Remember when Reddit /r/sysadmin said HPE support blows? Well it does.
I got an open box HPE ProLiant ML110 Gen11 as a NAS. This is my second whereas my first is a compute server. To my surprise, there was no SAS cables in the open box server.
When sourcing the official sources, I was in back and forth conversations with
HPE and their “part suppliers” to no avail. And no, I did not get the right SAS
cable. The worst part, the ticket is still open.
EDIT: HPE did agree to send out a genuine SAS cable, yay! When will I get it, I don’t know, but I hope HPE isn’t slower than Temu or Shein.
EDIT 2: HPE actually sent out a SAS cable months ago and I installed it just one day before the Amazon return period ended. Now I am not using it because I never used my NAS, I just use it as another “compute” server.
This is something I would expect from Apple, a company making devices with soldiered everything and a history of fighting repair. I don’t expect this from HPE where service guides are published and unlike Macs, solidered everything is nonexistent on ProLiants.
So what did I do? Build a SAS cable myself out of parts on Amazon.
The parts are:
- SlimSAS LP 8X to 2*MiniSAS HD 4X,SFF-8654 LP 74pin to 2*SFF-8643 36pin Cable 80cm for $23.88
- 2xCY PCI-Express 4.0 Mini SAS SFF-8087 to SAS HD SFF-8643 PCBA Female Adapter with Bracket for $59.98
- 6G Internal Mini SAS SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 Cable, 100-Ohms, 0.5-m(1.6ft), 2 Pack for $18.29
And it’s barely above $100. Exactly $102.15 (excluding sales tax) at the time of writing.
Apparently, HPE used a SlimSAS LP (low profile) cable which not widespread is still not proprietary a la Pentalobe screws or Lightning connectors. The SlimSAS cable I used is actually a ripoff Dell cable.
While it barely fits with the fan baffle, it works as my Rocky Linux 9 ZFS NAS and is still $200 cheaper than buying a brand new ML110.
PS: If anyone from HPE is reading this I’d still prefer a genuine 4LFF/8LFF SAS cable, but if you can’t my makeshift cable will work.