"Off the Shelf" SD Support for B-Series?

[ryan.beaty]

I have a client asking if they need to purchase the Cisco branded SD cards or can they purchase off the shelf SD cards for the blades. I realize that the cost of the hardware was way more than some tiny SD cards, but I have to do my due deligence and come back with an answer. I cannot find anything that states the hard drives and SD cards must be Cisco PID's.

Question 1: Is it even possible to use non-branded Cisco SD cards in a blade?

Question 2: If I use a non-branded Cisco SD card will that void the system warranty?

Question 3: If I use a non-branded Cisco SD card is there any limitations in the UCSM and the CIMC options?

-Ryan

[Walter Dey]

Regarding q1: The specs eg. for B200-M3 clearly says

http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/servers-unified-computing/ucs-5100-series-blade-server-chassis/B200M3_SpecSheet.pdf

　

Table 13 Supported Configurations - Secure Digital Card(s)Product ID (PID)	PID Description
UCS-SD-16G	16GB SD Card module for UCS Servers

and

Cisco UCS Manager does not support the use of an SD card from a rack server in a blade server, or the

use of an SD card from a blade server in a rack server. Switching SD cards from one server type to the

other might result in data loss from the SD card.

No clue about q2 and 3: is it worth the trouble ?

[ryan.beaty]

I've seen that document, but nothing says anything about voiding support. Personally I would just buy the Cisco branded gear. I am just the messenger. These cards are just rebranded cards that someone like SanDisk makes. The ultimate question is if Cisco places firmware on the cards to be useable by UCS or not, and if it voids the support. My main concern is voiding support here. But I've yet to see anything regarding this.

[Walter Dey]

I understand your concerns; the SD from Cisco have partitions, and/or drivers.... loaded. see eg

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/unified_computing/ucs/sw/cli/config/guide/2-1/b_UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_2_1/b_UCSM_CLI_Configuration_Guide_2_1_chapter_0101111.pdf

FlexFlash in Supported B-Series and C-Series Servers

The FlexFlash SD cards shipped with supported B-series servers only have an HV partition. Those shipped

with supported C-series rack servers have four partitions; HV, HUU, SCU, and Drivers. When the FlexFlash

controller is enabled for either a B-series or C-series server, Cisco UCS Manager will show only the HV

partition, as a USB drive, to both the BIOS and the host operating system.

In order to manually boot from the HV partition, Local Disk should be present in the boot policy used in the

Service Profile, and be launched from the BIOS boot menu (F6).

Worst case: a non Cisco SD card is not recognized by UCS Manager; and if you open a TAC case, they will refuse support.

However, I'm 100% sure, that there are no other implications, e.g. avoiding support and/or damaging other components of the blade.