LSI HBA for > 8 Ports.

[Shadowtm]

Hey, I want to virtualize Freenas on a x470d4u-2t and Proxmox.
Because the 6 Sata ports on the host are all from the same controller, I probably won't be able to passthrough only 4 of them, because I need 2 for the OS.
Because of that I am looking at LSI HBAs on Ebay, but most I have seen feature 2 mini Sas ports.
That is nice an all, but I would like to be able to add more drives later, so 3-4 mini Sas ports would be nice.
Are there any used LSI HBAs out there that fit in that range ?
I would also buy a PCIe Sata Controller, but most that I find are also 8 ports or less.
Or if it is possible to split 2 mini Sas into more than 8 ports without a Sas Expander, that would also be an option.

Thanks in advance
Shadowtm

 

[sretalla]

Because the 6 Sata ports on the host are all from the same controller, I probably won't be able to passthrough only 4 of them, because I need 2 for the OS.

True

Are there any used LSI HBAs out there that fit in that range ?

sure, look for the models with 16i or 24i in the name... these are really expensive so prepare for the price shock.

I would also buy a PCIe Sata Controller, but most that I find are also 8 ports or less.

The ones that have enough ports typically support Marvell controllers, which are not well liked in these forums for their propensity to fail quickly.

Or if it is possible to split 2 mini Sas into more than 8 ports without a Sas Expander,

No, doesn't really work like that... ports are limited... usually the solution is as you mention an expander or a backplane built into a chassis with larger numbers of disk slots.

 

[ornias]

16i or 24i really is expensive, best bet would be a high quality(!) expander.
Intel made some nice once that should be solid and are relatively cheap...

 

[Constantin]

Really expensive?

I must be getting something wrong but eBay has multiple used -16i LSI HBAs @ around $150 right now. Even better, whoever is listing them already flashed them to IT mode so they’re drop-in ready for FreeNAS.

 

[ornias]

Really expensive?

In that case they dropped in price a bit...
But still:
you can grab 8i for about 30-40 bucks ;)

 

[Shadowtm]

Thanks for the replys,
what can you say about one of those cards ?

LSI SAS 9201-16I PCI-Express 2.0 x8 SATA / SAS Host Bus Adapter Card | eBay

SAS 9201-16i (HBA). Storage Connectivity ; Data Transfer Rates： 16 ports; 6Gb/s SAS 2.0 compliant. SAS Bandwidth ：Half Duplex. Device Support ：512 Non-RAID SAS/SATA devices. Connectors Four mini-SAS internal connectors (SFF8087).

www.ebay.de

looks pretty affordable for up to 16 Sata Ports ?

 

[Constantin]

higher density units are likely to command a premium for the convenience of more ports for a single lost PCIe slot. Especially true for all the mini-ITX based systems out there with ambitions to run more than a few disks.

interestingly, the external version (16e) sells at a 50% discount relative to the internal one.

anyhow, for $150 there are multiple offers on hand to add 16 SAS/SATA ports to your rig while only using one PCIe slot. Seems like the best bet considering how well LSI is supported by FreeNAS.

 

[Shadowtm]

Also what is power usage for any of the cards, 8i, 16i, ... ?

 

[Constantin]

I’d wager that depends largely on the card you’re interested in. For that, I’d turn to google, which in turn suggests excellent resources like this table at serve-the-Home.

 

[Shadowtm]

So probably my best bet is to just get one of those:

YIBAOTONG SAS9207-8i 8-Port Internal HBA PCIe IT Mode for ZFS FreeNAS | eBay

Internal Ports: 8. Internal Connectors: 2 Mini-SAS SFF8087. Specifications: Bracket Full height. for details: on versions. Data Transfer Rates: 6Gb/s SAS 2.1 compliant. PCI Power: 9.8W typical, Airflow 200 LFM.

www.ebay.de

If I need more ports later on, I can then buy one of the 16i ones.
I guess those are also better than new Sata PCIe Controllers right ?

 

[Shadowtm]

I’d wager that depends largely on the card you’re interested in. For that, I’d turn to google, which in turn suggests excellent resources like this table at serve-the-Home.

Does that take idle power consumption into account ?
Because my Nas will sitt idle a lot of the time, as it is solely for family.

 

[ornias]

I guess those are also better than new Sata PCIe Controllers right ?

Well you could also grab an intel res2sv240 expander instead of replacing the card.

Anyway:
Powerconsumption of all these things is not "low", but to be honest: If you want to run an energy efficient NAS don't throw more than 8 disks in it anyway.

some perspective:
You are talking about 1-1.5W added per drive for the controller. Often drives already use 4-8W idle on FreeNAS.

 

[Shadowtm]

Well you could also grab an intel res2sv240 expander instead of replacing the card.

Anyway:
Powerconsumption of all these things is not "low", but to be honest: If you want to run an energy efficient NAS don't throw more than 8 disks in it anyway.

some perspective:
You are talking about 1-1.5W added per drive for the controller. Often drives already use 4-8W idle on FreeNAS.

fair enough.