Ableconn PEXM2-122 Dual M.2 SATA SSD Controller PCI Express Card Adapter?

[hawihoney]

Will such a PCIe/M.2 adapter for two M.2 SSDs work in an unRAID box? Here's a link to such an adapter:

 

Amazon

 

Some details of my machines. I do own two identical original LimeTech builds. They did receive some upgrades recently:

 

MB : Supermicro X10SL7-F
     ==> 1x PCIe 3.0 x8 slot (in x16)
     ==> 1x PCIe 2.0 x4 slot (in x8)

     ==> 2x SATA 3.0 6Gb/s (INTEL PCH)
     ==> 4x SATA 2.0 3Gb/s (INTEL PCH)
     ==> 8x SATA 3.0 6Gb/s (LSI 2308 based)

CPU: 1x Intel® Core™ i3-4130T CPU @ 2.90GHz

RAM: 1x DDR3 8GB (1x 8192MB) Kingston ValueRAM DDR3-1600 ECC DIMM CL11

PSU: 1x 760 Watt Corsair AX Series Modular 80+ Platinum

HBA: 1x LSI-9300-8i (PCIe 3.0 x8 in x16)
     ==> 8x SATA 3.0 6Gb/s (LSI 3008 based)

HBA: 1x Adaptec 1430SA (PCIe 2.0 x4 in x8)
     ==> 4x SATA 2.0 3Gb/s (Marvell 88SX7042 based)

Total:
=====
==>  8x SATA 2.0 3Gb/s
==> 18x SATA 3.0 6Gb/s
20x Drives in use (out of 26). Mostly WD 60EFRX 6TB, Toshiba X300 6TB and some old 3TB Seagates)

My idea is to swap out the Adaptec 1430SA that sits in the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot (minus 4x SATA 2.0 3Gb/s) and add the PCIe/M.2 adapter in that slot instead (adding 2x M.2 SSDs). That would give me 24 drives in total.

 

The motherboard has only two PCIe slots (one PCIe 3.0 x8, one PCIe 2.0 x4. Changes are very limited here.

 

I would like to ask the community:

1.) Will this work with unRAID?
2.) Any experience out there (what PCIe/M.2 adapter will work, what M.2 SSDs will work with such an adapter)
3.) What about TRIM? Will a PCIe adapter allow that?
4.) I#m not that good in maths. What would two M.2 SSDs in a PCIe 2.0 x4 bring. I think they must be faster than the four Adaptec 1430 SA SATA ports. But I'm not sure ...
5.) Alternatives?

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Any help and ideas are highly appreciated.

 

Greetings from Germany.

 

 

*** EDIT*** On a picture I found a tag that says, that this adapter supports 6Gb/s SATA SSDs only. So I can't have the 2GB/s experience - just the 3Gb/s experience. Argh!

Edited March 12, 2018 by hawihoney

[JorgeB]

24 minutes ago, hawihoney said:

1.) Will this work with unRAID?

It should work, but note that it will only accept SATA M.2 devices, not PCIe NMVe.

 

25 minutes ago, hawihoney said:

3.) What about TRIM? Will a PCIe adapter allow that?

Should work without issues, it's based on an Asmedia chip.

 

[hawihoney]

Thanks for your answer.

 

Yes, saw it later. Only max. 6Gb/s SATA SSDs. And that adapter would be placed in the PCIe 2.0 x4 slot. This is not what I wanted. Argh.

 

[scrathe]

@hawihoney did you ever find a suitable dual M.2 adapter? I'm looking for one myself.

[hawihoney]

No.