I'm specifically looking for an SAS2 Expander for SnapRAID right now - but the plan is in the future to reuse the same hardware under FreeNAS ZFS in the future so i'm asking here, since it sounds like anything under linux should work fine for snapRAID anyway. I'm hoping if it has BSD support it also has linux support and if I understand Expanders it shouldn't even matter on the software/OS at all.
I am looking for SAS2 Expanders - I looked through the Buying Guides here, and they talk about good HBA's and such, but I didn't see a mention of what Expanders to use. I dont mind Expanders which require PCI or PCIe slots for power, or even slaving some old motherboard to provide power for it if needed as long as the per-port cost is substantially lower. (and prefer the more available PCIe x1 by now of course, or/and wonder if one of those bitcoin risers x1 to x16 could be used for cards that seem to want to sit in an x4 or x8 slot - I assumed there was the same power feed to all cards regardless of lanes afterall) Of course something that stands alone is more flexible/not needing a motherboard to power it.
I don't need full hot swap chassis with built in cordless backplane whatever - i'm fine connecting cables in existing cases for now. Just need the Expander which will let me hook up drives in ATX cases and i'm happy.
I see on ebay 24 port SAS expanders as low as $50 - it's not clear if they are SAS1 or SAS2 but I assume SAS1, though some claim 6gbps speed - so i'm not sure if that's the only thing to search for as a term. I don't know whether there are any concern with brands - should an HP or Dell SAS Expander work perfectly fine in anything else? (my assumption is they need no drivers so should) Any to avoid/known problems? Any widely known as reliable?
I am looking for SAS2 Expanders - I looked through the Buying Guides here, and they talk about good HBA's and such, but I didn't see a mention of what Expanders to use. I dont mind Expanders which require PCI or PCIe slots for power, or even slaving some old motherboard to provide power for it if needed as long as the per-port cost is substantially lower. (and prefer the more available PCIe x1 by now of course, or/and wonder if one of those bitcoin risers x1 to x16 could be used for cards that seem to want to sit in an x4 or x8 slot - I assumed there was the same power feed to all cards regardless of lanes afterall) Of course something that stands alone is more flexible/not needing a motherboard to power it.
I don't need full hot swap chassis with built in cordless backplane whatever - i'm fine connecting cables in existing cases for now. Just need the Expander which will let me hook up drives in ATX cases and i'm happy.
I see on ebay 24 port SAS expanders as low as $50 - it's not clear if they are SAS1 or SAS2 but I assume SAS1, though some claim 6gbps speed - so i'm not sure if that's the only thing to search for as a term. I don't know whether there are any concern with brands - should an HP or Dell SAS Expander work perfectly fine in anything else? (my assumption is they need no drivers so should) Any to avoid/known problems? Any widely known as reliable?