Is this a good card?

[kayot]

I found this on eBay and was wondering if it would work in my server. I want to replace two cheap cards with one nice card.

Code:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-LSI-9240-8i-8ports-PCI-E-6Gb-RAID-Controller-IBM-M1015-46M0861-US-Seller-/121463526396?pt=US_Computer_Disk_Controllers_RAID_Cards&hash=item1c47ca53fc

 

[Ericloewe]

Yeah. You'll probably have to crossflash it like you would an M1015, but it's a good choice. Not sure about pricing, but it seems a bit high. Aren't there any better deals on LSI SAS 9211, 9207 or IBM M1015 cards?

 

[kayot]

They all come around the $105 to $120 range, then some absurd ones listed in the $1000 range. The sticky "Confused about that LSI card? Join the crowd ..." got me excited about a $75 great card. Reality sucks. That or it's because of the Holidays and I just need to wait it out.

Regardless, I want to get these two inferior cards out of my system. Ones a 2 sata port JMB36X and the other is a 4 sata port PCIx 1 budget card.

 

[Ericloewe]

They all come around the $105 to $120 range, then some absurd ones listed in the $1000 range. The sticky "Confused about that LSI card? Join the crowd ..." got me excited about a $75 great card. Reality sucks. That or it's because of the Holidays and I just need to wait it out.

Regardless, I want to get these two inferior cards out of my system. Ones a 2 sata port JMB36X and the other is a 4 sata port PCIx 1 budget card.

Oh, yeah, you definitely don't want those. I'm just surprised, because it's not much less than some "official" M1015s I've seen. Still a reasonable price.

 

[Z300M]

They all come around the $105 to $120 range, then some absurd ones listed in the $1000 range. The sticky "Confused about that LSI card? Join the crowd ..." got me excited about a $75 great card. Reality sucks. That or it's because of the Holidays and I just need to wait it out.

Regardless, I want to get these two inferior cards out of my system. Ones a 2 sata port JMB36X and the other is a 4 sata port PCIx 1 budget card.

I kept an eye on eBay for quite a while without finding any M1015 cards for less than about $100: the $75 estimate was posted a long time ago, I think.

 

[kayot]

@Z300M - Do you have any good leads on a legitimate M1015 Card?

I'm still new to NAS. I've played with Linux distros and Windows this and that. Up till now I didn't know how different SAS was. I used to think it was just a four way split for Sata and I had no idea that a two port SAS could run 24 platter drives at full speed under Sata III. It's very important that I do this right to avoid a bad experience.

Edit: What would you both suggest for a SAS Expander board?

 

[Ericloewe]

@Z300M - Do you have any good leads on a legitimate M1015 Card?

I'm still new to NAS. I've played with Linux distros and Windows this and that. Up till now I didn't know how different SAS was. I used to think it was just a four way split for Sata and I had no idea that a two port SAS could run 24 platter drives at full speed under Sata III. It's very important that I do this right to avoid a bad experience.

Edit: What would you both suggest for a SAS Expander board?

The Intel RESwhatever 24-port expander is popular and works well, but it's more expensive than a second HBA.

 

[Z300M]

@Z300M - Do you have any good leads on a legitimate M1015 Card?

I bought from a US seller an M1015 that was (IIRC) described as having been removed from a working server -- not an allegedly genuine LSI board from someone in China with a large quantity of them for sale.

 

[kayot]

Dang, it looks like everything on eBay is from China or stupidly expensive and still ultimately from China. I've heard that those China boards have a high failure rate and don't pass QA, how true is that?

Found this

Code:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118112

It's more expensive, but probably isn't a China knock-off.

The reason I'm interested in an expander is that the motherboard in question only has one PCI-x 8 slot. I figure it would be a good future proofing measure to make it so I don't need two. This would come later when I'm more competitive.

My apologies for asking sporadic questions. I'm researching as I ask. I'm also removing questions that I answer and it's making my post look fragmented.

 

[Z300M]

Dang, it looks like everything on eBay is from China or stupidly expensive and still ultimately from China. I've heard that those China boards have a high failure rate and don't pass QA, how true is that?

Found this

Code:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118112

It's more expensive, but probably isn't a China knock-off.

The reason I'm interested in an expander is that the motherboard in question only has one PCI-x 8 slot. I figure it would be a good future proofing measure to make it so I don't need two. This would come later when I'm more competitive.

My apologies for asking sporadic questions. I'm researching as I ask. I'm also removing questions that I answer and it's making my post look fragmented.

What about eBay Item# 151507717461 ?

 

[Ericloewe]

At least in Europe, Amazon (not a third party, Amazon) has M1015s for sale for 150ish bucks, last I checked. It's not a bad route if you're paranoid about stuff that fell off the back of a truck in Shenzhen.

 

[kayot]

@Z300M - I went ahead and purchased it. When it gets here, I'll use this guide http://digitalcardboard.com/blog/20...e-to-the-lsi-sas-9211-8i-hba-2014-efi-recipe/ to get it working.

I'm wondering, is there a way to test it to make sure it works as intended?

 

[Z300M]

@Z300M - I went ahead and purchased it. When it gets here, I'll use this guide http://digitalcardboard.com/blog/20...e-to-the-lsi-sas-9211-8i-hba-2014-efi-recipe/ to get it working.

I'm wondering, is there a way to test it to make sure it works as intended?

Only by trying to use it -- each port -- with a disk.

 

[kayot]

Ah, so just put it in and run it. Maybe a little benchmarking etc.

Thank you both for the help. I'm realizing that I'm stepping into a bigger world now. My motherboard, cpu, and memory have to be replaced with server grade equipment. I'm totally going to do it to. It's time I move beyond what is easy and start doing what is right. For my data's sake.

 

[Z300M]

Ah, so just put it in and run it. Maybe a little benchmarking etc.

Thank you both for the help. I'm realizing that I'm stepping into a bigger world now. My motherboard, cpu, and memory have to be replaced with server grade equipment. I'm totally going to do it to. It's time I move beyond what is easy and start doing what is right. For my data's sake.

What motherboard are you using now? Does it have an x8 slot? I'm asking because I have read that some motherboards (I have no information about which ones) will accept only video cards in their x16 slots.

 

[kayot]

It was a quick budget build, M5A78L-M LX with a FX 4130 Chip. It's using non-ecc ram too. That's three bad things in a row. The sad part is that using the recommended system guide, I could have spent the same amount and got server grade equipment. I have no idea if the ordered card will work so I'm riding by the seat of my pants until I get better equipment.