RoninTech Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Hi, I'm ready to expand my server now that Unraid supports this SAS-SATA card. Does anyone have any experiences running this card with this or a similar MB? It has: PCI Express x16 1 PCI Express x1 1 PCI Slots 2 Will I be able to run the Supermicro card in the x16 slot (and have it run at its x8 speed)? Also does anyone know of a good place to purchase the Supermicro card and the 2 associated cables (card to SATA drives) that has stock? Canada would be best, closely followed by US. Quote Link to comment
captain_video Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 I just ordered one of the Supermicro cards and here's a cable that is reported to be compatible with it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190337728394&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT There's another thread here that discusses this card with links to similar cables that will also work. I've seen then in either 0.5m or 1m lengths as well as some that have different lengths for each of the four cables. I don't know anything about your mobo so I can't help you there. I'm in the same boat as you because my current mobo has both a PCI-E X16 and a PCI-E X4 slot and I want to add both the Supermicro 8-port card along with an Adaptec 4-port controller to replace my two PCI cards. Quote Link to comment
ohlwiler Posted March 21, 2010 Share Posted March 21, 2010 The card is available for $88.99 shipped at eWiz: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=5724.0 I purchased two cables SFF8087OCF-05 (half meter) for $28.48 shipped from Buy.com. Quote Link to comment
RoninTech Posted March 21, 2010 Author Share Posted March 21, 2010 I just ordered one of the Supermicro cards and here's a cable that is reported to be compatible with it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190337728394&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT There's another thread here that discusses this card with links to similar cables that will also work. I've seen then in either 0.5m or 1m lengths as well as some that have different lengths for each of the four cables. I don't know anything about your mobo so I can't help you there. I'm in the same boat as you because my current mobo has both a PCI-E X16 and a PCI-E X4 slot and I want to add both the Supermicro 8-port card along with an Adaptec 4-port controller to replace my two PCI cards. That cable won't work for me, its a reverse breakout. I'm going from the card directly to SATA drives so apparently I need forward breakout. I see eWix also has the cables (forward breakout) fo r$14 so I'll get them there as well. Quote Link to comment
captain_video Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 That cable won't work for me, its a reverse breakout. I'm going from the card directly to SATA drives so apparently I need forward breakout. I see eWix also has the cables (forward breakout) fo r$14 so I'll get them there as well. I am also going from the card to the drives, although I'm connecting to the drives via a SATA backplane. Are you saying that this cable won't work with this controller? I just installed the controller using these cables and the PC and card are not seeing any of the drives that are connected to it. What's the difference between a forward breakout cable and a reverse breakout cable? Quote Link to comment
RoninTech Posted March 24, 2010 Author Share Posted March 24, 2010 I'll be connecting directly from the card to the drives with nothing in between. From reading other threads/posts I'd need a forward breakout cable to do that. Not sure if you need forward or reverse for your scenario but I'm sure one of the experts will pipe up. Quote Link to comment
captain_video Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 I just went back and checked the thread that listed the compatible cables and it does indicate that I need a forward cable. I didn't look closely enough at the part number to realize it had an "R" instead of an "F". I just assumed that as long as the cable had an SFF8087 connector at one end and four SATA connectors at the other I was golden. That's what I get for being in a hurry to order the cables. OTOH, it's a good news, bad news scenario. The bad news is obvious (i.e., I'm out $30 plus shipping for the cables I already ordered). The good news is that there's still a chance that the controller could work in my PCI-E x16 slot with the right cables. I want to use a 4-port Adaptec 1430SA controller in the PCI-E x4 slot so I can take advantage of all 16 drives (which was recently bumped up to 20 drives in unRAID). If it works and I decide to expand to the full 20 drives at a later date then I can replace the Adaptec card with another Supermicro 8-port card and an additional backplane that I can set up external to the PC case. Quote Link to comment
terrastrife Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 theres forward cables on ebay for like $9 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LSI-3Ware-SFF-8087-Mini-SAS-to-4-SATA-Discrete-Cable_W0QQitemZ250592994373QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a5881a445 Quote Link to comment
RoninTech Posted March 24, 2010 Author Share Posted March 24, 2010 theres forward cables on ebay for like $9 http://cgi.ebay.com.au/LSI-3Ware-SFF-8087-Mini-SAS-to-4-SATA-Discrete-Cable_W0QQitemZ250592994373QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a5881a445 Hi Terrastrife, How do you tell its a forward cable? I don't see it mentioned anywhere in the ebay item. Quote Link to comment
captain_video Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 Neither did I. It looks just like the "R" cables I bought. The referenced listing is from the Australian ebay site. Quote Link to comment
terrastrife Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 it says mini sas to 4sata (not 4sata to mini sas). if its not, then you can go ape shit on the ebay seller for fraud the compatible hardware list lists raid cards with mini sas connectors too. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.