Sata Cards for a home TrueNas

[Elmatu!]

Hello, my name is Matias, I timidly set up a freenas for my home 3 years ago with an old pc and it worked well. These days I installed Truenas on another obsolete PC, a fourth gen i5. I want to add a board to use more SATA drives. Specially for RAID 1.
I have read in this forum recommendations of boards to expand SATA but they are for a more intensive use I only want it for my home.
The question is: can I fit a card with the Marvell 88se9170 Chip that expands 2 SATA ports?
or the TrueNas won't support it?

I also saw card options without RAID support. Marvell 88se9215 chip, which expands 4 SATA. but I doubt it will work.

Thanks

 

[ChrisRJ]

You should use an LSI-based HBA flashed to IT mode (also have a look at the readings in my signature). Please describe your plans in more detail, so that we can give targeted advice.

 

[sretalla]

I also saw card options without RAID support. Marvell 88se9215 chip, which expands 4 SATA. but I doubt it will work.

It may "work" from a technical perspective, but Marvell controllers should be avoided if possible as they are known (in this forum) not to handle ZFS very well.

 

[jgreco]

Some of the Marvell controllers are 100% fine, some aren't.

 

[Yorick]

Those LSI HBAs go for like 35 bucks on eBay. Given how well they work, it’s definitely worth it to use those over some SATA addin board. They still work with SATA drives just fine.

 

[BR14]

It may "work" from a technical perspective, but Marvell controllers should be avoided if possible as they are known (in this forum) not to handle ZFS very well.

There used to be a very nice FreeNAS box from a reputable and very knowledgeable vendor based on an Asrock Avoton MB with build-in Marvel SATA chipset which apparently worked fine (the SATA, not the Avoton.)

Those LSI HBAs go for like 35 bucks on eBay.

True, used LSI HBAs are plentiful, cheap, and work great after flashing to IT mode. Still, cheap 2-port Marvel-based cards were sold new under $15, and probably run cooler than LSIs, so people are (and will in the future) be tempted to use those to add one or two ports.
Telling people to just use an LSI card, an undeniably safe advice, might not be helpful. On the other hand, a 4-port LSI card like IBM H1110 would almost always be a better choice than a 4-port Marvel.

 

[Constantin]

No issues with the Marvell controller on the ASRock C2750D4I, if that’s what you’re referencing, but some other issues, like the firmware bug, the AVR54 Intel embarrassment, and so on. That said, ixSystems gave me fantastic support and now that I’m on board 4 or 5 (can’t remember) I seem to have a stable, functional motherboard.

given the minimal price difference between known-good LSI SATA interfaces vs. Marvell, I would not hesitate to buy a pre-flashed LSI and add a dedicated fan too. That is, unless you like tinkering with the NAS and chasing obscure, hard-to-replicate errors that crop up occasionally.

 

[jgreco]

No issues with the Marvell controller on the ASRock C2750D4I, if that’s what you’re referencing,

Actually, not quite true, one of the two Marvell controllers (they use two different ones on the D4I) was originally problematic until some driver tweaks were made. This is like the poster child example of why it's risky to use random SATA controllers. :-/

 

[Constantin]

I stand corrected and thank you for that. I initially thought the choice of the C2750D4I was a odd one for the Mini and Mini XL but it works as intended most of the time. However, the customer service experiences users have posted here re ASRock vs. SuperMicro narrowed my choices to exclusively supermicro. Based on a few personal interactions, I wholly endorse SuperMicro even without the additional help from a reseller like iXSystems.

If iXSystems had offered my eventual motherboard, I’d bought it from them. It’s a great motherboard and more future-proof design than the mini ITX boards IXSystems loves so much for the mini series. But I also get why they want to stay with Mini ITX.

 

[BR14]

ASRock vs. SuperMicro narrowed my choices to exclusively supermicro.

Totally agree. Was recently unpleasantly surprised to find that Asrock neither provides nor document a way to reset BMC passwords.

 

[Elmatu!]

Thank you all for your advices
I am evaluating to acquire this model:

LSI 9211-8i Controller SAS HBA, 6 Gbps with SATA cable.

I don't know if I should change the Firmware for one that works better or not. Can you tell me?

I don't know if it is already have a Firmware modified

I've seen other posts that already have the FW modified for TRUENAS.

 

[BR14]

You will most likely have to flash the IT Firmware - you will not know for sure until you install the card. Flashing the firmware is fairly easy on original LSI cards but could be more involved on DELL,HP, or IBM versions. You will need a break-out cable to connect the SATA drives to SAS port on the card. Also, there is a 4 port version 9211-4i if you do not need all the 8 ports.
Keep in mind that some non-server boards will not boot with these cards and require a tape mod ( covering two pins.)
There is 9212-4i which has regular SATA ports (no need for the breakout cable) but I could not find the firmware for it myself.

