Which SAS card to drive 24 drives

[MisterE2002]

So assuming i understand most of the stuff correct.

If i buy a supermicro BE16 i have 1 SFF8087 connector. So i need a SFF8087 -> SFF8087 cable to drive all 24 drives.
I quote jgreco

The BE16 (or 12Gbps BE1C) option brings out the attached bays as a single SFF8087. For a 12-drive SATA array, this is an ideal choice because there is no contention on the 24Gbps link and the cabling is stupid-simple. Very attractive option. For a 24-drive SATA array, I still think this is probably just fine because you're not likely to actually hit contention issues

I am not sure what for SAS card to use, and if it matters: SAS2008, SAS2308 or SAS3008.

Found some interesting stuff on the forum

The LSI SAS 2308 chipset has better performance than the LSI SAS 2008 though both are well-supported and well-recommended.
Main difference between SAS2008 and SAS2308 is PCIe 2.0 vs PCIe 3.0, unless you're using SSDs there won't be any difference in performance, SAS2308 also uses a higher voltage, hence a little more power (~6w vs ~9w) and produces more heat.

Less power is better, certainly if no impact on the performance. But also read that SAS 2008 seems a bit "broken"

On the subject of SSDs, I believe the TRIM implementation in the newer more expensive SAS3008 is also considered “less broken” than in the SAS2308, but both are considerably better than the old SAS2008.

But also

The best SAS HBA is LSI 9300. Actually iXsystems uses them in their FreeNAS certified servers.

which seems a SAS3008.

Expected motherboard: X11SCL-F, case: 846BE16-R920B (sas2 ?)

Does it still up?
Do they all support staggered spinup?

 

[danb35]

I am not sure what for SAS card to use, and if it matters: SAS2008, SAS2308 or SAS3008.

The 2008/2308 are venerable choices, and have lots of use behind them. The 3008 is newer and thus less mature, but is still considered stable at this point. Either a 2308 or a 3008 would likely be a good choice, with the 2008 less good (though still serviceable).

Do they all support staggered spinup?

I don't believe any of them support staggered spinup.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I don't believe any of them support staggered spinup.

Staggered spinup requires the controller, backplane, and disk to all agree on the method used, and it often doesn't behave properly with SATA devices which might use a different method called "Power On In Standby" or "POiS"

I believe it does require you to preserve the LSI BIOS on your HBA though to enable it there though; but if it was enabled prior to the wipe, it might persist in the card NVRAM.

I do have one system here that uses 8x3.5" (LSI SAS2008, Lenovo backplane, Seagate SAS) and it does do staggered spinup as expected.

I am not sure what for SAS card to use, and if it matters: SAS2008, SAS2308 or SAS3008.

The SAS3008 seems to be stable nowadays. Your backplane uses SAS2 connectors though so you would need to purchase SFF-8087 to SFF-8643 cables.

SAS2008 is the oldest, cheapest, and is probably still fine for a 24x HDD pool. SAS2308 is recommended for SSDs due to having a faster internal controller as well as PCIe 3.0 support, but you certainly won't hurt anything by buying one for an all-HDD pool (other than potentially your wallet.)

But also read that SAS 2008 seems a bit "broken"

Hey, I recognize that quote. It's specifically in regards to supporting TRIM commands (erasing blocks on SSD, usually)which won't apply if you're using spinning media. The SSD device attached to any of the HBAs still has to support the Deterministic (Read) Zero After TRIM, sometimes called DZAT or RZAT.

 

[MisterE2002]

Thanks guys!
Especially the need for the SFF-8087 to SFF-8643 cable :D

Powerdraw seems:
LSI® SAS 9300-8e PCI Express® to 12Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Host Bus Adapter
Nominal = 14.5 W
Worst Case = 22.5 W


LSI® SAS 9207-8i PCI Express® to 6Gb/s Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) Host Bus Adapter
Nominal = 9.8 W
Worst case = 16.0 W

So one reason to stick with SAS2308. Another reason seems the second-hand price: 50 vs 150/200.

My main concern if future proofing. Who is making the Ti-firmware? Also had the idea that firmware versions are hard dependent on TrueNas versions.

But i tend to go for SAS2308, aka 9207-8i

 

[HoneyBadger]

My main concern if future proofing. Who is making the Ti-firmware? Also had the idea that firmware versions are hard dependent on TrueNas versions.

IT firmware is written by the hardware vendor (LSI/Avago/Broadcom) - it is often suggested that the driver and firmware versions should line up, and I believe this is alerted in the TrueNAS console if there is a mismatch detected.

 

[MisterE2002]

Yeah, but i read somewhare that SAS2 is EOL/Out of Support. Not really sure were i saw this though

Found it in the "TrueNAS Community Hardware Guide"

As SAS2 products are considered End of Life by LSI, SAS3 is going to be the natural choice when
buying new. These can be viewed as straight upgrades over older models.