firmware and maximum drives on a 9223 8i?

[ncc74656]

i bought a LSI 9223 8i that is listed in "it mode" its working right now but i wanted to know about the best firmware version? so i can check that. also it looks like this can support 32 drives?

so thats two 16 expanders minus 2 ports? so 30 drives? or could i pickup a 24 or 32 drive expander and get the full 32?

thanks.

the card https://www.ebay.com/itm/133189658409

 

[danb35]

The best firmware version would be the latest, which I believe is P20.00.07. As to the drives, without an expander, it would support eight. With suitable expanders, there's no effective limit--128 or more are possible, even if impractical.

 

[ncc74656]

The best firmware version would be the latest, which I believe is P20.00.07. As to the drives, without an expander, it would support eight. With suitable expanders, there's no effective limit--128 or more are possible, even if impractical.

Oh really? I had looked up the specs and it looked like only 32? I ordered a 16 drive expander. If I did the math right it looks like 20 drives would saturate each port if they were running flat out? Not that I think I would max out each drive but what's the general accepted performance hit with that? Like how many drives should I put on each port?