Moving storage to HBAs after initial setup - is it possible?

[alorimer]

I'm about to make a new file server out of an old Dell tower, but it only has SATAII ports, not the faster 6 Gb/s SATAIII. To fix this problem I've ordered some ASM1061 HBAs, but they haven't arrived yet. I'd like to set up the file server now if possible, using the onboard SATAII ports, and upgrade to the HBAs later. I'm planning a RAIDZ1 array with 3x 5TB drives.

My question is - how hard is it to move the drives over to the HBAs once I've done the initial setup in FreeNAS and ZFS? Is it possible? What will I have to do to reconfigure the system?

Sorry for such a long-winded question, and thanks in advance.

 

[pirateghost]

Yes that should be fine, assuming the HBA is supported.

But you should realize that your spinning disks aren't even going to saturate the SATA II ports...Your network is going to be a limitation...

 

[Ericloewe]

To fix this problem I've ordered some ASM1061 HBAs

So, you want to replace Intel SATA with ASMedia? Bad move.

 

[alorimer]

Yes that should be fine, assuming the HBA is supported.

But you should realize that your spinning disks aren't even going to saturate the SATA II ports...Your network is going to be a limitation...

Thanks for the reply. I realise this. The main reason is scalability - the motherboard only has 3x SATAII ports, and I want 3x HDDs, 1x SSD and the possibility of future expansion.

 

[alorimer]

So, you want to replace Intel SATA with ASMedia? Bad move.

What's bad about that particular chipset or card? I've seen some pretty good reviews, and as I'm on a tight budget and not storing very critical data I thought it wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Ericloewe]

It's a cheap piece of crap, like nearly all SATA controllers. As is clearly stated in the hardware recommendations guide, the only trustworthy controllers are Intel SATA and SAS and LSI SAS.