Hardware compatibility ReFs

[karsten123]

Hi,

im about to build a new veeam server with ReFS repository.
It is a HPE DL385 Gen10 plus with Smart Array P816i-a SR RAID controller.
Certified firmware version in windows server catalog is 5.00. From the factory it is 5.32.

Should i downgrade to 5.00?

Other question for linux hardened repository.
It is also a DL385 and it is Ubuntu certified for 20.04 LTS. Everything fine.
But i have a Marvel SFP28 NIC in there that is not explicitly mentioned. The model varies only in some letters at the end.
I dont know if this is a problem.

Thank you for your help.
Karsten

[Gostev]

Hi,

I would not downgrade to an earlier version as it is pretty much guaranteed to have more bugs than the current.

As for Linux, are you looking at some catalog too?

Thanks!

[karsten123]

Hi Anton,

so i should go with the firmware 5.32 and latest driver? According to HPE it is all certified for Windows Server 2022.

For the compatibility for Ubuntu i have checked https://ubuntu.com/certified/202001-27698.
We want to use XFS for fast cloning.

Thanks again.
Karsten

[Gostev]

Got it. Well, you should just decide for yourself whether you want to use the specific officially certified version, or the latest and greatest version with [potentially] less bugs... as you probably realize, there are pros and cons of each approach.

[karsten123]

Ok. I will think about the RAID controller firmware version.

And what are your thoughts about the certified Ubuntu hardware? Is it worth to strictly follow the certified path, especially for the veeam linux repository with XFS?

Thanks
Karsten

[Regnor]

HPE released the 5.32 firmware for Windows Server 2022, so they'll officially support it for this Windows release. Probably it will take some time till the firmware gets re-certified (Released 09/22); assumed that every firmware release gets certified.
I wouldn't downgrade either but I also suggest that you contact their support about the status.

I wouldn't care too much about the NIC. If it's detected during the setup, then it should be OK. And if you should really experience problems with it, then just replace it.

[karsten123]

Thank you Max for your advice. I really appreciate that.

[karsten123]

I have opened a HPE case. I will report back the outcome.

[karsten123]

HPE support wrote:

„There is no timeline for certifying firmware version 5.32 but it should run with Server 2022 just fine. But if i have problems i can downgrade to 5.00“

Very disappointing.

I decided to go the latest and greatest path and walk forward. Hopefully this is not bad decision.

[Regnor]

Well I'm sorry. Sometimes you'll get just the information from Support you were after.
But I'm pretty sure that 5.32 will just work as good as 5.00 with ReFS.

[karsten123]

lol. A new submission appears.
Firmware 5.61
Driver 1010.52.0.1012

This version is not even available on support.hpe.com

I lost hopes in human kind

[Regnor]

Seems like you've found the next planned release of the firmware.
Probably HPE certifies it before releasing it to the public.