BUILD Need more SATA ports and not sure on which PCI-e SATA controller to get

[Spud]

Hi,

I'm currently building a new NAS box and need 4 more SATA ports as the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H MB I'm going to use only has 6 and I need 10 but not sure which PCI-e SATA card to use.

Will any PCI-e SATA card work with Freenas or are some more compatible then others?

I just want something that works without any hassle if thats possible!

Any advise on this would be most welcome.

Thanks

 

[Michael Wulff Nielsen]

The IBM M1015 is very popular and probably a good buy. Must be flashed to it mode.

 

[cyberjock]

Please read our stickies. The M1015 recommendation would be easy to read there. Not all SATA controllers are compatible with FreeBSD.

Also check out our other stickies as your motherboard doesn't conform with our recommended hardware profile.

 

[Spud]

The IBM M1015 is very popular and probably a good buy. Must be flashed to it mode.

Thanks I'll have a look!

 

[Spud]

Please read our stickies. The M1015 recommendation would be easy to read there. Not all SATA controllers are compatible with FreeBSD.

Yeah couldn't seem to find what I was looking for so I thought I'd ask here. Searching for "stickies" finds you jack

Also check out our other stickies as your motherboard doesn't conform with our recommended hardware profile.

Been running Freenas on that MB for about 12 months now without a problem. I'm not going to replace it just for the hell of it. It works and I'm happy with it. I'd like to try and find a good PCI-e SATA controller so I can add more drives, thats all I'm asking for.

 

[cyberjock]

Been running Freenas on that MB for about 12 months now without a problem. I'm not going to replace it just for the hell of it. It works and I'm happy with it. I'd like to try and find a good PCI-e SATA controller so I can add more drives, thats all I'm asking for.

That's fine. The problem with the non-recommended configurations is that they'll work fine until something breaks. Then you might realize you never had redundancy or other nasty data-killing problems.

Good luck in your endeavors!

 

[Spud]

That's fine. The problem with the non-recommended configurations is that they'll work fine until something breaks. Then you might realize you never had redundancy or other nasty data-killing problems.

Good luck in your endeavors!

Well as we both know raid isn't a backup thats why its mirrored onto another system. But thanks for all your help

 

[cyberjock]

Not trying to argue with you, but ironically, backups can and have been trashed because of errors on the primary server. Just read the thread on ECC RAM versus non-ECC RAM. We've had people's RAID controllers and other ill-advised hardware end up trashing their backup pool even though it was on a different system.

So its still something you should read up on and understand before you blindly push the "I'm safe.. I have backups" button. ;)

 

[Spud]

Not trying to argue with you, but ironically, backups can and have been trashed because of errors on the primary server. Just read the thread on ECC RAM versus non-ECC RAM. We've had people's RAID controllers and other ill-advised hardware end up trashing their backup pool even though it was on a different system.

So its still something you should read up on and understand before you blindly push the "I'm safe.. I have backups" button. ;)

Yep, thanks for your input

 

[Richman]

Hi,

I'm currently building a new NAS box and need 4 more SATA ports as the Gigabyte GA-Z77X-D3H MB I'm going to use only has 6 and I need 10 but not sure which PCI-e SATA card to use.

Will any PCI-e SATA card work with Freenas or are some more compatible then others?

I just want something that works without any hassle if thats possible!

Any advise on this would be most welcome.

Thanks

I have looked at both Authorized FreeBSD list and never seen MB's mentioned in it. So where are you talking about cyberjock?

 

[cyberjock]

Motherboards aren't listed. YOu have to seek out every component(chipset, CPU, SATA chip, NIC chip, etc.) and verify compatibility. On top of that, some boards don't run FreeBSD properly. So if you aren't willing to take the risk of problems the recommendation is to just stick with something already recommended on the forums.

 

[Richman]

Motherboards aren't listed. YOu have to seek out every component(chipset, CPU, SATA chip, NIC chip, etc.) and verify compatibility. On top of that, some boards don't run FreeBSD properly. So if you aren't willing to take the risk of problems the recommendation is to just stick with something already recommended on the forums.

The only actual specific hardware recommendations was a forum post I found that was started for builders to list the hardware they used that actually worked. The official FreeBSD harware page I see where there is a general reference to CPU via just sayin Athlon 64, Athlon II, and I see the NIC section but for SATA Chip .... you are specifically only talking RAID Controller and not on-board controllers right? I think on-board SATA is integrated into the south bridge chip and I have never seen any reference to board chipsets being compatible or not. It is several pages and needs to be databased somehow as the OP mentioned. I would spend time db-ing it if someone would setup an interface to plug it into or at least a format needed to upload it to a db.
Currently I am thinking of using a ECS a785GM-M5 simply since it has Atheros NIC and 6 SATA II conectors just to get started or an intel Q45 or Intel E5200 MB or use a MB I have laying around and put money into a controller. I read where a LSI MegaRaid MR SATA 300-8X was flashable and then read that it was only a RAID car so now I am not sure if it is or isn't.