Major overhaul - Advice sought

[WannabeMKII]

Hi,

 

At the moment, I have UNRAID running on an N54L and it's working fine. However, I also have a Xeon based Dell PowerEdge server that's running Plex and a few other bits. So I'm therefore thinking of moving everything to the Dell, rather than running two machines.

 

I understand that should be pretty straightforward for UNRAID as it recognises the HDD's by their serial number? So just a case of moving the USB stick and all the current HDD's over?

 

However, I do need additional SATA ports for an extra couple of HDD's than the mobo currently supports, hence needing advice.

 

I just want something really straightforward that I can literally plug and play that'll support up to 4 additional drives.

 

What's recommended?

 

Thanks.

[pyrater]

If you have PCIe slots, i would just use a cheap sata card like this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  (i use this one in my small server)

  Might need a riser cable if your server isnt 4U like:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W9HG8DB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

[WannabeMKII]

9 minutes ago, pyrater said:

If you have PCIe slots, i would just use a cheap sata card like this:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZ9T3OU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1  (i use this one in my small server)

  Might need a riser cable if your server isnt 4U like:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06W9HG8DB/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

 

 

I'm in the UK, so hoping this is our equivalent? - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Syba-Port-SATA-6Gbps-PCI-Express/dp/B01464550K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518716756&sr=8-2&keywords=IO%2BCrest%2BSATA&th=1

 

Also, here's the inside of the Dell, so hoping it'll go into the bottom slot?

[pyrater]

looks like it should work just fine  =) however i would get this one:

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Syba-Marvell-HyperDuo-Support-Brackets/dp/B00AZ9T264/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1518881947&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=SYBA+SI-PEX40057+PCI-Express+2.0+x2+Low+Profile+SATA+III+(6.0+Gb%2Fs)+4-port+RAID+Card

 

As i know it works and used it in a friends build.  

 

 

[JonathanM]

linux doesn't always play nice with marvell chipset controllers, best to do some research before you spend money. LSI chipset controllers are better supported.

[SSD]

22 minutes ago, jonathanm said:

linux doesn't always play nice with marvell chipset controllers, best to do some research before you spend money. LSI chipset controllers are better supported.

 

I'll be more direct. DO NOT buy a controller based on the Marvell chipset for use with unRAID.

 

May appear to work, but there have just been too many disks that get dropped offline because of these controllers, especially with VMs.

 

For about $50 you can get an LSI 9201-8i, which give 8 internal ports with no flashing. There are a plethora of similar controllers (e.g., LSI 9211-8i, Dell H310, IBM M1015) that can be flashed into IT mode that are equally good. But don't get a Marvell card.

[BobPhoenix]

I agree with other posters.  I have a Marvel 9230 based MB controller (like a link above has) and it would always drop drives.  It would take anywhere from less than a day to 3 weeks.  I was using it as a local controller to a VM at the time so it never caused me problems in unRAID - so I was lucky.

[WannabeMKII]

Oh, I bought that Marvell based controller and I've just finished setting it all up...

 

However, I've set an alert on eBay UK for a LSI 9201-8i , so will keep an eye on them and the Marvell that's running now.

 

Thanks for the comments though all!