Advice about NVMe U2 card / backplane

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sergi0

Active Member
Dec 4, 2016
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Hello,

I am a little bit a newbie about SAS U2 card but I am looking for a RAID controller or HBA able to support multiple U2 SSD, at least 4, but 8 will be ideal.

Do you have any advice on such device ?

Cheers,

Serge
 

BlueFox

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Oct 26, 2015
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Broadcom 9460-16i (9560-16i if you want PCIe 4.0) or HighPoint SSD7120 will do what you want, though things get complex when you need more than 4 devices. This is possible on the 9460-16i, however it involves PCIe switches and such.
 

sergi0

Active Member
Dec 4, 2016
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Thanks for the heads up !

I saw those one (I should have look earlier on the site...) : https://www.servethehome.com/4-solutions-tested-add-2-5-sff-nvme-current-system/
I am especially interested in the Intel one as with 2 cards I can drive 8 hdd. By reading the article, I found that it may not be compatible with my systems (either an Asus Z10PA-D8 or a Supermicro X10SDV (one card for this one)).

Does it exists the same kind of cards with a wider compatibility ? I know this kind of solution are going to be a mess of cables compare to a backplane, but I will be able to have a better airflow (the system need to be as silent as possible).

If anyone has a good reference of backplane for at least 4 U2 drives, I will look into it for sure !
 

BlueFox

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Oct 26, 2015
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All the cards listed in the article require PCIe bifurcation support. If your motherboard doesn't, you can get an HBA with a PLX chip that will take care of that for you. They are more expensive however. An example would be the Supermicro SLG3-4E2P.

If you want RAID, then you'll need something like I mentioned in my prior post.

As for backplanes, they're normally chassis specific, so you can't just pick and choose one. There are a few 5.25" to 2.5" hot-swap solutions that might fit your needs if you're putting this in a desktop. Here's an example (be sure to read their FAQ for limitations): MB699VP-B_ToughArmor Series_U.2/M.2 (SATA/PCIE NVME) ENCLOSURES OR KITS_ICY DOCK manufacturer Removable enclosure, Screwless hard drive enclosure, SAS SATA Mobile Rack, DVR Surveillance Recording, Video Audio Editing, SATA portable hard drive enclosure
 

sergi0

Active Member
Dec 4, 2016
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Super clear BlueFox ! I will verify if my motherboard support PCIe bifurcation. I made some research and saw that UEFI BIOS patch are made in some case, but I haven't spent enough time yet on this subject.
The Supermicro you reference is not that expensive, I found it around 150usd.It can only drive 4 drives, but I can easily use 2 of them, with some airflow on top and have 8 disks. A mess of cables, but 8 disks... ;).
 

UhClem

just another Bozo on the bus
Jun 26, 2012
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Use the STH "Search" function, and look for AOC-SLG3-8E2P . [8 drives from one PCIe g3 x16 slot]

And "Search" for AOC-SLG3-4 for other (4 drive) variants.