April 21, 201412 yr I couldn't find definitive information on this but is the LSI Logic 9201-16i (LSI00244) fully compatible with unRAID out of the box (i.e. no additional drivers need to be manually installed)? It seems this is the only 16-port SAS/SATA available that I've come across that may be usable with unRAID. Expensive, relative to the "standard" SuperMicro's, but for mobo's with limited on-board SATA/PCIe ports, this is the only viable option to maximize a "Pro" registration.
April 21, 201412 yr The 9201-16i uses the mpt2sas driver which is part of unRAID. Alternatively, others have used SAS expanders from Intel and Chenbro.
April 22, 201412 yr Author Alternatively, others have used SAS expanders from Intel and Chenbro. I have to look into those as I really don't want to spend close to $500 for the LSI which only allows up to 16 drives, whereas a Chenbro CK22803 offers up to 28 drives and can be had for as low as $300 shipped. I am assuming those SAS expanders you mentioned are natively supported by unRAID? EDIT: From my limited research, it seems the SAS expanders require a "source" SAS port to expand, meaning if my mobo only has one PCIe slot, these PCIe-based SAS expanders cannot be used as they do not themselves provide for a "stand alone" SAS port?
April 22, 201412 yr Alternatively, others have used SAS expanders from Intel and Chenbro. I have to look into those as I really don't want to spend close to $500 for the LSI which only allows up to 16 drives, whereas a Chenbro CK22803 offers up to 28 drives and can be had for as low as $300 shipped. I am assuming those SAS expanders you mentioned are natively supported by unRAID? EDIT: From my limited research, it seems the SAS expanders require a "source" SAS port to expand, meaning if my mobo only has one PCIe slot, these PCIe-based SAS expanders cannot be used as they do not themselves provide for a "stand alone" SAS port? Correct the SAS expanders indeed need a "input" SAS port, that then gets expanded. The motherboard I use only has one PCIe slot, and that is the slot I have my M1015 in. However since the expander does nothing but multiply the one port, it requires only power. Meaning it doesn't use the PCIe slot for anything but power. If you only have one slot like me you can put your SAS card in the available slot, then buy a (cheap) separate PCIx 8x power adapter. I use a PCIe 2x to 8x riser, from eBay that I believe was under 10$.
April 22, 201412 yr Author Alternatively, others have used SAS expanders from Intel and Chenbro. I have to look into those as I really don't want to spend close to $500 for the LSI which only allows up to 16 drives, whereas a Chenbro CK22803 offers up to 28 drives and can be had for as low as $300 shipped. I am assuming those SAS expanders you mentioned are natively supported by unRAID? EDIT: From my limited research, it seems the SAS expanders require a "source" SAS port to expand, meaning if my mobo only has one PCIe slot, these PCIe-based SAS expanders cannot be used as they do not themselves provide for a "stand alone" SAS port? Correct the SAS expanders indeed need a "input" SAS port, that then gets expanded. The motherboard I use only has one PCIe slot, and that is the slot I have my M1015 in. However since the expander does nothing but multiply the one port, it requires only power. Meaning it doesn't use the PCIe slot for anything but power. If you only have one slot like me you can put your SAS card in the available slot, then buy a (cheap) separate PCIx 8x power adapter. I use a PCIe 2x to 8x riser, from eBay that I believe was under 10$. Can you provide some links to similar PCIe riser cards to yours? I'm not familiar with them so I'm not sure what to look for and get.
April 22, 201412 yr It looks like the CK22803 has a molex power plug on it that you could use to power it just like my Intel RES2SV240. So you may not need a riser to plug the CK22803 into.
April 22, 201412 yr Author It looks like the CK22803 has a molex power plug on it that you could use to power it just like my Intel RES2SV240. So you may not need a riser to plug the CK22803 into. I found and downloaded the User's Manual and it appears that it's always powered through a Molex connector as from all photos I've seen, the PCI tabs don't even have any traces on them at all. Anywho, I think I'm going to go with the RES2SV240 simply because it's cheaper!
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