Maximum number of connected drives?

[TerryMundy]

I'm having problems with maintaining stability on my computer after adding a SAS controller connected to an HP MSA70 maxed out with 24 drives.  This brings the total of drives in my computer to 81   Only the system drive and 24 SAS drives are other than USB.  After it runs for about 30 minutes it gives the BSOD with WDF_Violation.

The SAS controller I'm using seems to break it.  But if all of the USB drives are disconnected the SAS works perfectly.  It's just that not everything works perfectly together.

Am I putting too much strain on it?  What would others recommend?

System is:

HP Z440 latest BIOS

Windows 10 Professional 64 bit 2004 Sept 2020

32GB of RAM

Xeon E5-2630 v3 not overclocked

 

Any help is appreciated!

Terry

 

[Spider99]

wow 56 usb drives

looking at the wdf_violation its a "driver" related issue

if the sas controller works ok without usb drives and vice versa then its probably a conflict between the drivers

which is at fault - difficult to say - could be the usb controllers at fault - as i guess you are using more than one type off the motherboard as they usually come with a couple of different types

dont think its that you are over doing it - just getting bitten by a bug - as they work when used separately

however - the sas card is the way to go if you can add another with a sas expander card or two -  rather than using usb

there a lots of HP sas expanders on ebay for circa $20 that support 24 drives (and dont need to be plugged into the pci bus - just provide power via a molex connector and the performance will be much better than usb especially as you must have a daisy chain going on.

[TerryMundy]

  

17 hours ago, Spider99 said:

however - the sas card is the way to go if you can add another with a sas expander card or two -  rather than using usb

there a lots of HP sas expanders on ebay for circa $20 that support 24 drives (and dont need to be plugged into the pci bus - just provide power via a molex connector and the performance will be much better than usb especially as you must have a daisy chain going on.

Spider99,

Thank you!  I found a few explanations and how to "shade tree mechanic" fix it, but this appears to be the least troublesome and easiest way out.  You are a hero!

When building systems at work cooking up a Nimble Storage Array with 1PB when it's not my money is up my alley.  But building on the cheap at home with garage sale parts required more thought.  Like playing chess it 4D.  It just blows the mind.

Now off to find some chassis to house the 3.5" SATA drives as 16 are 2.5" and work flawlessly in the MSA70.

Maybe I can get out of the dog house once all of the home movies and family photos are back online.

Once again, this forum has saved my bacon and I only hope to become knowledgeable enough to help others as I've been helped.

Much appreciate the quick answer!

Terry

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Yeah, wdf_violation  is likely wdf related, and generally a removable device issue.  Eg, the USB controller is probably freaking out. 

And as for cases, used server chassis' may be the way to go.