Intel® RAID Expander RES2SV240 Question

[mjk79]

Guys,

I've been using 3x M1015 IBM cards in IT mode for a long time in my Freenas system, at lately looked into adding some sas expanders.

I gave these a try, but have had nothing but problems with them.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-ServeR...ID/142620883440?hash=item2134ddf9f0:rk:4:pf:0

I'm currently looking at the Intel® RAID Expander RES2SV240 card as a replacement, but I'm confused as to how this card is cabled. The above card requires an input from a controller card, so i had to use my M1015 cards with it, however if I'm reading the documentation right, it looks like this card will just add ports without a controller card being connected? If anyone is using this card, please let me know if this is right, or what the correct way to cable this card is.
https://ark.intel.com/products/49596/Intel-RAID-Expander-RES2SV240

Looking at the user guide, it looks like port 0 can be used as an input, but I can't tell if that's required, or if it's just needed if you're using a raid controller.
https://www.intel.com/content/dam/s...boards/server/sb/e93121003_res2sv240_hwug.pdf

Any input from people who use this card would be appreciated!

 

[boynep]

Think of the RES2SV240 similar to a networking switch. You would need atleast 1 connection from HBA to the expander and rest can be used to connect to your HDD's.

 

[mjk79]

Think of the RES2SV240 similar to a networking switch. You would need atleast 1 connection from HBA to the expander and rest can be used to connect to your HDD's.

Cool thank you.

 

[Johnnie Black]

You can use any port (or any 2 ports) as inputs and the others as outputs.

 

[mjk79]

You can use any port (or any 2 ports) as inputs and the others as outputs.

Are 2 input ports required or is there a disadvantage to only using one input port?

 

[Johnnie Black]

Are 2 input ports required or is there a disadvantage to only using one input port?

You can use only one, two doubles the available bandwidth, from 2400MB/s to 4800MB/s with SAS2/SATA3 devices.