HELP! NAS n00b SAS connector conundrum

[F4rth4rd3r]

I’m knee deep in building my first homeserver with NAS. I also spend a couple hours combing these forums for an answer and just got lost in the sauce

I’m at an impasse with SAS connectors, HBA and various adapters. Sounds like my setup can probably manage a lsi9300-8i in It mode, so I figure may as well It’ll be connecting to refurbished expo 7e8 sas drives

Main questions:

• can the HBA and connectors linked here connect to some Exos 7e8 6tb sas drives I have inbound? At minimum, I need to know if it’s true drive-end of these lines in the kit would need to get modified to get power from the data plugs correctly (by taping or removing 2-3 of the sata contacts?). I’d like to avoid that by getting the right connector on the first attempt if it exists. I’d also prefer to avoid the complexity of a backplane in my 3d printed installation. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256812161823322.html?mp=1&pdp_npi=6%40dis!USD!USD+47.65!USD+47.17!!USD+47.17!!!%402101de2517900364520091395e129e!12000058130189288!ct!US!6238474469!!1!0!&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
• The HBA likely needs to go onto an m.2→pcie gen3 adapter. I’m not enthused about it, but the memory I already had around (still the most expensive component of the project) was really only compatible with the board noted at the bottom parts list (there were others, but they’re all out of production and reselling at significantly above msrp). Here’s what I’ve found for the HBA. https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256810507732214.html?mp=1&pdp_npi=6%40dis!USD!USD+41.69!USD+19.18!!USD+19.18!!!%402101e80b17900379078507598e0f74!12000053212333644!ct!US!6238474469!!1!0!&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
• I’m curious about a compatible connector screw-in connector for this: https://nautilusforge.shop/product/3u-7x3-5-inch-hdd/ Problem is, I’d prefer to keep everything sas to preserve the 12g speed (not sure if that matters if I’m throttled to 2.5g across my network with the nic) but for the life of me I can’t find a male-to-female sas connector (similar to the sas-to-sata in that link) that can screw in and just accept the cables from the HBA kit in the first link. Let me know if it’s possible that preserve the 12g speeds with a sata connection in there for anything other than power. It would obviously make life easier.

Here’s the parts I’ve got, almost all were lying around or parts I traded for:

• Ryzen 5 5600xt or ryzen 7 5800xt still not sure which to use, sounds like the 7 series may be a real energy drain, but not sure how much.
• Asus Prime B550m-a WiFi II
• Gtx 1660 super (which may require a riser to just to keep from covering the nic slot) ideally for transcoding at some point soon, but it’s currently the only graphics IO and it’s cheaper than an ip kvm since it’s already in my possession
• 2.5g nic
• Corsair sf750 psu
• Samsung 970 evo 1tb (thevnand version w/ram)

Planning to run proxmox with home assistant and do a zfs based storage system (raid Z2) 4 with drives @6tb effectively leaving abt 9 tb usable space to start

I wish I had a bit of scratch to just get an n5 pro, but I figure I’d like to know what I’m in for before making that kind of jump.

[unrumple]

I have not had the best of luck with m.2 adapters.

I have gotten a few to work, but I would be a bit nervous running an HBA off one with how critical that card it.

I would try and get a mobo with a 2nd pcie slot with a few pvie lanes in it to put the HBA card in.

[starshipeleven]

@F4rth4rd3r

can the HBA and connectors linked here connect to some Exos 7e8 6tb sas drives I have inbound?

Yes that connector has sas on the drive side. You will need to connect sata power connectors on the other end to power the drive.

@F4rth4rd3r

The HBA likely needs to go onto an m.2→pcie gen3 adapter.

Probably fine if you use the ones with black rubberized ribbon like you found. I use similar ones from ADT also on aliexpress and are fine for pcie3.
Like these ( there are many sellers offering the same thing at different prices, so shop around) https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005010246534836.html

The shorter it is the better. I never went past 30cm.
Very important to connect the auxiliary power connector, the card will probably need 12v from that.

@F4rth4rd3r

Let me know if it’s possible that preserve the 12g speeds with a sata connection in there for anything other than power. It would obviously make life easier.

If you plan to use that enclosure you can just get the sas cables for your hba that end with sata ports instead. And the little male to female thingys must have a sas female obviously or they wont mate with sas drives.

Only thing you are losing in this setup is sas dual channel for multipath, which you are not using anyway since you have only one card.

If the male to female thingys are not shit (i had mixed fortune with those), the drive will be detected and work.

Either way 12gbit sas is irrelevant for mechanical drives, they cannot saturate a 6gbit link (aka a sata 3.0) anyway. Still better to use a 12gbit card because they are newer.

Btw hope you got fans on the back of this thing to keep the drives cool. Its high density and drives will cook themselves without airflow