BUILD N54l + Sata Riser +Icydock

[ultimateon]

So as the tittle says I have a N54L homeserver An I have filled all my 3.5 Hard drive slots and using all my sata ports.
And i'm considering getting a sata multipler card like
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-To-5-SATA-2-0-Port-Multiplier-Card-3Gbps-SATAII-Riser-card-/191584861854
Or if the performance loss/incompatiblity is too much
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marvell-Chi...tiplier-FIS-/111229028992?hash=item19e5c44a80

and install this icybox on the 5.25 bay
http://www.icydock.com/product/mb994sp-4s_frame.html

Would this work well with freenas?

 

[gpsguy]

Avoid SATA multipliers like the plague. And, anything using a Marvell chipset.

An IBM M1015, flashed to IT mode, would be a better choice. About $100 on eBay. Plus, you'd need a breakout cable for it.

 

[ultimateon]

Avoid SATA multipliers like the plague. And, anything using a Marvell chipset.

An IBM M1015, flashed to IT mode, would be a better choice. About $100 on eBay. Plus, you'd need a breakout cable for it.

Thanks this will help me replace the poor speed* chipset that comes with n54l and let me use all Disks in a proper raid.
What kind of performance can I expect from it though how do I flash it(if you could possibly send me a link)?

 

[BigDave]

This thread (long read, very educational) has links to loads of info regarding this subject.

 

[gpsguy]

BigDave provided a link regarding the controller. Hardware RAID and FreeNAS don't mix well, that's why we suggest a dumbed down HBA.

If by "poor speed* chipset", you are referring to the 2.2GHz CPU, then this controller won't help.

Depending on your needs, a new system that allows for a 3.0GHz (or faster) Pentium or Xeon CPU would give you better CIFS performance (assuming it's an issue). If you are building it yourself, consider a Supermicro X10SL7-F-B motherboard. With it's built in LSI 2308 controller, you'd be able to connect up to 14 SATA drives to it. If you kept your Microserver (for backup), you could replicate critical data from the primary server to the secondary one.

 

[ultimateon]

BigDave provided a link regarding the controller. Hardware RAID and FreeNAS don't mix well, that's why we suggest a dumbed down HBA.

If by "poor speed* chipset", you are referring to the 2.2GHz CPU, then this controller won't help.

Depending on your needs, a new system that allows for a 3.0GHz (or faster) Pentium or Xeon CPU would give you better CIFS performance (assuming it's an issue). If you are building it yourself, consider a Supermicro X10SL7-F-B motherboard. With it's built in LSI 2308 controller, you'd be able to connect up to 14 SATA drives to it. If you kept your Microserver (for backup), you could replicate critical data from the primary server to the secondary one.

I know i'm kinda necroing this thread, but by I kinda poorly worded myself back there I meant it as you said it before but I had performance issues with CIFS on multiple file transfers (not on NFS or NSF I can never get this one right), but I don't intended to spend money on a new server I's already Overkill enough as is...

 

[gpsguy]

The acronym is NFS, ie. "network file system".

You'll never get great performance out of the server. If your desktop computer has a fast CPU, has a SSD, and a gigabit ethernet connection, you'll probably see a bit of a speed increase over a slower machine with a spinning hard disk. But, you won't be able to saturate the gigE link.

One thing you haven't told us is how much RAM you have, nor which version of FreeNAS you are running.

Are you aware that you can put 16GB RAM in your server? I put 16GB in my N54L (it runs a different OS).

 

[gpsguy]

I now see the OP has started a new thread with lots of details about the system - https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...elive-it-because-what-they-say-is-true.36349/

 

[ultimateon]

I now see the OP has started a new thread with lots of details about the system - https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...elive-it-because-what-they-say-is-true.36349/

Lack of Funds is a helluv of a thing m8