Can someone recommend an INTERNAL controller card? 

 

I realize I have other post asking for a recommendation on external cards however I would also like to have some hard drive in the box of the motherboard as well as the hard drive in the external cases. 

 

So I guess I would need a recommendation on an internal SAS card or possibly an SATA expansion card. 

 

Thanks. 

LSI 9211-8i or clones.

What do you think about this one? How do you know if it can support over 2TB hard drives? 

 

 

Thanks. 

 

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

 

LSI MegaRAID Storage Controller
PCI Express Low Profile Interface w/ 3Gb/s Transfer Speed
Controller SAS3081E-R 

Specifications
Model	SAS3081E-R
Internal Port(s)	36 Pin Dual Mini SAS
Host Bus	PCIe x8
Manufacturer	Cisco
Battery Included(YES/NO)	No
Interface	SATA 3GB SAS
Data Transfer Rate	300MBps
RAID Level Supported	RAID 0, JBOD, RAID 1, RAID 10E, RAID 1E
Board Form Factor	Low Profile MD2 Card
Supported Devices	Disk Array, Hard Drive
Channel Quantity	8
OS Required	Microsoft Windows 2000 / XP, Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Novell NetWare, Red Hat Linux 3.0, SuSe Linux, SunSoft Solaris 2.6 - 2.10 Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x64 Edition, VMware ESX 4.1, VMware ESXi 4.1, VMware ESXi 5.0, VMware ESXi 5.1, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 x86 Edition, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 for x86, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 x64 Edition, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 for x86, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 x64 Edition, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 for x86, SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 11 x64 Edition

6 minutes ago, johnnie.black said:

LSI 9211-8i or clones.

 

What do you think about this one? LSI SAS3081E-R 8-port Internal SATA/SAS 3Gb/s RAID Controller Card 

 

Its $10 on ebay. 

 

Thanks. 

Check the wiki, there is a list of controllers known to work with unRAID. (see my sig)

You want a SAS2 LSI or you'll be limited to 2TB disks, that's why it only costs 10$.

Look at the IBM M1015, LSI 9201-8I, LSI 9201-16e. Last one is a huge bargain but requires you to route external cables into the case for internal drives. The internal 16 drive version is much more expensive.

 

The 9201s are pure hba, no raid, and work very well with unRaid. Some others require doing a firmware update that disables the raid functions.

As per above
Dell H310, Dell H200, IBM M1015
All cheap cards from server pulls that work amazingly well with unraid.

Also cheap as chips on eBay/GumTree (I'm an Aussie), Craigslist etc

Some sellers will even preflash them to P20 IT (HBA Only) mode for you if you ask nicely or even for a small fee


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Yep, Dell H310 for me. Just be aware that you may need the sellotape trick. The Dell cards have a non standard pin which can cause problems on some motherboards, so needs a bit of tape over it. Never caused a problem on mine, but it's best to be aware of it to save hours of frustration.

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Here's the link to bookmark if you go that route.

http://yannickdekoeijer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/modding-dell-perc-6-sas-raidcontroller.html?m=1

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I have had stable systems with the Dell H310 Perc flashed to IT mode. Never had to do any of the tap-tricks on my server motherboards, only on the bargain level mini-itx boards.

It's a crapshoot, e.g., it doesn't need to tape mode on a Supermicro X9, it does need it on the X11..

Needs the tape on my Gigabyte h61 board too

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HP Microserver - no tape
ASUS GENE-iV GEN3 - no tape


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Dell PERC H310 flashed to IT mode (no hardware RAID) and working great on my Fujitsu TX100 S2 desktop server with no tape required.

The LSI SAS9201-8i it's a pure hba (no RAID OOTB) and avoids the whole flashing thing. Should be able to find for <$50 on eBay. I have the -16I version and works great. 

 

That's the one I recommend to avoid the risk and hassle of flashing the firmware.