Recommended controllers for Unraid

[dopeytree]

Highly recommend going down the SAS port route instead of sata cards. Once you have a SAS card you can then use SAS expanders too which are sometimes built into backplanes like this, meaning you can daisy chain them together to almost infinity: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005304430974.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.12.61e21802HqvwoO

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by dopeytree

[Paul_G]

That is exactly what i was looking for. Thanks!

What cables would i need to connect the backplate to an LSI 9211-8i?

[dopeytree]

SAS 8087 cable off amazon.

Check your lengths prob need at least 5cm but might need 1m depending on your build

Edited August 23, 2023 by dopeytree

[firstTimer]

Hi guys, I need an HBA card because I my motherboard supports only 6 SATA ports. I found this card on ebay with IT firmware already preflashed but is it true that SMART attributes are not anymore avaiable for the HDDs attached to the card? How do you deal with this? Do you just hope that nothing happens to the disks 😄? HBA IBM M1015

Edited August 30, 2023 by firstTimer

[JorgeB]

3 hours ago, firstTimer said:

but is it true that SMART attributes are not anymore avaiable for the HDDs attached to the card?

If it's really in IT mode SMART will still work.

[Zeunerts]

On 7/11/2023 at 10:08 PM, Shonk said:

Same firmware

 

02 = 1x bus

01 = 2x bus on a 4x card

 

Could you post a link to the cards you use/recommend? Prefer 4x, 4/6 port

[Sildenafil]

Hello everyone,
Until now I have been using an asm1166 pci x1 chip board purchased on Aliexpress since I only had one x1 slot, now I have done a hardware upgrade and was thinking of replacing it with a x4 version.
MZHOU is available on Amazon as a brand. I read that it is necessary to update the firmware to have it recognized by some motherboards ( mine is an asus b460 plus).
How do I recognize the latest firmware available?
is the one on https://www.silverstonetek.com/en/product/info/expansion-cards/ECS06/ - called "Fix compatibility issue and support Intel 600 series chipset motherboard"
To perform the firmware upgrade do I need a Windows pc but with "old" hardware to have the board recognized?

[Mogo]

Anyone know if any of these Lenovo cards will work with unraid without issue?

ThinkSystem 440-16i SAS/SATA PCIe Gen4 12Gb HBA
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/servers-storage-options/adapters/storage-adapters/4y37a78602

ThinkSystem 430-16i SAS/SATA HBA
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/servers-storage-options/adapters/storage-adapters/7y37a01089

[Squid]

1 hour ago, Mogo said:

Anyone know if any of these Lenovo cards will work with unraid without issue?

ThinkSystem 440-16i SAS/SATA PCIe Gen4 12Gb HBA
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/servers-storage-options/adapters/storage-adapters/4y37a78602

ThinkSystem 430-16i SAS/SATA HBA
https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/servers-storage-options/adapters/storage-adapters/7y37a01089

Both LSI (Broadcom) based and don't support RAID so you should be good to go.

[SundarNET]

Just on a side note I have been upgrading all my servers to 12G SAS controllers and drives and have been loving the DELL PERC H730 series as you can switch them to HBA mode in the software perfectly and then use them fine VIA unraid then you can get adapting plugs for any type of drive, Ive been using external HDD enclosures like the MD1400 and now just installed the Sandisk infiniflash IF150 SSD array of sickness! right now preclearing 5x 8TB 12G SAS SSD Drives

[Vetteman]

On 5/24/2023 at 8:16 PM, Hoopster said:

I am not an expert on HBA cards, but here is what I can tell you about the card you linked:

• It uses the ASMedia 1061 chipset which supports 2 SATA ports.
• Although the ASM1061 supports port multipliers (bad for use with Unraid) this card does not appear to utilize port multipliers.
• The card specs state is uses 4 host controllers (ASM1061 chips) onboard which would support 8 SATA drives without multipliers.
• 
• The card is PCIe 2.0 which means after subtracting 20% for overhead (typical), This PCIe x4 card would have 1600 MB/s available bandwidth for 8 SATA drives or ~200 MB/s per drive when all drives are in use simultaneously (parity checks and disk rebuilds). This is sufficient for most HDDs.
• You may wish to avoid connecting SDDs to this card although it says it does support TRIM operations (many HBAs do not support TRIM).  Bandwidth for a SATA SDD would be limited.

Many ASMedia cards are known to work well with Unraid as long as you avoid the ones with port multipliers.

Did you ever find out if this would work with Unraid?

[umax]

I need to finally swap out marvel based sas cards. I am using Supermicro X8SIA-F board with PCIe 2.0 slots. On ebay, the cheapest cards are newer PCIe 3.0, specifically 9207-8i can be bought for 20€, while 9211-8i are 30€. Since the difference is minimal, I am leaning more towards 9207 in case I upgrade the MB in the future, but if for any reason 9211 are better performing in native 2.0 slots I would go with that. Any thoughts?

[JorgeB]

1 hour ago, umax said:

but if for any reason 9211 are better performing in native 2.0 slots I would go with that

They will be the same.

[Vetteman]

On 10/29/2021 at 4:25 AM, JorgeB said:

AFAIK it's not Ironwolf models in general but only the ST8000VN004, and there's a fix for it, but if you want a non LSI HBA the Adaptec HBA 1000 and 1100 series are reported to work without issues, though not as used as LSI, so not as well tested.

