Hardware recommendations needed for HBA to use more drives!

[captainwtf]

Hey guys,

Here is my current build

Supermicro X10SLL-F board
Intel i5 4570 processor
32gb Kingston ECC memory
Not that it matters too much but 430w EVGA Power supply

all in a Fractal Design Define r5 case


That being said I'm looking to be able to use more than 6 drives in this setup, currently I have 8 3tb drives, board only has 6 ports on it. ( I was using 5 drives for data & 1 for OS before)

I've seen various places show some LSI cards to use but some of those articles are also older, just looking to see if there are any better recommendations now

What I'm looking for is the ability to run 8 3tb hard drives, I want a budget card that isn't a piece of S***

 

[BigDave]

I've seen various places show some LSI cards to use but some of those articles are also older.

What I'm looking for is the ability to run 8 3tb hard drives, I want a budget card that isn't a piece of S***

This post linked below, is an oldie but a goodie, even today...
I run an old IBM 1015 mentioned in this post that's been crossed flashed and updated, it still works just fine.
I also have recently purchased an LSI 9207-8i at retail which is a bit faster (gen 3) but with spinning rust
makes no noticeable difference in performance.
Confused about that LSI card? Join the crowd ...

 

[Ericloewe]

You do realize that your CPU doesn't support ECC, right? Only Celerons, Pentiums, i3s and Xeons do.

As for HBAs, nothing has changed: LSI SAS2008, SAS2308 or SAS3008.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

 

[BigDave]

Supermicro X10 board
Intel i5 4570 processor
32gb Kingston ECC memory

FYI, that i5 cpu is a desktop processor, it's not ECC compatible.

Ninja'd by @Ericloewe

 

[captainwtf]

You do realize that your CPU doesn't support ECC, right? Only Celerons, Pentiums, i3s and Xeons do.

As for HBAs, nothing has changed: LSI SAS2008, SAS2308 or SAS3008.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/hardware-recommendations-guide.12/

Good thing I've got an i3 4130 laying around huh? My build isn't finalized yet. I was doing some hardware testing.

 

[captainwtf]

This post linked below, is an oldie but a goodie, even today...
I run an old IBM 1015 mentioned in this post that's been crossed flashed and updated, it still works just fine.
I also have recently purchased an LSI 9207-8i at retail which is a bit faster (gen 3) but with spinning rust
makes no noticeable difference in performance.
Confused about that LSI card? Join the crowd ...

Yeah I read this article, everywhere I go it seems to be the suggested card to go with between the 9211 and the 1015 crossflashed so maybe that's what I'll go with. Just to confirm those support 3tb and larger drives right?

 

[Chris Moore]

What I'm looking for is the ability to run 8 3tb hard drives, I want a budget card that isn't a piece of S***

If I were looking to buy one, this is what I would get:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6G...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162862201664
It is HP branded but it was made by LSI / Broadcom and it is actually the same model card that I use except mine actually says LSI. Works like a champ and this one is already in IT mode. Easy and great quality.
Then you need two forward breakout cables to go with it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-2-M...-Forward-Breakout-Internal-Cable/371681252206
I use these in two of my servers and they are very nice for SATA drives on a SAS controller.

PS. I actually have two of those, one in each of two servers. I also use this card in some of my servers:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-...0-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162834659601
You won't see any real difference except that this one is PCIe 2.0 instead of PCIe 3.0 and that will only make a difference when you have a really large number of drives connected or if you were using SSDs.

Note: You can get either of the cards for less if you are willing to make the effort to flash the firmware yourself.

 

[Chris Moore]

Here is my current build

By current, you mean you already have this?

Just to confirm those support 3tb and larger drives right?

I have used 6TB drives on mine.

Good thing I've got an i3 4130 laying around huh?

If you decide you want more horsepower to run a Plex media server or some other virtualization, this might be a good option for you:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...-Quad-Core-LGA1150-CPU-Processor/382441768169

 

[captainwtf]

By current, you mean you already have this?

Yes, Current meaning this is all the hardware I currently use. I'll be switching the processor back to the i3-4130 so I have ECC support

I just have to make sure whatever I get plays nice with the X10 board, at one point in time I did purchase an adaptec ASR51245 w/ the newer chip on it that would allow for up to 8tb drives but it did NOT play nice with the mobo.

 

[captainwtf]

If you decide you want more horsepower to run a Plex media server or some other virtualization, this might be a good option for you:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Xeon...-Quad-Core-LGA1150-CPU-Processor/382441768169

I have supermicro 1u server & a Lenovo RD630 chassis that have e5-2620's in them I was planning on just creating a VM on there to handle the torrenting/sonarr/radarr/plex since I don't have alot of CPU horsepower on the storage box.

I already was planning on my ESX host being a home lab where I can do some testing while I'm getting my MCSE, plus I'll probably mess around, deploy a DC, use a network policy server for fun & do whatever the hell else.

 

[Chris Moore]

at one point in time I did purchase an adaptec ASR51245 w/ the newer chip on it that would allow for up to 8tb drives but it did NOT play nice with the mobo.

Adaptec, that is a name I have not heard in a while. I think I still have one of their hardware RAID controllers collecting dust somewhere.
I wouldn't suggest trying them with FreeNAS. There are other options besides the LSI chip cards, but I don't think Adaptec is one.

 

[Chris Moore]

I have supermicro 1u server

Depending on what board is in that 1U server, you might be able to move it to the Fractal Design Define r5 and let it handle the storage and the virtualization. Some of the Supermicro boards are funny shaped but they make plenty that are regular ATX. That is what I run in my server, a Supermicro X9SRL-F system board with an Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2, 2.6GHz 8 Core, LGA 2011 and it does everything I need with room to spare.

 

[Chris Moore]

I already was planning on my ESX host being a home lab where I can do some testing while I'm getting my MCSE, plus I'll probably mess around, deploy a DC, use a network policy server for fun

You might not do all that on FreeNAS. A better hypervisor like ESXi is probably called for. You might want to review this thread by @Stux ... If you have not seen it, he documents the configuration of an all in one server and a lot of the information is just as applicable if you do it using two separate servers, which is what I do.

Build Report: Node 304 + X10SDV-TLN4F [ESXi/FreeNAS AIO]
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...node-304-x10sdv-tln4f-esxi-freenas-aio.57116/

Testing the benefits of SLOG
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/testing-the-benefits-of-slog-using-a-ram-disk.56561

 

[captainwtf]

Depending on what board is in that 1U server, you might be able to move it to the Fractal Design Define r5 and let it handle the storage and the virtualization. Some of the Supermicro boards are funny shaped but they make plenty that are regular ATX. That is what I run in my server, a Supermicro X9SRL-F system board with an Intel Xeon E5-2650 v2, 2.6GHz 8 Core, LGA 2011 and it does everything I need with room to spare.

That was my plan since i have 2 e5-2620's I can throw into a server I'll have plenty of compute power. The only shit thing is both of these chassis are old enough at this point they don't exactly like running 6.5 or 6.7, they get weird about it so to get consistency I've gotta run 5.5 on the supermicro or 6.0 on the lenovo but I have to install some driver packages in vmware to get hardware monitoring support.

The board in the supermicro is a X9DRW and I highly doubt it will fit into my fractal case.