Questions about SAS controllers

[tfran1990]

After looking at https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?resources/freenas®-quick-hardware-guide.7/ i have a few questions.

For Broadcom / Avago / LSI SAS controllers i see all of the options listed but I'm not sure which one i should go with.Controller cards range in price from 179$ to as low as 65$ depending where you buy them.in this case will the cheapest on work or should I not go that route. On ebay some controllers come already flashed (M1015/M115) to LSI SAS 9211. When I do a some research I see people are flashing LSI 9240,9260 and other model numbers not on the sheet to 9211, will that work? Should I ONLY buy from that list? What is everyone else using? Is there an updated list I should look at? Are there any "hidden gems" out there, as far as low cost but is specifically good for FreeNAS because of some spec?

I'm trying to gather some info on this topic before I buy a controller card.

Any thoughts on ASM 1061 SATA HBA?

 

[nightshade00013]

ASM 1061 SATA HBA

NO.....

As far as controllers it's more important to know the chipset they are using than anything else as to whether or not it can be flashed. Most any SAS 2008 chipset SAS controller can be flashed to function as a 9211 LSI board. I have a supermicro Motherboard with the SAS2008 chipset flashed to the 9211-8i IT mode firmware. The SAS 2008 is getting older but still generally viable for FreeNAS use. However it is a little older and slower than the SAS 3008 chipset and we are not sure if the 2008 will continue supporting the larger and larger drives that are becoming available. If you need something cheap that will work with an expander backplane to add a large number of drives the SAS 2008 is the one to look at.

As far as super cheap boards since the market is continuously changing from day to day you will just have to polish your google fu up and get to searching. However there are counterfeit boards out there so buying direct from china a brand new Avago based on the 3008 for less than a used 2008 based card should be a big red flag. Better yet spend the extra and buy from a place that has a good reputation so you don't end up with something to hang on the wall of shame.

 

[tfran1990]

According to https://www.servethehome.com/lsi-sas-2008-raid-controller-hba-information/ it says Lenovo 67Y1460 is a barely re-branded LSI 9240-8i. So does that mean i can reflash it to a 9011 IT mode? the cables may not be important but for 56$ seems like a steal.

Is there anything important about the numbers on the stickers on the back on the card, Does it need to correspond to a firmware version?

can http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3328096&CatId=509 be used as well

 

[Mike Guilmette]

I just picked up a LSI 9207 (4i4e) for dirt cheap. Ordered forward breakout cables for about 10 bucks. I downloaded the files to flash it to IT mode for my nas. Only problem with the card is that it ONLY comes with a low profile bracket. I grabbed an 8e style one from ebay so I can at least use it but there are tons of the LSI 4i4e cards on ebay.

 

[tfran1990]

I just picked up a LSI 9207 (4i4e) for dirt cheap. Ordered forward breakout cables for about 10 bucks. I downloaded the files to flash it to IT mode for my nas. Only problem with the card is that it ONLY comes with a low profile bracket. I grabbed an 8e style one from ebay so I can at least use it but there are tons of the LSI 4i4e cards on ebay.

did you have any trouble flashing?
does it run hot?
are you running all of your hdd with this card,or do you have some plugged into your mobo sata and attached to this card?

 

[silverback]

One of the other forum members shared this. Chris Moore I believe.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6Gbps-SAS-PCI-E-3-0-HBA-LSI-9207-8i-P20-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/
Seemed like a good value, already flashed.
I bought a couple.

Cheers

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

I just picked up a LSI 9207 (4i4e) for dirt cheap. Ordered forward breakout cables for about 10 bucks. I downloaded the files to flash it to IT mode for my nas. Only problem with the card is that it ONLY comes with a low profile bracket. I grabbed an 8e style one from ebay so I can at least use it but there are tons of the LSI 4i4e cards on ebay.

I don't know if this is true for the ones with external ports, but there are a bunch of places on ebay selling the different height brackets for LSI controllers that don't have external ports. My experience with the 9261, 9266, and 9271 controllers is they all use the same kind of brackets. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Mike Guilmette]

did you have any trouble flashing?
does it run hot?
are you running all of your hdd with this card,or do you have some plugged into your mobo sata and attached to this card?

