I need more! More SATA!

Hardware Enterprise Gear
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TL;DR: PCIe SATA controller for at least 6 HDDs running ZFS?

Sitrep: My dual E5 2670 is my main machine but RYZEN is coming and my NAS has one of those atoms that are marked for death.

Idea: Rip out all HDDs from my NAS and sell the shell. Then stuff most of the drives in the dual Xeon system and make that a server for everything. Debian 9 should be around the corner, that would probably be perfect for that. I would like to use ZFS and I believe Debian 9 should be able to handle that. (I think I read that a while ago. Please point at me and laugh hysterically if I'm wrong.)

Already ordered the iKVM module for my Asus Z9PE D8 WS. (outlet, 10,- bucks off :D )

I have two drive bays and a BD writer connected to the board and I want to keep those. So I need new SATA ports. I know @Wendell, you mentioned LSI controller cards a few times in videos but I looked at ebay and there are ... a lot. So I need at least 6 SATA ports and I want a dumb thing that has never heard of raid, right?

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Dell sas6 is cheap and stupid

3 Likes
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I has the dumbs. Can't find any non raid thing with that name. o0

Is it this one?

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https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4GH4YA5934&cm_re=8i_lsi-_-9SIA4GH4YA5934-_-Product not 100% it can be flashed to IT mode but pretty sure it can

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https://www.serversupply.com/products/part_search/pid_lookup.asp?pid=148672&gclid=CjwKEAiArbrFBRDL4Oiz97GP2nISJAAmJMFa2z_5ytrnnbCghyLE5wQ4qUhWf8dp-GS0MxsbLB3C2xoCbwnw_wcB but that dell seems way cheaper

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check ebay lots off stuff you can flash to dumb mode

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUPERMICRO-4U-24-BAY-846E1-R900B-X8DTE-F-2X-L5520-8GB-24x-TRAYS-ASR-5805-/172344741754?hash=item28208c0f7a:g:5rwAAOSw8gVX3HMQ If you wanna go big and just add some more ram.

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Well I want to put my data in the hands of that thing I am about to buy. I don't really care if that is 20,- or 60,- Euro. (Germany)

OK, so I have to make one of those stupid?
And I guess anything labeled LSI 92XX or so should work?

I think I know now. What I want should be the LSI 9210-8i.

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Most likely I have an 9201-16i so pretty sure any 9201 will work for sure. You can check out LSI's site
https://www.broadcom.com/products/storage/host-bus-adapters/#tab-span3 and double check if they have the bios for the card you find.

https://amussey.github.io/2015/02/19/updating-LSI-9201-16i-firmware.html here is the guide i use i think to flash the card

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Just a word of warrning. If you want to buy enterprise gear try not get a knockoff from "ghost shift".A lot of hbas and nics and some more modern hardware bought from china or some ebay sellers are fake. Some ebay sellers from US order countefeit goods in bulk quantity to make some profit.IF YOU CARE of course.

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Found a german vendor on ebay offering original LSI 9210-8i already flashed to IT mode. I guess I'll take one of those.

Edit: Hmmm, another option? The 9240 seems to be ready right out the box.

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the nice part about the 8i is it gives you plenty of expansion. I have only filled up 11 drives on my 16i and soon to donate 3 of those drives to my sisters nas build.

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OK, got the LSI 9210-8i with preflashed IT-mode and cables from the same shop.

Thanks @ all! :)

3 Likes
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Just to be sure,YOU did get forward breakout cables not reverse ones?

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What do you mean? It said mini SAS to 4x SATA. Should be fine, right?

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There are 2types of sas to sata breakout cables.I mean the function not the type of mini Sas on one end.
Forward breakout cables if you need to Connect sata ends to hdds and minisas end to hba. And reverse breakout if you Connect minisas end to sas backplane and sata ends to motherboard sata ports.they look the same .

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Ah, I see. It's fine, the description said the cable connects a controller card to SATA drives.
The shop seems to be specialized on those cards and stuff to make them go.
But thanks for the warning. :)

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