Recommended disk controller for expanding storage machine

[idgar]

Hi,
For my TrueNAS machine I have a motherboard with 6x SATA ports (6Gbit) based on H97 intel chipset + SATA controller PCIe 1x with 2x SATA ports (6Gbit).
The added card is a cheap one I bought many years ago based on ASMedia ASM1062 - not sure how good and reliable it should be but I used it here and there and so far didn't have issues.

I need more ports (total of 12 ports, prefer to replace the controller card with 6 port card) and want to make sure to get a reliable controller which is not too expensive.

Most of the SATA controllers in Amazon are based on ASMedia chips (ASM1166 for example). for 6 port I think PCIe 4x is the right one to provide enough bandwidth.

how good and reliable those cards? do you have a recommendation on those cards?
Is it worth buying SAS controllers instead? (I saw here mostly LSI is recommended)
will SAS controller work out-of-the-box with sata drives and cables?

Please advise.

 

[sretalla]

how good and reliable those cards? do you have a recommendation on those cards?

Not reliable, don't get them: https://www.truenas.com/community/r...t-multipliers-and-cheap-sata-controllers.177/

Is it worth buying SAS controllers instead? (I saw here mostly LSI is recommended)

Absolutely, yes.

will SAS controller work out-of-the-box with sata drives and cables?

Assuming it's already flashed into IT mode... Drives, yes, cables, you need "breakout to SATA" cables for your adapter (sometimes sold together with the adapter on E-BAY - https://www.ebay.com/itm/1336862808...IJ7FAcN4VkHad42oOOGnyzQEZZS2|tkp:BFBMuqGZg9Nh https://www.ebay.com/itm/1334104987...KxfXvdYzuul%2BLLcSuJ|ampid:PL_CLK|clp:2047675).

 

[idgar]

@sretalla thanks for the reply!
Couple of questions:
1. What is the difference between 9207 and 9300?
2. Is both supporting SATA III?
3. are you recommend buying open-box? I see brand new has similar price (for example https://www.ebay.com/itm/144680563178)

 

[sretalla]

1. What is the difference between 9207 and 9300?

The second digit indicates PCI generation... PCIe v2 and v3 respectively... The v2 card will work in a v3 motherboard, not sure about the reverse.

2. Is both supporting SATA III?

Yes

3. are you recommend buying open-box? I see brand new has similar price (for example https://www.ebay.com/itm/144680563178)

That's the way to get genuine LSI at a lower price... retail has them for $200+, so I'm not sure how I would trust "new" at $50

You probably can't go far wrong for the money though either way. (just get the other option if the first one doesn't work out)


Also, I should have said in the post above: I in no way endorse any of the linked items or vendors. I'm just giving an indication of the kind of thing that may be available.

 

[omeganot]

The second digit indicates PCI generation... PCIe v2 and v3 respectively... The v2 card will work in a v3 motherboard, not sure about the reverse.

Both the 9207 and the 9300 leverage PCIe 3.0, and use the 2308 and 3008 controllers respectively. There are 92xx cards that use PCIe 2.0 though, like the 9201.

 

[idgar]

Both the 9207 and the 9300 leverage PCIe 3.0, and use the 2308 and 3008 controllers respectively. There are 92xx cards that use PCIe 2.0 though, like the 9201.

Except for PCIe version, number of lanes and ports, is there other notable parameter between all 92xx and 93xx models?

 

[HoneyBadger]

Except for PCIe version, number of lanes and ports, is there other notable parameter between all 92xx and 93xx models?

SAS generation - the 9207 is SAS2 (6Gbps) whereas the 9300 is SAS3 (12Gbps)

 

[omeganot]

Except for PCIe version, number of lanes and ports, is there other notable parameter between all 92xx and 93xx models?

