The 3008 HBAs are quite expensive here, so I ordfered one from China/Hong Kong. Knowing the way things are, with grey market and other backstreet/fake products, I was careful - I skipped over anyone selling generic SAS-3 cards and ordered one that was specifically said to be a branded LSI card. It just arrived and - it's a generic SAS3008 card.
Now, I'm in a bit of a quandary what to do. The price difference in the UK vs overseas is £100 or more, so I would want to buy from overseas anyhow (even after import, it's a lot cheaper). I've bought good equipment successfully from overseas before, so this isn't a case of "get what you pay for", it'#s this specific case I'm not sure what's best.
The card may well be good for all I know - generic 3008 SAS cards are common, and it's quite possible the generic ones also tend to be fine. If I keep it and it's good, I'm happy. If I send it back, I have to source another, and it'll also take a few weeks to arrive which is annoying having already waited. But it hasn't been through any company's QA other than perhaps the manufacturers, so I haven't got any assurance on quality. Then again other generic cards have worked well, so there's perhaps no reason to worry?
Basically, I don't know what to do. Return is safe, but may be overkill.
Does anyone else have experience of generic LSI HBA equivalents, specifically their actual quality in use (compared to branded), and share their experience and thoughts on it?
Now, I'm in a bit of a quandary what to do. The price difference in the UK vs overseas is £100 or more, so I would want to buy from overseas anyhow (even after import, it's a lot cheaper). I've bought good equipment successfully from overseas before, so this isn't a case of "get what you pay for", it'#s this specific case I'm not sure what's best.
The card may well be good for all I know - generic 3008 SAS cards are common, and it's quite possible the generic ones also tend to be fine. If I keep it and it's good, I'm happy. If I send it back, I have to source another, and it'll also take a few weeks to arrive which is annoying having already waited. But it hasn't been through any company's QA other than perhaps the manufacturers, so I haven't got any assurance on quality. Then again other generic cards have worked well, so there's perhaps no reason to worry?
Basically, I don't know what to do. Return is safe, but may be overkill.
Does anyone else have experience of generic LSI HBA equivalents, specifically their actual quality in use (compared to branded), and share their experience and thoughts on it?