Best 6 port SATA controller for UNRAID?

[Econaut]

Edited: Many seem to have port multipliers but a 6 port ASM1166 chip controller on at least PCIe x2 or higher should be good. (see last post for link)

Edited August 23, 2021 by Econaut

[JonathanM]

No.

Quote

With four SATA ports and cascaded port multipliers,

Read the top pinned post in this subforum.

[Econaut]

Gotcha. Supports Port Multiplier was a little vague but means it uses them (as indicated in lower product description). Still looking then, any good alternative suggestions?

[Econaut]

https://smile.amazon.com/Splitter-Controller-Expansion-Standard-Profile/dp/B097SHTR84

 

Would this one work ? No text indicating a port multiplier as far as I can see but am unsure if it requires a system driver to work. ("Supports Windows 7/ 8.1 / 10 / Linux, install the driver before add the HDD in system ")

[JonathanM]

12 minutes ago, Econaut said:

any good alternative suggestions?

 

17 minutes ago, JonathanM said:

Read the top pinned post in this subforum.

 

[Econaut]

I did view that link but didn't see any non-SAS 8 port controllers recommended. I was hoping to avoid SAS as it looks a lot more complicated. Is there no recommended standard 8 port SATA controller?

[JorgeB]

Just now, Econaut said:

Is there no recommended standard 8 port SATA controller?

No, just up to 6, but a SAS HBA can use SATA drives, and they are cheap used on ebay.

[Econaut]

I don't really like to use ebay - can you link to something on newegg, amazon, or another US online retailer?

 

What is the 6 port one?

[JorgeB]

9 minutes ago, Econaut said:

can you link to something on newegg, amazon, or another US online retailer?

Sorry, I'm not in the US.

 

9 minutes ago, Econaut said:

What is the 6 port one?

It's in the link above, Asmedia 1166 based controllers.

[Econaut]

This one uses the ASMedia ASM1166 chip but has a port multiplier... It seems like I have to comb through quite a few things to find compatible hardware. That's why I was hoping someone could just point me to some good hardware.

https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-00EK-00DA6

[JorgeB]

4 minutes ago, Econaut said:

but has a port multiplier.

Where are you seeing that? ASM1166 supports 6 SATA ports, no reason to have an additional port multiplier unless the controller has more than 6 ports.

[Econaut]

6 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Where are you seeing that? ASM1166 supports 6 SATA ports, no reason to have an additional port multiplier unless the controller has more than 6 ports.

 

I could be misunderstanding but going off of what @JonathanM indicated, the description has this:

 

Quote

Chip: ASMedia ASM1166 PCIE X 1 TO SATA 3.0 PCIe X1 to 6 SATA 3.0 ports controller card offers a simple connection between a host computer and SATA 3.0 devices (SATA hard drive or SATA device), which allows 6 SATA devices at the speed up to 6Gb/s. Features Serial SATA 3.0, compatible with SATA 2.0 and SATA 1.0 PCI-Express V 2.0, compatible with PCI-Express V 1.0 Support speed of 6.0G bps, 3.0G bps, and 1.5G bps Compatible with SATA 6G, 3G and 1.5G Hard Drives Support Gen 1i, Gen 1x, Gen 2i, Gen 2m, Gen 2x, and Gen 3i Support 4 SATA 3.0 6Gbps devices Support IDE/AHCI 1.0 mode Support Native Command Queue (NCQ) Port Multiplier FIS-based and Command-based switching supported Support Hot Plug and Hot Swap PCI-Express X1, can be used on PCIe X2 X4 X8 X16 slots Support Windows XP/Server 2003/Vista/7/8/10(32/64 bit)/Linux
Package includes: 1 X PCIe X1 to 6 SATA 3.0 ports controller card 1 X Drivers CD 1x low profile bracket

 

Edited August 20, 2021 by Econaut

[Econaut]

This one looks good but isn't specifically whitelisted for UNRAID as far as I can tell: https://www.newegg.com/riitop-pcex1ts-6p-sata-iii/p/14G-001D-00008

 

SATA Expansion Card 6Port, RIITOP PCI-e x1 to SATA Hard Drive Controller Card Adapter, Come with Low Profile Bracket (JMB575+ASM1062 Chipset)

[JorgeB]

48 minutes ago, Econaut said:

Support Native Command Queue (NCQ) Port Multiplier FIS-based and Command-based switching

This just means it supports port multipliers, they can be external.

 

43 minutes ago, Econaut said:

(JMB575+ASM1062 Chipset)

This one includes a port multiplier and should not be used.

 

[Econaut]

Hah, no kidding - how can you tell?

What about either of the products in the first post? I thought they both were port multiplied but now I have no idea how to tell.

[JorgeB]

9 minutes ago, Econaut said:

how can you tell?

First the ASM1062 is a two port controller, so if there are more than two ports it has to have multiple chips or port multipliers, second the JMB575 is a port multiplier.

[Econaut]

@JorgeB So to be clear this one will be fine? https://www.newegg.com/p/17Z-00EK-00DA6

 

PCI-E x1 to 6 Ports SATA3.0 Adapter Expansion Card PCIe SATA Controller for HDD Support 10T 12T Above ASMedia ASM1166 Miner Card With 2U High and Low Profile Bracket

 

Does it matter that it's labeled as a miner card? Is the max hard drive size it support 10T or 12T (rather ambiguous there)

 

[JorgeB]

17 minutes ago, Econaut said:

So to be clear this one will be fine?

Should be.

 

18 minutes ago, Econaut said:

Does it matter that it's labeled as a miner card?

No.

 

18 minutes ago, Econaut said:

Is the max hard drive size it support 10T or 12T (rather ambiguous there)

It will support any current size available now and in the near feature.

[JorgeB]

Also note that that one is PCIe x1, they also exist with PCIe x2, x1 can be a bottleneck with 6 disks.

[Econaut]

8 minutes ago, JorgeB said:

Also note that that one is PCIe x1, they also exist with PCIe x2, x1 can be a bottleneck with 6 disks.

 

Jeeze, this stuff is so finicky. I wanted the x1 so I wouldn't have to use one of the three PCIe x16 slots but how much is x1 going to bottleneck?

 

I would just be using standard 5400 or 7200RPM spinning disk drives.

[JorgeB]

33 minutes ago, Econaut said:

how much is x1 going to bottleneck?

You can see the numbers for the x2 model below:

https://forums.unraid.net/topic/41340-satasas-controllers-tested-real-world-max-throughput-during-parity-check/

Divide by 2 to get the x1 version usable bandwidth.

[Econaut]

So with 6 port configurations, it would be roughly 150-175 MB/s on a 1x lane? That seems like a reasonable max for a HDD. Certainly not for an SSD but do spinning disks ever need more than that amount of bandwidth?

 

[JorgeB]

150MB/s max with 6 disks, depends on the disks used, fast discs can do >200MB/s on the outer sectors, but 150MB/s is still a good speed, and more than enough if you have gigabit.

[Econaut]

I do only have gigabit LAN but internally perhaps it would be bottlnecked.

 

Found this one instead which shouldn't be bottlnecked: https://www.newegg.com/p/2WG-00UP-007H3

[JorgeB]

Yep, the last one is x2.