And their configurations. Are they 4i, 8i, 4i4e, or some other configuration? That matters if you're hooking up internally only, or connecting to another box with drives elsewhere. The SAS generation will also change the SAS port type(e.g., SFF-8087 vs. SFF8643). Additionally, consider:

• This primer on SAS by @jgreco
• Speed differences of cards, and somewhat of chipsets, with and without SAS expanders
• This additional information from our forums about the 9207/9300 cards with 2308/3008 chipsets

 

[idgar]

And their configurations. Are they 4i, 8i, 4i4e, or some other configuration? That matters if you're hooking up internally only, or connecting to another box with drives elsewhere. The SAS generation will also change the SAS port type(e.g., SFF-8087 vs. SFF8643). Additionally, consider:

• This primer on SAS by @jgreco
• Speed differences of cards, and somewhat of chipsets, with and without SAS expanders
• This additional information from our forums about the 9207/9300 cards with 2308/3008 chipset

Great reading material, clear things out quickly!

Just trying to make sure (after breakout):
4i is 4 ports
8i is 8 ports
4i4e is 8 ports out of 4 with extender?

Sounds like the 9207 8i (2308 chipset) SFF-8087 should be sufficient for SATA drives especially for HDD (no need of 12Gbit speeds). 50$ approxomately. Great alternative for unknown brand SATA controller.
Prefer lower power consumption and less heat.

Now when I'm looking at ebay for example I can see there are other vendors than LSI (e.g. INSPUR).
I feel like it's better to stick with LSI but maybe I'm missing something.

Another interesting thing (out of curiosity) is does the fact that ATA protocol is tunneled affect throughput?
I'm not worried about it but would be nice to know.

 

[omeganot]

Great reading material, clear things out quickly!

Just trying to make sure (after breakout):
4i is 4 ports
8i is 8 ports
4i4e is 8 ports out of 4 with extender?

The "i" is for internal, the "e" for external. So, 8i, 8 internal ports (each SFF-8087 connection can break out to 4 drives, so two connections on the card). 4i4e supports 4 internal and 4 external (external has a different connection) drives. When you look at the cards, it should be easy to see.

Another interesting thing (out of curiosity) is does the fact that ATA protocol is tunneled affect throughput?
I'm not worried about it but would be nice to know.

I have no idea, but I'm highly doubtful it would in a meaningful way.

 

[sretalla]

Now when I'm looking at ebay for example I can see there are other vendors than LSI (e.g. INSPUR).
I feel like it's better to stick with LSI but maybe I'm missing something.

A lot of vendors (IBM, Dell, Lenovo, Supermicro.....) use the LSI chip on their cards and those cards can usually be flashed with the IT firmware to essentially be the same as an LSI card.

No issue to select one of those as long as you can find a thread that indicates the IT firmware flashing procedure for it.

Another interesting thing (out of curiosity) is does the fact that ATA protocol is tunneled affect throughput?

No. The LSI chip is a high-powered processor that does all of the needed work to ensure that the card can manage the attached disks... and with a SAS expander, those cards can even run many more disks than the number in the name (like 8i... can actually run 50 or more disks).

 

[idgar]

So now I got the LSI 9207 controller with LONG breakout to sata cables (1M).
Installed the card and so far things look fine (didn't start to actually using it).
Before I move some of my disks to this card - are there tools to test the controller integrity?
For memory I use memtest86+ and for CPU I use Intel Processor Diagnostic Tool, but for controllers I have no clue.

About firmware and BIOS version - are you usually flash it before use? (FW 20.00.06.00 BIOS 07.39.02.00)

about the breakout cables - how flexible it is? I want to arrange it in the case but because it is long it is more challenging.
I've checked for other cable options, so far the shortest I found is 0.5m. Are there shorter cables than this? Is there a recommended brand / model you usually use?

 

[sretalla]

Before I move some of my disks to this card - are there tools to test the controller integrity?

Not really on its own. You would usually use burnin scripts or the solnet array test from @jgreco to do that on the attached disks (testing the controller in the process).

I am aware of .5m cables, but not sure that you'll find shorter. Supermicro does make those, so I would assume most folks with their systems use their cables, hence a good amount of data in the forums indicating they work.

 

[idgar]

Not really on its own. You would usually use burnin scripts or the solnet array test from @jgreco to do that on the attached disks (testing the controller in the process).

This Link?

 

[sretalla]

This Link?

Yes, also the linked solnet one at the bottom of that post.