Does the ASRock E3C224D4I-14S mobo support 11-drive RAID off the bat?

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billhickok

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Bear with me as i'm new to building file servers...

I'm getting ready to purchase the parts to build my first NAS. I'm planning on doing 10 hot-swappable 4TB HDD's in RAID Z2 using the ASRock E3C224D4I-14S motherboard:
http://www.asrockrack.com/general/productdetail.asp?Model=E3C224D4I-14S

I just noticed under the specs that the mini SAS connections are split between the controllers: 1 on the Intel C224, which explicitly states that it supports RAID, and the other is on the LSI 2308.

To utilize the 11 drives (10 HDD's + a SSD I will be installing the OS on,) I will need to use all 3 mini SAS connections using these breakout cables: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10254&cs_id=1025406&p_id=8186&seq=1&format=2

My question is, taking into account my proposed set-up, is RAID Z2 supported from the get-go or do I need to purchase a separate RAID card/HBA to make everything work together?

The fact that the mini SAS outputs are on 2 different controllers is the source of my uncertainty. Any help is appreciated.
 
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Tywin

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Sep 19, 2014
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ZFS does not use the RAID features in hard drive controllers. You will set the drives to be presented to FreeNAS as individual drives.
 

Ericloewe

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I suggest you read more. Your questions are frequent and have been answered repeatedly:

FreeNAS and ZFS don't care what controllers drives are on, as long as they're all dumb HBAs. Mix and match to your heart's delight.

Just make sure you flash the LSI 2308 controller to P16 IT mode.
 
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