 

[Yorick]

Firmware notes for the 9212-4i: https://ckelly.net/using-an-hp-lsi-sas9212-4i-in-it-mode-as-a-sata3-controller-card

 

[BR14]

Firmware notes for the 9212-4i: https://ckelly.net/using-an-hp-lsi-sas9212-4i-in-it-mode-as-a-sata3-controller-card

Thank you for the link. The author apparently flushed the firmware for 9212-4i4e version, which is an 8-port card.
Do you think a well-supported controller with potentially wrong firmware is safer than Marvell?
They are selling used 9212-4i fo $20 on ebay, and I am tempted to get one (or two.)

 

[Yorick]

Do you think a well-supported controller with potentially wrong firmware is safer than Marvell?

After staring at the card in the article some more, I think this is the right firmware. Note the area on the PCB to mount that external adapter, just left blank on that 4i model. To me that looks like a 4i4e where the external adapter was left off … and otherwise exactly the same card.

So, yes. I’d be tempted to give that a try and see how it goes.

However. If you are tempted to get two: Then wouldn’t it make sense to get an 8i with SAS ports, and use breakout cables?

 

[BR14]

then wouldn’t it make sense to get an 8i

I really only need to add one port to each of my two DEll T20 NAS boxes to replace the deplorable ASM and Marvell controllers.

that looks like a 4i4e where the external adapter was left off

That seems to be the current theory - thank you for confirming. What makes me hesitate is that this appears to be a special HP version and neither Avago nor HP post firmware for this specific model. I will probably get one and try. I would not though recommend it on the forum until I have it working for some time and definitely not to somebody who is unfamiliar with these things. My own first experience with IBM version which prevented both Asrock and Gigabyte motherboards from booting was not pleasant, and the tape mod looks easier on the net than in real life.

After staring at the card in the article some more

Thank you for looking at this. If these work with 4i4e firmware, it would be a great cheap solution.

 

[Elmatu!]

Thanks for the advice, as I do not live in the US to bring Boards from another country is in just 1 attempt, so as not to have to do it 2 times, that's why I chose the 8i model, and searching I found a similar card "Fujitsu 9211-8i 6G HBA LSI FW: P20 IT Mode ZFS FreeNAS unRAID" which is on ebay, the description says that it is ready for Freenas (TrueNAS now) and puts some images of the card information, I think from BIOS or POST.
Can you tell me if it is suitable for TrueNAS?
My intention to use it for RAID 1, the equipment I have is an HP ELITEDESK 800 G1 Small Form Factor With an Intel Core i5 4590 with 12 Gb TrueNAS-12.0-U5.
I will have to purchase an HDD box in the future to add more HDD.
I accompany the image that the ebay seller used.


I have a question with the description "unRAID"
what does it mean?

Thank you

 

[Arwen]

...
My intention to use it for RAID 1, the equipment I have is an HP ELITEDESK 800 G1 Small Form Factor With an Intel Core i5 4590 with 12 Gb TrueNAS-12.0-U5.

It's helpful if you use the ZFS terminology, when referencing ZFS RAID configurations. For example, ZFS does not support RAID-1, but supports Mirrored vDevs, which is quite similar. So it's possible you meant to use a hardware RAID card with it's hardware RAID-1, instead of ZFS Mirrored vDev.

Here is a link to the resource on the subject;

Terminology and Abbreviations Primer

We realize that new users have a lot to learn when they come to FreeNAS. There's a certain amount of confusion added to discussions when users pick random/approximate terms to describe things. I've spent a lot of time quietly trying to...

www.truenas.com

I have a question with the description "unRAID"
what does it mean?
...

There is a piece of software called UnRAID, which is on top of Linux. A different feature set than TrueNAS, (formerly FreeNAS). It apparently costs money:

Unleash Your Hardware

Unraid is an operating system that brings enterprise-class features for personal and small business applications. Configure your computer systems to maximize performance and capacity using any combination of OS, storage devices, and hardware.

unraid.net

As for your other questions, I will leave it to others with more knowledge than I to answer.

 

[Elmatu!]

@Arwen thanks for your corrections. I already visit the links you provided.

So I rephrase the question:

The board "Fujitsu 9211-8i 6G HBA LSI FW: P20 IT Mode ZFS FreeNAS unRAID" is useful to the task that I am trying to carry out?
What task?
To do with TrueNAS mirror vdev.

Thanks.
Matías

 

[BR14]

Can you tell me if it is suitable for TrueNAS?

The firmware looks correct - IT v20. Perhaps someone will confirm.

I will have to purchase an HDD box in the future to add more HDD.

Consider 4i4e version which has an external port.
Remember to get the card with either both low-profile and full-size brackets or the one which fits your case.