Which controller card?

[siamsquare]

Yo,

 

I'm currently building a Unraid server but still waiting for my Norco case which will be delivered next week.

I have a Supermicro X9SCM-F board, Intel E-1230 and 8gigs of ram. I also purchased a Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 which is sata-3. I know I will need more controller cards and I was reading about the LSI flashed cards which are cheaper. I can obtain 2 IBM Serveraid M1015 LSI controller cards which ar also sata-3 but only need to be flashed.

Do these cards work as good as the ones from Supermicro...should I buy these or stick to Supermicro?

 

Gr33tz

[gtaylor]

I am in exactly the same position as Siamsquare. I'll need to make a decision within the next few days so I can add more drives to my array.

 

Reading through the posts on the board I am leaning toward the M1015. There are issues with both the SAS2LP and M1015 depending on which beta version of unRAID you run. Beta 12 had issues with the SASLP-MV8 while Beta 13 has issues with the M1015. My main concern with the M1015 is how fickle it can be to update the firmware. However this is mitigated by the fact I can purchase the M1015 with the IT firmware installed.

 

I plan to purchase 3 cards so I can run up to 24 drives in the array. I can purchase the M1015 for $127.00, the SASLP-MV8 for $155.00 or the SAS2LP-MV8 for $195.00 (includes delivery).

 

Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

 

 

[gtaylor]

I've finally decided to get the M1015. The deciding factors were cost and the ability to have the cards flashed to the IT firmware by the vendor. There are a number of users now with the M1015/X9SCM combination so I'm confident that this will be supported by unRAID going forward.