BUILD M.2 to 4-port SATA III Adapter will it work?

[zey]

Hey guys,

Here's my situation. I have a Supermicro X10SDV-TLN4F in a Ablecom CS-M50.

I've been using this setup for some time now. However I'd like to add four more hard drives that I have from an other NAS. I'd like to save the PCI-E slot for a graphics card that I'd like to pass-though to a VM (later project). The X10SDV-TLN4F has six SATA ports leaving me with the need for two more. I won't be using the M.2 slot and would like to use it for four more SATA ports using the following adapter:

SYBA SD-ADA40118 Others M.2 to 4-port SATA III Adapter

2-Lane M.2 PCI-E 2.0 Interface B + M Key
Communication bandwidth up to 10.0 Gbps
Supports Hardware RAID 0, 1, 10
Compliant with Serial ATA Specification 3.0 and communication speed of 6.0 Gbps, 3.0 Gbps and 1.5 Gbps
Hyper Duo mode supports Safe mode (Mirrored Protection) and Capacity mode
Up to 4 SATA devices with point-to-point connectivity
Supports Native Command Queuing (NCQ)

However I am not sure how FreeNAS will communicate through this adapter to the hard drives. I guess my question is has anyone tried doing this?
I'll be upgrading the case to accommodate the additional hard drives. Most likely either the U-NAS NSC-800 or the Silverstone DS380B.

 

[Stux]

I'm not sure if that adapter requires the m2 port to support SATA, or if it includes a PCIe to SATA bridge, it looks like it does, but even if it does, I suspect it wouldn't physically fit on the X10SDV boards.

You might be able to use some sortof M.2 extender cable.

Of course, you could use the PCIe x16 slot. And you can bifurcate that and split it into multiple slots if necessary.

 

[Johnnie Black]

It's a 4 port Marvell controller, same chipset as this one, as long as it fits it *should* work.

http://www.sybausa.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=183

 

[Ericloewe]

It's a 4 port Marvell controller, same chipset as this one, as long as it fits it *should* work.

If the ASRock C2X50D4I boards have taught us anything, it's to never trust Marvell SATA.

 

[Johnnie Black]

it's to never trust Marvell SATA.

I agree, but I've seen one of the mods frequently recommend the SI-PEX40062, a similar 4 port Marvell based controller, so it should work.

 

[MrToddsFriends]

I agree, but I've seen one of the mods frequently recommend the SI-PEX40062, a similar 4 port Marvell based controller, so it should work.

The two Marvell controllers that seem to work rather well are the 88SE9235 and the 88SE9215 with no RAID functionality. The IOCREST/Syba SI-PEX40062 PCIe card recommended be @joeschmuck is based on the Marvell 88SE9235.

The Syba SD-ADA40118 M.2 to 4-port SATA III Adapter discussed here is based on the Marvell 88SE9230 which has some RAID functionality and might not work just as well. One of the onboard controllers on the ASRock C2X50D4I boards --- I think the more problematic one of the two on those boards, following reports in this forum --- is a 88SE9230.

 

[Johnnie Black]

The Syba SD-ADA40118 M.2 to 4-port SATA III Adapter discussed here is based on the Marvell 88SE9230 which has some RAID functionality and might not work just as well.

It's software raid, and it won't be available for FreeNAS, pretty sure the driver used is the same for both.

One of the onboard controllers on the ASRock C2X50D4I boards --- I think the more problematic one of the two on those boards, following reports in this forum --- is a 88SE9230.

The Marvell controllers on the Asrock server boards are notoriously bad, on any OS, not just FreeNAS, there's a firmware update for it that alleviates but doesn't completely fix the issues, mostly dropping disks without reason.

 

[MrToddsFriends]

It's software raid, and it won't be available for FreeNAS, pretty sure the driver used is the same for both.

From the Marvell 88SE9220/9230/9235/9215 product brief:

"In addition, it features hardware RAID running with an enhanced ARM-based processor to offload the host CPU."
"An embedded ARM-based CPU makes this product a pure hardware RAID controller and enables in-box driver support without additional driver installation."

This applies to the 88SE9220 and 88SE9230 but not to the 88SE9215 and 88SE9235.

