Extension PCI-express card

[nikkon]

Hello all,

As one of my 5 raidz1 drives failed, i decided to extend the entire stack of drives from 2 TB to 4 TB each, and get the additional one too.
The problem i face now is that my mobo doesn't have an additional sata3 port and I was thinking to extend it via PCI-express.
Now the question to you : Can I present sata drives throught PCI Express? I am not sure this works.
I was thinking to buy this card - https://www.raidsonic.de/products/accessories/ac_controller/index_en.php?we_objectID=3602#properties
as i can also add 2x m.2 drives as cache or Jail.

or should I only go with something like this: https://www.amazon.nl/QNINE-Control...ta&qid=1591620484&sprefix=pci+,aps,182&sr=8-1

Thank you

 

[Yorick]

You will use a SAS HBA with a SAS-to-SATA breakout cable. Check resources, or start here: https://www.ixsystems.com/community/resources/whats-all-the-noise-about-hbas-and-why-can't-i-use-a-raid-controller.139/

These can be had for 30-35 USD on eBay, for example as the IBM M1015. Do read the guide on flashing, here: https://www.ixsystems.com/community...-lsi-9211-9300-9305-9311-hba-and-variants.54/

Edit:
> As one of my 5 raidz1 drives failed, i decided to extend the entire stack of drives from 2 TB to 4 TB each, and get the additional one too.

You want to create a 6-wide raidz1? Or what is "the additional one"? Two notes:
- This is quite risky. Make sure your backups are excellent, chances of a 6-wide raidz1 w/ 4TB drives failing are non-trivial. 6-wide raidz2 fares much better.
- You are talking about destroying your existing pool, creating a new pool, then restoring data from backup. raidz expansion - adding a drive to an existing raidz - is not a feature ZFS implements at present.


That first card does not give you an additional SATA port, by the way, from what I can see it uses one of your ports; and the second card you list is just not a great idea, these cheap SATA jobs give you nothing but trouble. That's why the recommendation to go with the "tried and true" approach: SAS HBA with a SAS-to-SATA breakout cable.

 

[nikkon]

thanks for answering @Yorick
It really helps - now i have a new set of options to brainstorm on :)

I intend not to destroy the pool, but change disks one by one until the last 5th one. The idea of having an HBA is to manage the 6th disk wich can serve for the transitioning to raidz2 if this is posible.

 

[Samuel Tai]

It's not possible to convert RAIDZ1 to RAIDZ2. You have to destroy your RAIDZ1 pool and recreate it as a RAIDZ2 pool.

 

[subhuman]

However, if you get a HBA, that should give you enough ports to leave the current pool where it is, create a new pool with the new drives connected to the HBA and then follow the directions here: https://www.ixsystems.com/community/threads/howto-migrate-data-from-one-pool-to-a-bigger-pool.40519/

 

[nikkon]

thats a good option indeed. thank you

 

[nikkon]

I just found an interesting comparison between a few HBA's Comparing HBA IT mode SAS controllers | 2020 Edition