I haven't had a chance to flash it yet but the plan will be to only attach 4 drives to the card direct. the other 7 drives will be direct sata to mobo and use 1 superdom in one of the sata ports. For this NAS I won't be using any internal expanders. I don't plan on using it in IR mode so I wont have a comparison as far as heat goes but I will try to grab readings when i finally get it going.

I don't know if this is true for the ones with external ports, but there are a bunch of places on ebay selling the different height brackets for LSI controllers that don't have external ports. My experience with the 9261, 9266, and 9271 controllers is they all use the same kind of brackets. Your mileage may vary.

Yea I would prefer a standard height bracket that has essentially 1 cutout for the external port as the LSI00304 that I picked up for $45 is a 4 internal 4 external. I bought a bracket for an 8e style so I will have an extra cutout on the bracket. If I could find someone to do laser cutting for cheap I would pick up a blank bracket and go full custom designed bracket.

Most of this stuff is all new to me so its been a learning experience. I am sure that I will come across an issue when flashing IT mode but it will only help in the future lol.

 

[Mike Guilmette]

One of the other forum members shared this. Chris Moore I believe.
https://m.ebay.com/itm/HP-H220-6Gbps-SAS-PCI-E-3-0-HBA-LSI-9207-8i-P20-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/
Seemed like a good value, already flashed.
I bought a couple.

Cheers

PS that card really is a good deal if anyone is looking for a HBA

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

Most of this stuff is all new to me so its been a learning experience. I am sure that I will come across an issue when flashing IT mode but it will only help in the future lol.

When you get to flashing the controllers, the motherboard of your server may dictate how easy that is. My best advise there is to put FreeDOS on a USB stick, and then put the flash utilities and firmware files on the stick. That works great for most cases. Unfortunately my servers (Cisco UCS C240 M3) didn't like the sas2flsh.exe. I had to use the UEFI version for my system. Here is a link to another forum post that worked perfectly for me using UEFI shell to flash the controller.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-flash-lsi-9211-8i-using-efi-shell.50902/

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

PS that card really is a good deal if anyone is looking for a HBA

I needed an HBA for an external enclosure, and I just picked up 2 9207-8e's for about $30 each. They work great, and that price is great too!

 

[Mike Guilmette]

When you get to flashing the controllers, the motherboard of your server may dictate how easy that is. My best advise there is to put FreeDOS on a USB stick, and then put the flash utilities and firmware files on the stick. That works great for most cases. Unfortunately my servers (Cisco UCS C240 M3) didn't like the sas2flsh.exe. I had to use the UEFI version for my system. Here is a link to another forum post that worked perfectly for me using UEFI shell to flash the controller.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/how-to-flash-lsi-9211-8i-using-efi-shell.50902/

could I toss the card on my main desktop, which is running windows 10, and flash it using that computer? I would assume yes but I want to be sure.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

could I toss the card on my main desktop, which is running windows 10, and flash it using that computer? I would assume yes but I want to be sure.

Sure. It doesn't matter where you flash it.

 

[Mike Guilmette]

Sure. It doesn't matter where you flash it.

Perfect. should be easier that way as the NAS isn't up and running yet

 

[tfran1990]

is it possible to use your onboard sata for some drives and also have drives on a HAB and have all disks apart of the same pool?
kinda seems like it would work, or be a bad idea

EDIT Freenas does not care.

 

[tfran1990]

I have gotten an lsi 9211-i8 flashed to IT fw and working in my freenas.
now want to add another 5 disc vdev or rebuild my pool to include more then 5 disc. i have read alot about the IBM 46M0997 sas expander. Even tho it uses the x16 slot only for power i would like to stay using my full size tower.


my questions are
1 does the expander need to have its FW flashed or is it only the controller that needs IT fw?
2 is there a better option out there to use as far as sas expanders?
3 as far as cost is there a better option then this
4 art of server has this video of him updating the FW, is it done with the sas expander connected to the HBA?
5 if i have my pcie slots running as gen2 would the IBM 46m0097 be gen2 as well?
6 would there be any issues if i skip the expander and use another 9211 or a 9207 HBA?

Anyone is welcome to give advice or correct me if im wrong with any of my assumptions.

Thank you

 

[tfran1990]

Does anyone know if there is a command that tells you the temperature of your HBA?

 

[Ericloewe]

The consensus is that most LSI SAS controllers do not have user-accessible temperature monitoring. I seem to vaguely recall some newer cards supporting that, though.