July 17, 20178 yr I am looking for recommendations on a new unraid build. I currently have unraid running on a Z77-D3H My current issue is I have run out of SATA slots. I have an old PCI SATA controller hooked up to allow my 7th drive - but i foresee needing to add an 8th in the future (possibly 9th if i want dual parity) and the current SATA card will just be a bottleneck. I currently have my PCIe slot occupied by a Intel network controller - the onboard Realtek is not supported. And while I realise i can probably move things around and get a new SATA card - I have never done this before, and to be honest, as i have never flashed a card would prefer to get something that just works so i can trust my data is safe. Does anyone have any recommendations on a Motherboard with a lot of SATA ports - preferably minimising what i would need to repurchase - DDR3 etc but at the end of the day part of me feels like if i throw some more power at the server i can play with some more dockers
July 17, 20178 yr If the issue is merely the number of SATA ports, the LSI SAS9201-8i HBA is a good option. Typically available for less then $50 on eBay, this card requires no flashing. Just plug in and go. Some exciting things are happening right now on the hardware front. AMD's Ryzen platform which offers more cores at much lower price than Intel is being stabilised in Linux and unRaid. I believe soon it will be a viable option, but right now it is not mature enough. I'd suggest the sata controller for now, and maybe look at a new server in 6 months if the current one does not have the features you need and want.
July 17, 20178 yr Motherboards with lots of SATA ports (over 8 ) exist but are rare - Supermicro comes to mind. That may not be the best approach, though. Which CPU do you have? You could update to something newer but Sandy Bridge/Ivy Bridge is still a perfectly good platform. You could easily put the network card in the 2nd PCIex x16 slot (will run at x4) and put an HBA like bjp999 suggests in the first, full x16 slot. I'd recommend getting comfortable with an add-in SATA controller. You would move it from one system to the next, and wouldn't limit yourself the rare motherboard that supports a lot of SATA ports.
July 18, 20178 yr Author 19 hours ago, bjp999 said: If the issue is merely the number of SATA ports, the LSI SAS9201-8i HBA is a good option. Typically available for less then $50 on eBay, this card requires no flashing. Just plug in and go. Some exciting things are happening right now on the hardware front. AMD's Ryzen platform which offers more cores at much lower price than Intel is being stabilised in Linux and unRaid. I believe soon it will be a viable option, but right now it is not mature enough. I'd suggest the sata controller for now, and maybe look at a new server in 6 months if the current one does not have the features you need and want. I have had a look but I haven't managed to find any LSI SAS9201-8i HBA. This is the closest I could find https://www.newegg.com/global/au/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118112 which I assume is not plug and play - and a bit more expensive. EDIT: Should have noted - couldn't find any In AUS sorry, could import from china. just hate doing that but it might be the only option Edited July 18, 20178 yr by kingy444
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