Need 2nd HBA Suggestion

[linus12]

I am going to be adding additional drives to my server (see current build in signature). My current on board HBA(?) Controller is maxed out. New drives will be 4 x 8Tb WD Reds with 4 more in another 3 months or so.

So I assume I'm looking for an add-in card. Suggestions?

Edit: Corrected TLA

 

[linus12]

Some additional information:
The HBA on the motherboard is described by

Eight (8) SAS 3.0 connections via LSI3008 with two mini-SAS HD (SAS 0-7)​

connected to 8 HDs using 2 x Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 to 4x SATA Breakout Cables​

​

If there is some way to connect to more drives using different breakout cables that would be great, if not... then:

​

The motherboard has two open slots:

PCH PCI-E 3.0 X2 (IN X4)​

CPU PCI-E 3.0 X8 Slot​

The drives to be connected are 4 x Western Digital Red Pro 8TB at this point and 4 more at a later date

So do I go for the

SAS 9300-8i Host Bus Adapter​

like this one: https://www.amazon.com/LSI-Broadcom-9300-8i-PCI-Express-Profile....​

and slot it in the CPU PCI-E 3.0 slot?​

​

or should I look at something else?

It is not that money is no object, but I looking for something that will not cause me problems down the road - hardware wise.

 

[Mlovelace]

I would use a sas expander card to connect your on-board controller to all the drives you need.

 

[linus12]

I have seen those. I'm just wondering about the price. The LSI Broadcom SAS 9300-8i is only $200, while the SAS Expander card runs in the $60 range. Other than the $$ difference, wouldn't the HBA give me faster access to the data? Or is there something inherently wrong with having two HBA's in the same system?

 

[Mlovelace]

I have seen those. I'm just wondering about the price. The LSI Broadcom SAS 9300-8i is only $200, while the SAS Expander card runs in the $60 range. Other than the $$ difference, wouldn't the HBA give me faster access to the data? Or is there something inherently wrong with having two HBA's in the same system?

There is nothing wrong with adding a second HBA. The expander I linked in my previous post is $25+free shipping and is perfectly fine for mechanical drives. It's your money and your system so obviously pick what you're most comfortable with.

 

[ChrisRJ]

For conventional hard disks an HBA with 3 Gbps per connection is sufficient. You can get OEM ones (e.g. IBM M1015) pretty cheap on eBay, probably for less than $60.