C220 M4 Fan policy

[johndeuf9]

Hi

I'd like to know if there is a way to override the fan policy override on C220 M4 firmware : as the fan noise is very high, when I change the fan policy to "low power", the result is a "High power policy" with the message : FAN POLICY OVERRIDE - Card(s) "Cisco 12G SAS Modular Pass Through Controller" present.

I saw that despite my card is a Cisco card, CIMC will still override but I'd like to know if there is a way to ignore this override (going into BIOS, modifying CIMC software, with specific scope commands ...).

Thanks a lot for any advice

[Elliot Dierksen]

I ran M4 series servers for years with the SAS HBA cards, and I never figured out a way to do that. In one system in my lab, I did remove the SAS HBA from the MRAID slot and connected the cables to an LSI PCI card. That worked to keep the noise down, but you lose all the visibility the CIMC gives you in the installed drives and SAS backplane.

[johndeuf9]

Thanks a lot for your fast reply - the lost of visibility is not a problem for me, the only problem is the cost of such a card ! DO you know if cheaper cards exist ? Have a good day

[Elliot Dierksen]

I forget what the physical connection type was of the card. In the US where I am, used LSI HBA cards are not expensive on eBay. They are usually less expensive than the SAS HBA cards for the MRAID slot. I think I did have to order longer 12G SAS cables to make it work. Actually I am doing something similar in an M5 chassis now. The CIMC thinks the WD Red SSD drives I put in it were running at 10,000 degrees (not kidding), so the fans were running at an INSANE speed. This is for a FreeNAS/TrueNAS system. My solution was that the same which was to use LSI PCI cards for those drives. The backplane in the M5 is split into 4 cables. I left the cable with the first 8 slots on the MRAID HBA, and then ran the other 3 cables to 2 different LSI PCI HBA cards. It is a bit of kludge, but I wasn't willing to buy the Cisco branded SSD drives for my home lab. The WD Red SSD's are supposed to be for NAS systems, and they work fine for me. There was something different in the way the temperature SMART information was presented by the WD drives that made the CIMC think it was full of molten lava. I forget all the details as this was a couple years ago.

[johndeuf9]

OK thanks a lot - will try to find that on Ebay. Best

[johndeuf9]

One more question @Eli : with your  LSI PCI card, are you able to have your "Fan policy" set to Low Power and your "Applied fan policy" following it to Low Power too ?

[Elliot Dierksen]

My M5 NAS server is in my office, so I set the fan policy to acoustic. That option doesn't exist in the M4. I think so, but I decommissioned the M4's a couple years ago.

[johndeuf9]

OK Thanks for your reply @Elliot Dierksen . Do you think this kind of card will respect the fan policy on M4 as I need it to be always on "Low Power" ? https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005006732967925.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.59.2d60405c1O1Ruv&algo_pvid=1ca93196-82b3-4c1d-a57d-c49df40780e6&algo_exp_id=1ca93196-82b3-4c1d-a57d-c49df40780e6-29&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21EUR%2149.39%2149.39%21%21%21363.16%...

[Elliot Dierksen]

I think so, but I can't give  you a guarantee. My M5 sees this kind of card as an LSI storage card, so I assume the M4 would do the same. You might need to make sure the BIOS and CIMC are upgraded to know about the newer PCI ID's for that card.