Why not post a link to the fix for these Seagate Ironwolf 8TBs. I have two of these hard drives in my Unraid box and in the hunt for a LSI 9207-8i and would appreciate to know in advance what this "fix" is.

 

Thanks kindly....

[JorgeB]

 

[luizmont]

Hello everyone.

I'm looking to add more sata ports to my system, running on a Asus P8Z77-V motherboard.

 

I would like to know if this board from aliexpress would work.

According to the seller, it runs ASM1064 + 2 JMB575 

 

This is a pic from the sellers page.

 

In case it doesn't work, can someone point me another item (preferably from aliexpress) that would work?

I don't need that many ports... 4 ports would be more than enough!
 

Thanks in advance!

 

Edit: found this one with only 4 ports and just a ASM1064.

Edited November 23, 2023 by luizmont
found another item

[ChatNoir]

10 hours ago, luizmont said:

Edit: found this one with only 4 ports and just a ASM1064.

That's a better option

 

The JMB575 in the first proposal are port multipliers and are not recommended.

[etnicor]

On 7/3/2023 at 2:03 PM, Shonk said:

My cards came just now

 

ASM1166 PCE6SAT-A02 (1x) Firmware 201105-001f-02

ASM1166 PCE6SAT-A01 (4x) Firmware 221118-003E-00

ASM1166 PCE6SAT-A01 (4x) Orig card was 200529-00D-02 flashed with Silverstone ECS06 Firmware

 

We need to dump the November 2022 firmware

oh btw 221118-003E-00 doesnt have the removable flag on the ports

the other two firmwares do

 

Which firmware should you actually run?

Flashed my chinese x2 card with silverstone because it was totally broken on my intel 600 motherboard. Is there any better than the one silverstone provide?

 

Cheers

[sayon]

@ChatNoirHi, I kindly ask you for some advice, I have an MSI Z490-A PRO motherboard to which I want to add two simple Sata ports for two hard disks, as the other Sata ports and M2 slots are all occupied.
While reading, I saw that you recommend the SYBA SY-PEX40039 controller to avoid running into compatibility problems.
Reading the features of Syba I saw that it is PCIe 2.0 x1, since the MSI Z490-A PRO motherboard has the PCIe 3.0 x1 slot is this a problem?
Will there be any drops in performance?
If there are any problems with the Syba controller, do you have another 2-port sata one you can suggest?

Could this be a valid alternative to Syba?

https://www.amazon.com.be/-/en/YUNKOZAND-PCIE-Expansion-Controller-JMicron/dp/B09T6VWFQH?th=1&language=en_GB
Greetings
Sayon

Edited November 27, 2023 by sayon

[ChatNoir]

On 11/25/2023 at 9:44 PM, sayon said:

While reading, I saw that you recommend the SYBA SY-PEX40039

I don't remember and I never used it myself. But it seems to use a ASM1061 that is on the recommended list, so that's probably what I said then.

 

On 11/25/2023 at 9:44 PM, sayon said:

I saw that it is PCIe 2.0 x1, since the MSI Z490-A PRO motherboard has the PCIe 3.0 x1 slot is this a problem?

No problem, the PCIe 3.0 of your motherboard is backward compatible with the previous generations of PCI Express.

 

On 11/25/2023 at 9:44 PM, sayon said:

Will there be any drops in performance?

One lane of PCIe gen2 is rated to 500MB/s, it should be fine for 2x HDDs

 

On 11/25/2023 at 9:44 PM, sayon said:

Could this be a valid alternative to Syba?

https://www.amazon.com.be/-/en/YUNKOZAND-PCIE-Expansion-Controller-JMicron/dp/B09T6VWFQH?th=1&language=en_GB

It seem to use a JMB582 (2 ports PCIe 3.0 x1) and looks to be from the same product family than the JMB585 that is recommended. JorgeB might have an opinion on that, but it looks fine for me.

 

On 11/25/2023 at 9:44 PM, sayon said:

do you have another 2-port sata one you can suggest?

Since your motherboard is PCIe gen3, why not go for a 4 ports controller instead ? That would leave you room to add more drives in the future.

The ASM1064 is gen3 and only uses one lane. (1x gen3 = 985 MB/s)

https://www.amazon.com.be/s?k=ASM1064&i=electronics&crid=1N22TYXDOEUOD&sprefix=asm1064%2Celectronics%2C56&ref=nb_sb_noss

[sayon]

Thank you, you were very clear in your explanation.
I decided to purchase the JMB582 (2 ports PCIe 3.0 x1), also for the reason that more than 2 other hard disks don't fit inside my case.
After I try it I will give my feedback for any people who want to buy it.

[z0ki]

How many drives can you run off a single HBA LSI 9211-8i? Is jt just 8 drives or much more?

[z0ki]

I'll have to get one then

[JorgeB]

7 hours ago, z0ki said:

Is jt just 8 drives or much more?

You can have more if a SAS expander is used, included with a backplane or external.

[sayon]

Hi, I purchased this controller https://www.amazon.com.be/-/en/YUNKOZAND-PCIE-Expansion-Controller-JMicron/dp/B09T6VWFQH?th=1&language=en_GB
I confirm that it works very well and was recognized perfectly by Windows.
Attached disks have no problems and file transfers are lightning fast