(posted on wrong subforum...sorry)

 

My first unraid build was very inexpensive and used a budget AMD AM3+ MSI mobo. Have a 16 bay Rosewill case. I have outgrown it and the cobbled system I put together I think leads to it's instability.  I would like to reuse the existing parts I have currently, the mobo, CPU, RAM, and PSU (850w).

 

I purchased the Norco RPC-4224 case.

 

Will purchase http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816117207.  (Anyone know if this is compatible with unraid?)

 

I can use the 24-port controller for the data drives, then the mobo SATA ports for the cache and parity drives (using the OS drive brackets for the Norco)

 

Am I on the right track here?

That card is an SAS expander card.  You still need a SAS controller card for it to work.  Beyond that, it is compatible with unRaid so long as your controller card is compatible with it.

I am not seeing a port for a raid controller to plug into...I see a molex for power.

There's a number of people running those boards here (I am not one) who can help you with the cabling.  Basically, you take either 1 or 2 SAS cables from your HBA, plug it into the expander, and you will then have 4 or 5 SAS ports (each controlling 4 drives) coming from the expander.  I've read the manual and its not the greatest on the actual cable configuration.

 

Or you could just use multiple SAS cards (you can pretty much get 2 Supermicro AOC-SAS2LP-MV8) for the same price as the expander if you have the PCIe ports available.

 

The molex cable is used if you elect to not plug the expander into a PCIe slot)

Ok...I am seeing that now.

 

I have one SUPERMICRO AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 PCI-Express 2.0 x8 SATA / SAS 8-Port Controller Card now. So essentially, I would need to configure it like this then:

 

SM Card SAS Port 0-3 -------> Intel Expander Port 0-3

 

Then this?

 

SM Card SAS Port 4-7 ------> Norco SAS Backplane

Intel Expander SAS Ports 4-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23 -------> Norco SAS Backplane

 

Or, like you said...get a mobo that has 3 PCI-Express slots for 2 more AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 cards...which based on my current compatible parts I would want to reuse would be this mobo, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577

 

I just don't know which way would work best...

SM Card SAS Port 0-3 -------> Intel Expander Port 0-3

 

Then this?

 

SM Card SAS Port 4-7 ------> Norco SAS Backplane

Intel Expander SAS Ports 4-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-19, 20-23 -------> Norco SAS Backplane

I believe thats right - but as I said, I don't have one.

Or, like you said...get a mobo that has 3 PCI-Express slots for 2 more AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 cards...which based on my current compatible parts I would want to reuse would be this mobo, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157577

 

I just don't know which way would work best...

The downside of using an expander is that all of those expander ports are using the bandwidth from the number of HBA ports you're attaching to it, so fully populated your parity check speed may suffer.

 

Also, you're going to want to confirm that that AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 is compatible with the expander prior to purchase

Too much uncertainty I suppose. The safer route would be to get a new mobo and 2 more AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 cards I guess, which like you said, would help with with parity check speed.

 

Thanks for your help!

BTW, have you seen this? The same Intel RES2SV240 expander for $72 shipped.

 

http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=38333.0