What SAS expander and what reverse breakout cable

Evertb1

Guru
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
700
Due to circumstances I will host an extra ZFS pool of 6 sata drives in my home FreeNAS server. Hosting the drives itself will not be a problem. But connecting them with the HBA will.

My server is running on a X10SL7-F motherboard with an onboard SAS2 controller flashed to IT Mode. The motherboard has no mini sas conectors but already has 8 sata connectors on that controller. The 6 drives of my own ZFS pool are connected to these. Normally plenty for me, but now I need to host that extra pool for at least 3 months. Using the native Sata connectors on the motherboard is no option as they are in use for other purposes. So I am looking at a shortage of sata connectors on my HBA. It is my understanding that it should be possible to install a SAS Expander card and connect it with the HBA with a reverse breakout cable (4 x SATA to SAS). And then from that expander card breaking out again to get the needed extra Sata connections.

I would be gratefull to receive some recommendations for SAS expander cards that will work with my motherboard and don't break the bank. After three to six months the card will be removed again from my system. Searching on the internet I found this one a lot of the time: HP 24 Bay SAS Expander but I am not sure if it wil work for me. It seems to me that it has two ports for a controller and 6 Mini SAS ports for drives. It's my guess that if I use one breakout cable I can use 3 of the mini SAS ports.

I also like to know what reverse breakout cable is needed. Searching on the internet for a SATA to SAS reverse breakout cable I only found cables that looks like forward break aout cables (SFF 8087 to 4 x sata). I have no idea if they are the same.

Thanks in advance.
 

RickH

Explorer
Joined
Oct 31, 2014
Messages
61
SAS Breakout cables are directional - so a 'forward breakout' cable designed to go from a HBA to 4 drives won't work in your case...

Do you have an extra PCIe slot? You can get a SAS2008 based HBA for about USD $45 (even less if you're willing to buy from China) on eBay which is a lot cheaper that the SAS Expander you have listed. Pair that with standard SFF8087 to SATA breakout cables should get you connected with no issues.
 

Evertb1

Guru
Joined
May 31, 2016
Messages
700
SAS Breakout cables are directional - so a 'forward breakout' cable designed to go from a HBA to 4 drives won't work in your case...
I prefer to use an expander. I own a Dell Perc H310 complete with break out cables and already flashed to IT mode. But putting in an extra HBA is not what I want. If I can find a suitable expander in the coming 2 weeks I go that way. The HP expander I found is not bad priced (65 euro's) but even if it plays nice with my onboard HBA it will be worthless without suitable cable.
 
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