Hello, Unraiders.  I'm building my first Unraid server and would consider myself very new to this space.  

 

How do you all test your HBA SAS controller cards?  

 

I have some of the basic PC components available including a chassis supporting 8+ HDDs.  What I haven't bought are storage devices, an Unraid license, and a SAS HBA (likely just a IT mode Dell PERC H310 flashed by ArtOfServer). 

 

I's unlikely that I'll have 8 storage devices anytime soon.  But, I want to ensure that all 8 SATA connections are fully functional.

 

 

 

5 hours ago, dmiles34 said:

Hello, Unraiders.  I'm building my first Unraid server and would consider myself very new to this space.  

 

How do you all test your HBA SAS controller cards?  

 

I's unlikely that I'll have 8 storage devices anytime soon.  But, I want to ensure that all 8 SATA connections are fully functional.

Welcome!

 

Assuming that you're purchasing new components...

Are you sure that you will need to have an HBA in your system?

There are readily available motherboards featuring 8 SATA ports on-board.

 

11 minutes ago, Lolight said:

Welcome!

 

Assuming that you're purchasing new components...

Are you sure that you will need to have an HBA in your system?

There are readily available motherboards featuring 8 SATA ports on-board.

 

 

Thanks.  I'm grateful for everyone's insight.  

 

I should have mentioned that I'm using an old system that only has 4 SATA ports. I haven't acquired an Unraid license, the HBA SAS controller, or any planned HDDs.  I'm hoping that some decent sales will be coming up this holiday season.  But I'm worried about getting thrown in the deep end all at once and on the clock to test everything out during the busy holiday season before return periods expire.  

 

I'm wondering if I should just get the HBA card now and if it can be sufficiently tested with what I have on hand.  

 

 

4 minutes ago, dmiles34 said:

I'm wondering if I should just get the HBA card now and if it can be sufficiently tested with what I have on hand. 

Just be aware that HBA's have downsides, especially in the view of power efficiency.

A good SATA expansion card could be another, maybe better option.

 

 

14 minutes ago, dmiles34 said:

I should have mentioned that I'm using an old system that only has 4 SATA ports.

What amount of data do you plan to have in the system?

4 x 20TB HDDs with a parity will provide 60TB of usable space.

1 hour ago, Lolight said:

Just be aware that HBA's have downsides, especially in the view of power efficiency.

A good SATA expansion card could be another, maybe better option.

 

 

 

The motherboard only has one PCIE 3.0 x16 slot.  The rest are PCIE 2.0 x1.  I was pursuing the HBA card since it's tried and true with the maximum capacity.  But if there are other PCIE SATA controllers that work on PCIE 2.0x1, then I'm happy to reduce power consumption going with the ASM1166 option.  

 

With either option, are there ever any "gotchas" where the maximum stated SATA ports aren't available?  Perhaps there's some obscure limitation on a motherboard I haven't read about?  

 

1 hour ago, Lolight said:

What amount of data do you plan to have in the system?

4 x 20TB HDDs with a parity will provide 60TB of usable space.

 

Looking forward, I'm hoping for the maximum possible at the lowest $/TB.  In the immediate term I'm just eyeing four or more refurbished enterprise HDDs in the $8-9/TB range.  I saw some Western Digital Recertified Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB in that price range recently.  But I'd like to have the extra headroom to add more down the line.

Edited October 6, 20232 yr by dmiles34

2 hours ago, dmiles34 said:

With either option, are there ever any "gotchas" where the maximum stated SATA ports aren't available?  Perhaps there's some obscure limitation on a motherboard I haven't read about? 

Some motherboards disable specific on-board SATA port(s) in certain scenarios - have to consult the mobo's manual.

 

2 hours ago, dmiles34 said:

In the immediate term I'm just eyeing four or more refurbished enterprise HDDs in the $8-9/TB range.  I saw some Western Digital Recertified Ultrastar DC HC530 14TB in that price range recently.  But I'd like to have the extra headroom to add more down the line.

I'd say 14-16TB is the most cost-effective range at the moment.

The storage space provided by bigger HDDs might even eliminate your need for extra SATA ports for a long while.

And by then you might decide to move to better, newer hardware anyways.

It all depends on your particular situation.