 

[Johnnie Black]

"In addition, it features hardware RAID running with an enhanced ARM-based processor to offload the host CPU."
"An embedded ARM-based CPU makes this product a pure hardware RAID controller and enables in-box driver support without additional driver installation."

This applies to the 88SE9220 and 88SE9230 but not to the 88SE9215 and 88SE9235.

The driver used on FreeNAS is still the same, AHCI driver for both, and AFAIK the AHCI driver has no raid support.

 

[MrToddsFriends]

The driver used on FreeNAS is still the same, AHCI driver for both, and AFAIK the AHCI driver has no raid support.

I'm not able to tell if the executed code paths in the FreeBSD driver are the same for an 88SE9230 (RAID model) and 88SE9235 (non-RAID model) in any case. And even if this should be the case, the two controllers most possibly have different firmware.

 

[Johnnie Black]

And even if this should be the case, the two controllers most possibly have different firmware.

Likely, and you may be right, the 9230 may be more problematic than the 9235 with FreeNAS, in my opinion Marvell controllers should be avoided if possible, though I'm sure many people use them without issues, except maybe users with an Asrock server board ;)

 

[zey]

I'd like to thank those of you that have replied. However I've clearly stated that "I'd like to save the PCI-E slot for a graphics card that I'd like to pass-though to a VM (later project)." I have a I/O Crest SATA 4 Port that will do that job. I thought of what @Stux said I can use bifurcate. But based on the cases I have in mind to use I have not been able to really locate one that would work. I'd have to use a PCI-E extender to a PCI-E riser card. Not in that exact order but a combination of it.

 

[Ericloewe]

I'd like to thank those of you that have replied. However I've clearly stated that "I'd like to save the PCI-E slot for a graphics card that I'd like to pass-though to a VM (later project)." I have a I/O Crest SATA 4 Port that will do that job. I thought of what @Stux said I can use bifurcate. But based on the cases I have in mind to use I have not been able to really locate one that would work. I'd have to use a PCI-E extender to a PCI-E riser card. Not in that exact order but a combination of it.

So get an adapter from M.2 to PCIe card and get a known-good HBA, like an LSI SAS 9211.

 

[zey]

So get an adapter from M.2 to PCIe card and get a known-good HBA, like an LSI SAS 9211.

Why the hell didn't I think of that!?

 

[Holt Andrei Tiberiu]

I know that this is old, but did you manage to get it to work?
I want tobuy a 4 Ports mSATA Converter Expand Card PCIe to fit 4 msata ssd's for caching in my server.
Th product wich i found is based on Marvell 88SE9230. And i am not sure it know's AHCI, i do not need HW RAID.

 

[Ericloewe]

You do not want to buy a piece of crap SATA controller so that you can use M.2 SATA SSDs. That would be a horrible approach. Doubly so for any of the older formats that were around before M.2.

Buy a proper HBA and buy 2.5" SSDs if you must, but I would bet that there are much better solutions to whatever problem you have and they involve NVMe.

 

[Holt Andrei Tiberiu]

I was thinking of something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Syba-HyperDuo-Controller-Marvell-Chipset/dp/B00KKO6N98
And use 4 Samsung Evo 860 msata ( they are the same as 2.5 SATA SSD, And i don't have to sacrifice 4 bays.
I cannot use NVMe ( i know that they have 3.2 gb/s read and 2.4 gbs writ ) because i do not have 4 x 4 pci-ex lanes free anymore, only one 8x.
And yes, i know that the sata bus will be my limit.
For now i will be very happy with 600mb/sec
As i will find a real good 10 gigabit swich, maybe, maybe i will move from FC to 10 gigabit, and free up 2 more intrefaces on the motherboard so i ca use 3 nvme to pci-ex adaptors.
I have HBA, dell H200 and H200E flashed to IT and de-branded from dell firmware, now they are AVAGO P20.

 

[blanchet]

I run FreeNAS on a QNAP TS-EC1680U-RP which has 6 Marvell 88SE9215 onboard.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...1-u5-on-qnap-ts-ec1680u-rp.64287/#post-482091
Even if it is not the recommended HBA, it works very well with FreeNAS.