Jase Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) Hi there, I'm running UNRAID on a SuperMicro X9DAi which is in a 8 bay 4RU Chasis, and I would like to connect to a external SuperMicro 846E1-R900B chasis which has X9DRL-3F motherboard. I would like to expand my storage using the '846E1' chasis but am unsure how to go about this. I have a LSI 9260-16i SAS card which is available for use but I'm unsure on what type of cards I would need on the server side and the DAS side to connect them so that UNRAID can see the external chassis/server as an external RAID or JBOD's. So far I have come up with Mini SAS SFF-8088 to SAS 36Pin SFF-8087 PCBA Female Adapter with PCI Bracket, SFF-8088 Male to SFF-8087 cable and a LSI SAS9207-8E controller on Amazon. As a total newbie, could someone be so kind to guide me in the right direction? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYTC4ZG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3TUR5JBYCEPNE&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081NFSZQB/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=AZFQ7KDEB50S6&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0085FT292/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1W5DB6SEGZDOQ&psc=1 Many thanks, Jase Edited January 22, 2020 by Jase Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 10 hours ago, Jase said: I would need on the server side and the DAS side to connect them so that UNRAID can see the external chassis/server as an external RAID or JBOD's. Depends mostly on the backplane on the 846E1-R900B chassis, what model is it? Quote Link to comment
Jase Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) Hi Johnnie, The backplane is a BPN-SAS2-846EL. Thank you. Edited January 23, 2020 by Jase Incorrect name Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 OK, that one has a builtin expander, so you just need to connect the HBA on the main server directly to the backplane on the other box, one or two cables for single/dual link, since it's a SAS -> SAS connection cables can be up to 10meters long, but use as small as possible. Quote Link to comment
Jase Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Thank you! That was a lot simpler than I thought. So I don't need the motherboard. Thank you. Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 3 minutes ago, Jase said: So I don't need the motherboard. No, you just need to have something powering up the PSU, you can use a clip or if you like Supermicro makes a little board for that purpose, the one on top: Quote Link to comment
hawihoney Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) The name of a powerboard is "CSE-PTJBOD-CB2". It works perfect with "BPN-SAS2-846EL" backplanes. There's a newer powerboard "CB3" but I don't have any experience with it. Edited January 23, 2020 by hawihoney Quote Link to comment
Jase Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Excellent! I can't thank you enough for your help. Quote Link to comment
hawihoney Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Here's a picture of that powerboard in a Supermicro SC846E16 JBOD case connected to a BPN-SAS2-EL1 backplane. It's the last picture: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/78165-how-many-tbs-is-your-unraid-server/?do=findComment&comment=797795 Quote Link to comment
Jase Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 (edited) I just realised that my LSI 9260-16i SAS card may not work in IT mode. Can you recommend a good HBA card for BPN-SAS2-846EL1 (24 drives) and also for the 8 drives I have in my local server? I notice in another post that the LSI 9305-16i might be the way to go but it's expensive. It would be nice to only use one slot. With two slots maybe this one 9207-8i? Edited January 23, 2020 by Jase Quote Link to comment
JorgeB Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 Any LSI with a SAS2008/2308/3008/3408 chipset in IT mode, e.g., 9201-8i, 9211-8i, 9207-8i, 9300-8i, 9400-8i, etc and clones, like the Dell H200/H310 and IBM M1015, these latter ones need to be crossflashed. There are also similar models with external ports if needed, e.g. 9200-8e, 9207-4i4e, etc Quote Link to comment
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