 

It's generally recommended to start with the biggest HDDs you can afford at the moment.

Each additional HDD consumes electricity and becomes another potential point of failure.

16 hours ago, Lolight said:

Each additional HDD consumes electricity and becomes another potential point of failure.

Is there any general guidance on minimizing power?  I'm talking about UEFI settings, different firmware versions of PCIE cards, HDDs, etc. 

 

I've read here that some ASM1166 cards consume ~4W.  Do all of cards with the same Asmedia chips consume the same amount of power?  And do all HBAs consume more power (edit: per SATA port) than any Asmedia based card?  

Edited October 6, 20232 yr by dmiles34

Going from a LSI 9400-8i to a 10 port sata pcie card reduced power usage about 15W on my server.

7 hours ago, dmiles34 said:

Is there any general guidance on minimizing power?  I'm talking about UEFI settings, different firmware versions of PCIE cards, HDDs, etc. 

 

I've read here that some ASM1166 cards consume ~4W.  Do all of cards with the same Asmedia chips consume the same amount of power?  And do all HBAs consume more power (edit: per SATA port) than any Asmedia based card?  

In general

 

All HBAs consume more power than ASMedia or JMB582/585 cards.

HBAs have been shown to always interfere with the CPU's idle power saving features (C-States).

 

HDDs:

 

sleep - 0.5W

idle - 5W

max data transfer - 10W

initial spin up - up to 30W

 

There is a huge thread discussing ways to minimize power consumption:

 

 

You might also want to check this German-language forum:

 

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/threads/die-sparsamsten-systeme-30w-idle.1007101/page-96

Edited October 7, 20232 yr by Lolight

Is it possible to replace a HBA with one of these wunderwaffen SATA PCI cards, i.e. will Unraid notice the change of interface and throw a fit? If it's not an issue, any recommendations?

 

Currently, I have a LSI SAS 9201-16i, with 10 drives & 2 parity. Other drives are connected to SATA ports on the MB. My case is maxed out, so I am forced to buy expensive large capacity drives to expand storage. This is my opinion introduces more chance of failure. 7 of my drives are now 18TB, the rest are 12TB. I am intending building an (nearly) offsite backup box with the old 12TB drives, this will be in a 4U 24 bay chassis.

 

Eventually I want to also move my main server to one of those ALiexpress 24 bay 4U cases (I can expand capacity with more low capacity drives cheaper than cramming the box with expensive high capacity / high risk of failure drives), so moving from HBA might be a moot point.

 

Any thoughts / advice on this?

7 hours ago, CasaP said:

with one of these wunderwaffen SATA PCI

Not sure what wunderwaffen means, but as long as RAID controllers are not involved, you can just reconnect the devices to a different controller and Unraid will pick them up. 

Looking to get an HL15 for my next chassis and need to figure out the best way to add HDD for my novice setup. My motherboard is a MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk with a 12th Gen Intel i5. I'm not sure if I should be getting a HBA card or some sort of PCIe to Sata expander. Right now this is what I'm eyeing up on amazon...

 

1.) PCIe x1 to 12-Port SATA3.0 Expansion Card,6Gbps SATA Adapter for SSD/HDD, Plug and Play with 12 Status LEDs, Compatible with Windows/Linux/Ubuntu/ESXi/Synology NAS

2.) PCIe Sata Expansion Card M.2 to SATA3.0 Adapter Card, 6Gbps High Speed Sata Expansion Card, ASM1166 M.2 PCIE to SATA Expansion Card with Smart Indicator, M.2 Sata Adapter

3.) LSI Logic Controller Card 05-25600-00 9300-16i 16Port 12Gb/s SAS x8 PCI-Express 3 Full Height Brown Box

 

Which option do you recommend I pick or just tell me while all these options are wrong. I'm mainly looking for low power consumption and being able to connect all 15 hard drive slots on the HL15. Speed is 3rd. 

1st one is not a good option. 

The 9300-16i is cheap, but its main chip can only handle 8 devices, so there is two on the card, making it use a lot of power, about 27w, and heat. If possible get a 9305 (didn't look for the 16i version, but the 24i uses only 16w), a 9400-16i uses about 12w, and a 9500-16i uses 9w. The 9600 is a new design for sas 4, so that uses about 17w for the 16i.