Personally, I would recommend using either the LSI 9202-16e or 9206-16e, as they have much higher maximum bandwidth.
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I was looking on that thread and apparently didn’t read it well enough. Other than switching to that in the main server, does everything else work or would I need to come up with a different setup?
Would this cable be what I need (https://www.amazon.com/CableDeconn-External-SFF-8644-SFF-8088-3-3FT/dp/B00XQTRQJ0/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=sff-8644+cable&linkCode=sl2&linkId=c855c55332a3864aa472f23e9415f82f&qid=1592838526&sr=8-5&tag=serverdiscord-20) to connect the 9206 to the expander?
How do I connect SAS drives from the server to the DAS? I currently purchased the external sas cable to sata connection but I have SAS hard drives.
Edit: No I think I’ve got it wrong a SAS cable will go into a sata drive just fine but not the other way around.
One thing I’ve learned from googles that I hadn’t previously thought of…
Say you have an old board (namely one with ipmi)…you could use that as a JBOD controller even without ram/cpu. I do think the paper clip on the power supply works just fine as well but if you wanted more control over the network an old board w/ipmi (hopefully non-java) would work great for that purpose on a DAS.
Then have a pcie raid card (internal and external ports) plugged in for a clean install passing thru the data to the drives. And of course a power button could be used or ipmi at that point. You wouldn’t get much features out of ipmi without a functioning stick of ram/cpu though consuming power.
The LSI card listed in the original post of this thread.
You can also reference this thread below for more info.
I have the LSI 9201-16e in, I have that card in my dell t110 ii and I am running the external sas cable to my das. The issue is I have sas drives in my rosewill 4u. Do you recommend that I move everything to the Rosewill 4500, meaning would that be easier?
or is it a cable that goes from the lsi card to sas drives instead of the one listed above that goes to sata?
What is the issue exactly? You haven’t specified.
I need a cable that runs into the DAS from the NAS to connect to my 3 SAS hard drives. The cable listed above is for SATA. My bad
(FYI: I would like to preface this comment by saying that I am not specifically recommending any of the parts listed below, they might be great or they might not be, they were simply the first listings I found that were representative of what you need. Please do your own research in order to find equivalent products that may offer better prices or reviews. Thank you)
Based on the SAS HBA that you are using, I would say that you need a SFF-8088 to SFF-8482 cable like the one below to connect your SAS card to the drives in your DAS.
Alternatively, If you want a slightly cleaner look when you are finished you can also use a setup like the following.
Use a cable like this one (SFF-8088 → SFF-8088) to connect your SAS card to the adapter card listed below.
Install an adapter (SFF-8088 → SFF-8087) like this one in your DAS.
Then you can use a standard internal SAS cable (SFF-8087 → SFF-8482) like the ones listed elsewhere on this forum (also below) to connect the adapter card to the drives in your DAS.
I hope that helps
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Makes perfect sense. Thanks
With JBOD, if you have a disk failure, do you just lose data contained to the failed drive or do you lose data on multiple drives?
Also, would Windows see this as a giant singular hard drive or would you need to use Storage Space to achieve that?
With JBOD you only use the information on the disk that failed. And yes, if you want to use Windows for your storage, you would need to use Storage Spaces, or another third party solution like StableBit DrivePool, to make the drives show up as a single array.
Have you looked into Unraid at all? Most of us here use it, and love it.
I already use Unraid now and like it. My current cloud plan doesn’t allow linux boxes to backup to it unless you pony up a ridiculous amount of money.
I probably should just setup a second Unraid server and leave it with family, but I was trying to avoid that as I would be using up their electricity to run a NAS.
Hi and thanks for this guide.
I have 2 questions (im completly new to this LSI ).
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I seem to have problem with the LSI-9201-card part. I cant find a new card with 9201 in name/description, And the LSI card I do find, is costing from 240$ and up .
What LSI should I be looking for that will fit your approch or will any LSI do just it have a sas connector (but avoiding those brands you mentioned)?
…Blush, just now so this list. Is this list alternative that can do the same: [Official] Recommended SAS2 HBA (internal & external) ? -
Why cant I just put a SATA expansion card and plug that into the server and just pull all the sata cable directly from the DAS into the server?
To address #2:
You can, but it’s more of a hassle. You have to have a sata card that is reviewed well enough and doesn’t have drop-out problems. 6 Sata cables running out of your server and into the DAS are going to be more difficult to manipulate, and you have to find them to have a lot longer length than is probably made.
The SAS card option offers fewer cables, higher reliability, and more future upgrade options in the form of SAS expanders.
You’re most likely not going to find a brand new LSI 9201-16e, these cards are approaching 10 years old at this point so the new stock has sold out and you’ll need to look for a used/refurb card today. As for which card to buy, in the SAS2 HBA thread you linked, there are a few options with external connectors. Click on any of the card models to bring up a eBay search with relevant results. They aren’t going to be as cheap as they were when this guide was written, but there are still several options available. You could also look into some of the Adaptec options in this thread: [Official] Adaptec ASR series SAS HBA overview
And to your second question, while it might technically be possible to extend a SATA cable outside the case and into another one, it’s not worth the effort. Even at today’s inflated prices, a proper SAS controller with external ports is a much cheaper option overall. The -16e cards get you up to 16 drives natively, or more if you add an expander into the mix. With SATA controllers, each port is one drive max.
I’m currently using the HP SAS expander with the Anniversary NSFW build (Gigabyte GA-7PESH2 dual socket LGA2011). Since the LSI 9201-16e is pretty pricey nowadays can I just use the SAS expander into a DAS following the rest of this guide instead since I have a few extra slots still available?