Hardware Config. New Build (Using 2x Intel SASUC8I)

[iJimmyC]

Hi all...

As mentioned in my previous post I am specing a build at the moment, and I'm looking to to have quite a few HDD in the set up.

As such I have been looking at HDD controller cards.

Following the supported hardware info posted in FreeBSD and protosd's FAQ post I am looking to implement 2 Intel SASUC8I

http://www.ebuyer.com/193023-intel-raid-controller-sasuc8i-storage-controller-raid-8-channel-sata-300-sas-sasuc8i

Along with a mobo which has at least 6 SATA ports...

Now the mobos I'm looking at are variously priced, and the question I have is with respect to the PCI-E slots.

The best mobo I've found with what appears to be my required spec is the Gigabyte 990XA-UD3

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3901#sp

My query lies in the x16 slots it has... and how they would operate with an x8 card

Now it has 3 x16 slots, 1 running @ x16 (graphics card would take this slot as I didn't want the mobo to share RAM with o/b graphics) then there are two remaining x16 slots, 1 running @ x8 and the other @ x4.

My query lies in the running of the x8 cards in an x16 slot (@x8) and x16 slot (@x4) - will it run @ x8 or will it run @ x1 in the x16(x8) slot?
AND will the other card in the x16(x4) slot run @ x4 or will it run @x1?

I've contacted the manufacturer, but haven't heard anything in a week so I'm not holding my breath on a reply, and was wondering if anyone else had used those controllers and if so did what mobo did they use, and if they've upplugged them into x16 slots with lower bandwidth what have they seen in terms of performance??

Many Thanks.

 

[survive]

Hi iJimmyC,

I would put the 2 controller cards in the 2 slots that do 8x and forget running a PCI-e video card.....go dig around in the ol' parts stash & find yourself a PCI video card and use that. PCI-e will match the number of lanes between the board & card the best it can, so a 1x slot with a 16x physical connecter will work just fine, it will just be limited to 1x worth of bandwidth and a 1x card should work just fine in a 16x slot.

Alternatively you could just get the Gigabyte GA-890GPA-UD3H which has onboard video with a 128Mb DRAM chip so you don't burn up any system ram to drive the console screen. I use a 790GX Gigabyte board for this exact reason.

If you are willing to troll ebay for controllers search for an IBM BR10i card....it's almost the exact same controller as the Intels (the SFF-8087 ports are rotated 90 degrees) but you should be able to get them for much less...buy 3 & have a spare.

-Will

 

[matthewowen01]

just use the onboard video, give it the bare minimum and save the slot for another disk controller.

 

[iJimmyC]

Hey Will!

Thanks very much for the mobo suggestion!! More SATA ports, o/b graphics with dedicated RAM, AND it's cheaper than the 2 I was looking at! LOVE IT!

As for the controller, you guys in the US are lucky as hell! I was looking at that card too, and the cheapest I found available was £200! The ones on ebay (US) are coming in at ~£30 a piece! NUTS!!

So.. That one's deffo worth a look! and 3, maybe even 4, might be in order given the price!

 

[iJimmyC]

Hi Will,

What is your experience with the IBM BR10i cards?? I've just been googleing and looking through all of the IBM stuff and it doesn't appear that this card allows for a JBOD config (I was hoping to run it this way and let FreeNas ZFS take care of the RAID)..

Further, on the IBM data sheets it was coming through as saying that it wasn't compatible with PCIE 2...

 

[survive]

Hi iJimmyC,

I don't actually have a BR10i, but I'm about this close to ordering one. I do run a couple of Dell SAS 5/ir controllers in other boxes. Basically they are all LSi controller cards based on the 1068 controller which is a little old, but about as standard as you can get...that's what Sun was using back in the day & what shipped in most "big name" server hardware as the standard controller.

What you do is you flash the BR10i with the factory LSi firmware to make it a regular "dumb" HBA. Take a look here:

http://www.servethehome.com/ibm-serveraid-br10i-lsi-sas3082e-r-pciexpress-sas-raid-controller/

and here:

http://www.servethehome.com/flashing-intel-sasuc8i-lsi-firmware-guide/

The card should be compatible with PCI-e 2, there's no reason it wouldn't be...it's almost the same card as the Intel!

-Will

 

[iJimmyC]

Cheers Will... I was looking around for an IT flash of the card.. But it's late an I'm sleepy and somehow I've actually managed to spend 6 hours looking through various components for my planned build!

I had stumbled across those two sites, and they're now bookmarked for reading tomorrow.

Thanks for your help and advice on this, it's much appreciated!

Let me know how you get on if you do purchase one of these cards...

 

[survive]

Hi iJimmyC,

If I do it will be because I picked up a new case (a Fractal Design R3) and had to add 2 more drives to fill it up!

Honestly the only reason I haven't yet is that MonoPrice (the place to go for cables in the US) didn't have the SFF-8087 cables in stock. I would need to make all the changes at the same time.

-Will