Sata dom or mSata

[avalon60]

After reading the thread on Hardware, down near the bottom of the post, sata dom's are mentioned and how they can be an advantage in the NAS box.

Anyway, I have found this DOM on fleabay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Supermicr...438?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item234cf762b6

Then I found this mSata:
http://www.cclonline.com/product/17...te-Drive-6Gb/s-SATA-III-MLC-Premium-/SSD0135/

As both are under 30GBP, which would be best to use which I would put FreeNAS on to boot from.

 

[Ericloewe]

Something's not right in your sig - there's no way in hell that CPU works with that motherboard.

In any case: The Transcend would require an adapter. The Supermicro one would be neatly integrated on X10 boards, but it's also on the small side.

You might also want to look out for cheap SSDs from reputable brands. Some basic 64GB SanDisks have been hovering around the 30 buck mark. Or just get a crapload of USB drives and mirror them.

 

[avalon60]

This the system information page of my FreeNAS setup:

Build FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201503200528
Platform Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Memory 16331MB
System Time Wed Apr 01 22:46:05 BST 2015
Uptime 10:46PM up 10 days, 1:03, 0 users

Somethings not right if you say that the cpu will not work on the Supermicro board, as it has been working for almost 12 months now.

Anyways , what makes you say that?

 

[marbus90]

You don't have enough SATA ports for that. Don't buy cheap 2/4port SATA controllers. Calculate at least 100 bucks for a M1015, LSI 9211-8i or 9207-8i.

 

[Ericloewe]

This the system information page of my FreeNAS setup:

Build FreeNAS-9.3-STABLE-201503200528
Platform Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3220 CPU @ 3.30GHz
Memory 16331MB
System Time Wed Apr 01 22:46:05 BST 2015
Uptime 10:46PM up 10 days, 1:03, 0 users

Somethings not right if you say that the cpu will not work on the Supermicro board, as it has been working for almost 12 months now.

Anyways , what makes you say that?

Lack of coffee, that's what. I misread that as "G3220", not i3-3220. Damn you, Intel, and your confusing model numbers!

Sorry about that.

 

[avalon60]

Lack of coffee, that's what. I misread that as "G3220", not i3-3220. Damn you, Intel, and your confusing model numbers!

Sorry about that.

Ok, no worries, it does happen, lol

 

[avalon60]

I found this on fleabay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LSI-I...626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f3b0e398a

It says it has 8 ports but I can only see 2 ports, on the front face near the back end, so where are the other six.

I know it is from China, but it is about a 3rd of the price in the UK, so I'm willing to go for it.

 

[Ericloewe]

I found this on fleabay:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LSI-I...626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f3b0e398a

It says it has 8 ports but I can only see 2 ports, on the front face near the back end, so where are the other six.

I know it is from China, but it is about a 3rd of the price in the UK, so I'm willing to go for it.

Each of those connectors has four channels. You can access them directly with a breakout cable.

 

[avalon60]

What do you mean by a breakout cable, is it like a splitter cable of sorts?

 

[Darren Myers]

This is a SAS to SATA break out cable, it allows you to plug in 4 HDDS per SAS connection

 

[avalon60]

Ok, thanks for that.

Just a point I've realized is that as I have 4 WD NAS Red sata drives and 2 WD Green sata drives, I wouldn't get the benefit of the speeds with one of those LSI cards, or would I.

I am also thinking into the future that I may just well get a small SSD drive to boot FreeNAS from, and as I don't have any spare sata ports now.
I have recently put in an el cheapo sata 3 pci card just to give me a couple of spare connections and have another WD purple plugged into it.

I am aware it is probably not ideal, but its a case of using what I have and learning by what I read on here.

Regarding those breakout cables, is the single end fitting compatible with a standard sata port, or are they for specific use with one of those LSI cards.
If it is, I may get one so as to give me some spare sata ports.

 

[Darren Myers]

The SAS to SATA break out cables only work with SAS connections as each SAS cable can handle 4 hdds (without expander). So using the SAS to SATA breakout cables without a SAS port/connection wont do you any good.

If your goal above was to use the SAS to SATA breakout cables to somehow add ports to your Supermicro board that only has SATA it wont work.

 

[jgreco]

The SAS to SATA break out cables only work with SAS connections as each SAS cable can handle 4 hdds (without expander).

You're confused. A SAS cable can only handle one drive. A multilane SAS can handle up to four directly, or many through an expander. There's a SAS primer around here somewhere.

 

[avalon60]

Ok thanks for the clarification.

 

[Darren Myers]

Ok thanks for the clarification.

Now my next question is: what is the connector/interface on this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LSI-I...626?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f3b0e398a

Is it sata or sas connection

Those 2 connections are SAS.

You're confused. A SAS cable can only handle one drive. A multilane SAS can handle up to four directly, or many through an expander. There's a SAS primer around here somewhere.

When you say "multilane SAS" do you mean the card itself, or the cables? All of the SAS cards i have seen are able to have the breakout cables used/ or a expander either one. I know the SAS cables are meant to go into a SAS/SATA backplane or expander backplane to access the drives.

 

[avalon60]

Do the cards mentioned by marbus in post #4 also have sas connections, as the one I linked is sas.

This one says it does:
NEW IBM ServeRaid M1015 46M0861 SAS/SATA PCI-e RAID Controller LSI SAS9220-8i

So I guess I have answered my own question

 

[Darren Myers]

Do the cards mentioned by marbus in post #4 also have sas connections, as the one I linked is sas.

Yea they all have SAS connections, I'm using x4 M1015's cross flashed to P16 (not all in one server)

 

[avalon60]

Ok, so if I got one of the said breakout cables and one of the above cards, that would give what I want, ie more sata ports.

This card:
NEW IBM ServeRaid M1015 46M0861 SAS/SATA PCI-e RAID Controller LSI SAS9220-8i

 

[Darren Myers]

Ok, so if I got one of the said breakout cables and one of the above cards, that would give what I want, ie more sata ports.

Yes one of the above cards with SAS + the breakout cable will give you more SATA ports, if it was me i would throw all the hdds on the M1015 (or other above card) rather then split it between the card and onboard.

 

[avalon60]

Ok, great stuff thanks. That is what I will do.

I'll go for this one then. Would I have to do anything with it, ie flash to whatever, as with the M1015