Adding extra SATA drives?

[VladTepes]

My supermicro mobi has 6 sata ports.
So i can run my boot drive ssd and 5 red nas drives.
If i want to run one more disk can i get some sort of pci or pcie card to accomplish that? Perhaps to run the ssd and then 6 hdds from the sata points on the mobi itself?

Sorry for what is probably a very basic question but id rather find out now than when its too late.

Thank you

 

[Bidule0hm]

Yes, you just need to add an HBA, the M1015 for example is extremely popular here ;)

 

[VladTepes]

Would this one be any good/do the job?

https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=486&bid=2&sid=106532

I don;t want to spend much and really only need the one additional port for the SSD.

 

[Mirfster]

Would this one be any good/do the job?
https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=486&bid=2&sid=106532
I don;t want to spend much and really only need the one additional port for the SSD

It shows "Marvell Chipset".... /Cringe....

If you are really worried about costs, then switch over from SSD Boot to USB and free up the slot. While I don't much care for USB Boot Devices personally; as long as you are keeping backups of your configuration you should be safe.

 

[CraigD]

I use a PCIe 4 port SATA IO Crest 88SE9215 it works and it is cheap

The x1 card limits bandwidth a little when 3-4 drives are connected but it is fine for CIFS shares

Never had a system that could support 18 drives

Have Fun

 

[Nick2253]

The problem with Marvell cards is they have a nasty habit of unreliability, and when your controller drops and takes 3 or more drives with it, you can say goodbye to your RAIDZ2 vdev. You can get an M1015 from eBay for around $60; less if you're patient. That's not much more than the Marvell card, and worlds more reliable.

 

[CraigD]

I hear what you are saying the M1015 is king, 8 SAS ports is way better than 4 SATA ports, but at least for me it is three times the price

I thought it went without saying that you balance your drives in a vdev between all your controllers to avoid loss should one fail

Have Fun
EDIT: Everyone living outside of USA gets price gouged for hardware IF YOU CAN GET IT, again for currency transactions, don't forget taxes, and lastly for shipping

 

[danb35]

and when your controller drops and takes 3 or more drives with it, you can say goodbye to your RAIDZ2 vdev.

...until the drives are brought back online, at which point things are fine.

 

[VladTepes]

It shows "Marvell Chipset".... /Cringe....

If you are really worried about costs, then switch over from SSD Boot to USB and free up the slot. While I don't much care for USB Boot Devices personally; as long as you are keeping backups of your configuration you should be safe.

Thanks.
So avoid that chipset eh.
Any others that ARE good, but cheaper?

The M1015 maybe great but I know that in the short to medium term I am VERY unlikely to need more than a single additional port.
As far as the marvel chipset is concerned (for the controller) surely the risk is low if its only the SSD boot drive that I'm using it for?

 

[Mirfster]

As far as the marvel chipset is concerned (for the controller) surely the risk is low if its only the SSD boot drive that I'm using it for?

True and as long as you keep backups of your config you can easily re-install and then restore the config...

Just tossing out another method for consideration:
Dell Perc H200, cross-flashed to IT Mode - ~$42.00 on eBay
SAS SFF-8087 Forward Breakout Cable - ~$8.00 - ~$20.oo on eBay (depends on length..)

 

[CraigD]

Always boot from your motherboard controller, put one drive from your pool on the PCIe card

You won't get full speed SATA speeds from your SSD on the add in card, and your adding another point of failure to the boot process

If something does fail on the card you won't have a connected system drive to boot from

As I said before I have no problems using a cheap HBA

Have Fun

 

[VladTepes]

OK so if a pool drive is on the PCIe card, and it fails, what would the consequences to the vdev/pool be. Just down temporarily until a new card is put in or.....
(I assume it woul dbe OK temporarily as Raid Z2 allows for upo to two dries to 'drop out' ?

 

[Mirfster]

Always boot from your motherboard controller, put one drive from your pool on the PCIe card

Not sure if I would tend to agree with this. Putting drive(s) that are part of a vDev on a slow PCI Sata Add-In can have adverse effects especially if said card was slower that the ports the other drives are connected to.

You won't get full speed SATA speeds from your SSD on the add in card, and your adding another point of failure to the boot process

Don't think it would matter much, it is just the boot device and once FreeNAS is loaded it is pretty much all in memory anyways. As well, it would really depend on the Add-In Card if *full speed* could be obtained. I highly doubt an older SSD could even saturate the older 3G (vs 6G) SATA Controllers.

If something does fail on the card you won't have a connected system drive to boot from

Personally, I would prefer a boot device failure over a drive (or drives) failure. Much easier to handle IMHO.

 

[CraigD]

After thinking about it, a faster pool is better because anyone building a freeNAS server can, and should be able to reload the OS on a USB drive in no time

My logic was if the card failed and for some reason the server needed to reboot it would be able to

 

[VladTepes]

So by the sound of it, based on my needs and assuming I just hook up the SSD to the PCIe STATA card, one of those cards mentioned by CraigD would be a useful option?

As Craig alludes to, here in the antipodes we trend to get bent over and reamed without lube when it comes to prices for such things....

 

[Mirfster]

So by the sound of it, based on my needs and assuming I just hook up the SSD to the PCIe STATA card, one of those cards mentioned by CraigD would be a useful option?

Viable "Yes", Dependable "TBD". ;) Totally understandable where you are coming from though about costs.

My logic was if the card failed and for some reason the server needed to reboot it would be able to

No worries, there are so many ways to design a FreeNAS system that in the end there is room for multiple answers. :)

 

[VladTepes]

Edit: Bugger it I ordered one. Cheers all and thanks for the link Craig.

 

[Nick2253]

...until the drives are brought back online, at which point things are fine.

Aren't you just the party pooper!? ;)

I'll be honest: my brain never even considered the possibility you'd just bring the drives back online

 

[Ericloewe]

Aren't you just the party pooper!? ;)

It fits the theme, with the poop brown soldermask on that card:

Would this one be any good/do the job?

https://www.umart.com.au/umart1/pro/Products-details.phtml?id=10&id2=486&bid=2&sid=106532

 

[danb35]

my brain never even considered the possibility you'd just bring the drives back online

Well, the scenario you gave was the controller dying, or otherwise randomly kicking too many drives offline for the pool to survive. In that case, the drives aren't damaged, just the controller--so once you replace the controller, the drives will come back online, and so will the pool.

Of course, if the controller manages to kill the drives, then you're screwed.