Run isdct show -intelssd

4. Tool answers like "Disks not found" (i dont remember exactly)

Then operating system immadietly stop responding without any events in Event Log. All connections to server are resets, any disk activity (incl. Intel SSD and Seagate SAS) stops. Next step is IPMI reset on production

What am I doing wrong? How i can upgrade SSDs firmware remotely?

Regards, Ilya

Re: SSD Datacenter Tool hang Windows Server

idata — Fri, 17 Feb 2017 19:32:17 GMT

Hello Ilyang,

We understand you're experiencing some issues while trying to upgrade your SSD's firmware using the Intel® SSD Data Center Tool.

It's likely that you're experiencing these issues because the Intel® SSD Data Center Tool does not support SATA drives behind HBAs, with the exception of the LSI* Mega RAID adapters.

- Intel® SSD Data Center Tool http://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/solid-state-drives/ssd-software/Intel_SSD_DCT_3_0_x_User_Guide.pdf User Guide (page 8, Section 1.3 Notes)

As a workaround, you could attempt to update your firmware using our latest Firmware Update Tool. However we can't guarantee that this will work. If it does not help, then you may need to direct attach your drives to perform the upgrade.

- https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26491?v=t Intel® SSD Firmware Update Tool.

We look forward to hearing back from you.

Best regards,

Carlos A.

Re: SSD Datacenter Tool hang Windows Server

IGavr1 — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 11:30:07 GMT

Hello Carlos,

thanks for the answer, i fully understood you. But i mean it is abnormal when the Data Center Tool hangs operating system, regardless of the support or not support it drives behind HBAs. Unexpected behavior, right?

As i wrote earlier, this server is in production, so stop it for maintenance is not desirable, especially without a guaranteed result.

May be i can upgrade the Intel SSDs firmware via Adaptec MaxView Storage Manager? Where to download compatible firmware?

Regards,

Ilya

Re: SSD Datacenter Tool hang Windows Server

idata — Tue, 21 Feb 2017 01:10:54 GMT

Hello Ilyang,

Since the toolbox runs using administrator rights, it's not entirely unusual for a system hang to result from trying to perform a firmware update on unsupported hardware.

Our best recommendation in this case would be to perform the firmware upgrade during your next scheduled downtime, preferably with our https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26491?v=t Firmware Update Tool. While we can't guarantee this process will work unless you plug your drives directly, it would still be required for you to restart your system in order for the changes to be applied.

As for your last question, stand alone firmware downloads are not available through our https://downloadcenter.intel.com/ Download Center. The only supported methods are though the toolbox or FUT. For this you would need to contact your sales representative or http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/design/support/account-support.html account support.

Best regards,

Carlos A.