August 17, 20178 yr Need to add a couple more ports so I can add more storage. Does anyone know if unRAID will have any issues with this card? https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/StarTech.com-2-Port-SATA-6-Gbps-PCI-Express-SATA-Controller-Card/2089335.aspx?cm_cat=GoogleBase&cm_ite=2089335&cm_pla=NA-NA-STP_IN&cm_ven=acquirgy&ef_id=WNLOmAAAAFX6viBn:20170817182743:s&gclid=CjwKCAjw_dTMBRBHEiwApIzn_OcOYNK-QH2Y1lcN7YQf2I3j8JDQUkOPyv_pgvEBcHUyOMb_MAPVYhoCba8QAvD_BwE&s_kwcid=AL!4223!3!198550684953!!!g!76731700905 Edited August 17, 20178 yr by ducknut4life
August 17, 20178 yr Not familiar with that card, but I know this one works under unRAID, or did for me anyway. https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Controller-Non-Raid-SI-PEX40064/dp/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502994985&sr=8-1&keywords=io+crest
August 18, 20178 yr 8 hours ago, ashman70 said: Not familiar with that card, but I know this one works under unRAID, or did for me anyway. https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Controller-Non-Raid-SI-PEX40064/dp/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502994985&sr=8-1&keywords=io+crest This one just packed it in for me so I was browsing what others recommended as a good card. I purchased it in Feb and now all the drives attached to it are giving me errors. Debating what to replace it with.
August 18, 20178 yr That is too bad, must of been a faulty card. I have used several of them without issues. Did you try replacing any of the SATA cables?
August 18, 20178 yr Community Expert I didn't happen to notice that the card that @ashman70recommanded has a Marvell controller chip set on it. Marvell has a recently had a record of a mixed results by various folks here. Some have not had problems with it and others find that it throws errors. You can read about some of that here: I also seem to recall that someone had determined that some of these errors only occurred with specific makes and models hard drives. As a result, many folks are avoiding Marvell based cards entirely and using the LSI based controller cards purchased used from one of many sources on e-bay. (New LSI based ones are very expensive!) These have few potential disadvantages: (1) they have to be flashed with the IT firmware (they can be purchased this way but a bit of premium). (2) there are very few 4-port cards. They are usually 8 port cards. (3) They cost a bit more but you can usually get the eight ports version for less than $100 pre-flashed with the IT firmware. (I got mine pre-flashed for $89 to my door. If you use e-bay, just review the seller's ratings and use a bit of caution if the deal seems too good to be true.)
August 18, 20178 yr I was going to suggest they skip that card because it was a Marvel but I thought I would let someone else say it first. I buy LSI 9201 cards - mine are the -16i but they come in -8i as well. There is no flashing involved you can just plug them in and unRAID will use them and the disks attached with no problems just like the SAS2LP cards but without the Marvel difficulties. BUT you have to be careful when ordering on eBay as there are counterfeit cards out there. That is why I stick to used server pulls from a US seller rather than take a chance on a counterfeit from China. You might get lucky with one from China as they can't ALL be bad. But I choose to go used for that reason. I like my 9201-16i's because I can use fewer cards and increase my port count then using the -8i version - lets me use my PCIe slots for other devices that way. Edited August 18, 20178 yr by BobPhoenix
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