iveoles Posted July 15, 2023 Share Posted July 15, 2023 Hi all, I'm currently running Unraid on an old PC, running 6 x 8TB HDDs in a standard array with 1 parity. I'm new to Unraid, but working in IT for years including Linux and RAID. I'm loving RAID and using Docker for Game Servers (just for friends) and the *arr/plex stack. I'd like to upgrade to some modern hardware and NVMe drives for Docker and Caching. https://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/server-cases/rackmount/2u-chassis/2u-server-case-w-12x-35-hot-swappable-satasas-drive-bays-12g-hd-mini-sas-sc-2312/ I'm looking at the case above to give me room to expand. However I'm not familiar with MiniSAS and the connector types/cards required. The case has "3x HD MiniSAS (SFF-8643) Connectors" for the 12 SATA drives. I'm assuming I need some PCIe cards to connect the drives up. Can someone point in the direction of good hardware and confirm I have the right idea? https://www.amazon.co.uk/IOCrest-SI-PEX40119-SFF-8643-Connector-PCI-Express/dp/B06VSRVJSQ/ref=sr_1_16?crid=2CXGON6WQCPLQ&keywords=Sff8643+card&qid=1689458997&s=computers&sprefix=sff8643+card%2Ccomputers%2C56&sr=1-16 Single port host card SFF-8643. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Expansion-Adapter-SFF-8643-Indicator-Windows/dp/B0B7S6HMC7/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2CXGON6WQCPLQ&keywords=Sff8643+card&qid=1689458997&s=computers&sprefix=sff8643+card%2Ccomputers%2C56&sr=1-5 Expansion card for the extra 2 SFF-8643 connections. From what I've read these are "dumb" cards and do nothing on their own without the controller mentioned above. My hope is that I just plug the 2 cards above into the MB (not decided on MB yet, very open to advice), plug the harddrives into the hot swap, run SFF-8643 cables between the backplane and the cards and voila everything will "just work". Am I on the right track at all? Thanks! Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted July 16, 2023 Share Posted July 16, 2023 Those expansion cards are for connecting U.2 NVMe devices, you need a HBA, like an LSI 9305-16i (or two 9300-8i). Quote Link to comment
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