Ableconn PEXM2-130 Dual PCIe NVMe - ASMedia ASM2824 Chipset

[RegularJoe]

Has anyone tried this with FreeNAS on a system that does NOT support bifurcation or one that is older and PCIe 2.0? Also has anyone used Optane NVME's with this card?

Robot Check

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Chris Moore]

on a system that does NOT support bifurcation

The product description says that it doesn't need bifurcation support.

Has anyone tried this with FreeNAS

What are you thinking to use it for?
Depending on what you are thinking to do with it, there may be a better option that someone has already tried.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

@RegularJoe What board are you using? I know several supermicro boards DO support port bifurcation despite not being mentioned anywhere in the manual. It may be worth reaching out to the manufacturer to be sure. The benefit of using port bifurcation is that the adapter card would be cheaper. It also places fewer components between your board and drives.

Sorry to not answer your question directly; I haven't used that card so I cannot answer your questions about it.

 

[RegularJoe]

I know some latency would be added but I would want to use this on DDR-3 Servers that do no support bifurcation. It is not the best solution I know. I guess if there is an external NVME 1U shelf and SAS/NVME controller we could add to a server that would be just as good, but I am betting that a 1U NVME shelf is going to be more than $175. LOL

This would be used at home for a SLOG and L2Arc.

 

[PhiloEpisteme]

I know some latency would be added but I would want to use this on DDR-3 Servers that do no support bifurcation. It is not the best solution I know. I guess if there is an external NVME 1U shelf and SAS/NVME controller we could add to a server that would be just as good, but I am betting that a 1U NVME shelf is going to be more than $175. LOL

Yeah, I bet you're right. I didn't mean to imply that this was a bad solution; especially if bifurcation really isn't an option. I nearly went this route with my build until I discovered that my board had undocumented support for bifurcation.

 

[RegularJoe]

I will end up buying a 2 port NVME card for testing, they are dirt cheap and I will get some cheap x4 NVME drives. I think all the companies want to scare you into buying the newest kit to just keep moving product. LOL