am i the only one that hates 12gbps megaraid cards?

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chune

Member
Oct 28, 2013
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23
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I have had nothing but problems with lsagroadcom 12gbps megaraid cards. Corrupt firmware (x3), heatsink mounting pins snapping and overheating, and inability to import foreign configs. All I am using them for is a simple raid1 120gb SSD boot array for esxi. I relied on the LSI VIB in the past to tell me if I had a failed drive in esxi. Now my old reliable 6gbps cards are no longer supported by esxi for monitoring array status via LSI VIB. I need a new raid1 card that has a VIB for array health monitoring that is supported by esxi 8.0 that doesn't suck. Any recommendations?
 

rtech

Active Member
Jun 2, 2021
304
108
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I know about Adaptec brand. AFAIK they dont need to be flashed to operate in IR mode.
 

rtech

Active Member
Jun 2, 2021
304
108
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Are there any other companies that make SAS cards?
With exception of Microsemi(adaptec) and LSI/Broadcom
 

i386

Well-Known Member
Mar 18, 2016
4,245
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Germany
There are, but they use either broadcom or Microchip chips

Happy Adaptec User since 2010 Here :D
 

DarkServant

Member
Apr 5, 2022
53
53
18
I have had nothing but problems with lsagroadcom 12gbps megaraid cards. Corrupt firmware (x3), heatsink mounting pins snapping and overheating

Are these original LSI/Avago/Broadcom cards or some 3rd party ones?
I've seen it's hard to get an original used 9300-8i these days...
About this plastic Push-Pin problem, it's fairly common. If you can get brass ones which fit (size, "spring-pressure"), then the problem will be a thing of the past. Or try to use screws&nuts very carefully, and use some sort of an nylon washer to prevent frying something.

It's very annoying that the manufacturers don't put really big heatsinks on these cards and use brass push-pins or steel mounting hardware, there are also workstation users who hate 10k+ rpm fans and want (semi)passive cooling.
 

chune

Member
Oct 28, 2013
119
23
18
Are these original LSI/Avago/Broadcom cards or some 3rd party ones?
I've seen it's hard to get an original used 9300-8i these days...
About this plastic Push-Pin problem, it's fairly common. If you can get brass ones which fit (size, "spring-pressure"), then the problem will be a thing of the past. Or try to use screws&nuts very carefully, and use some sort of an nylon washer to prevent frying something.

It's very annoying that the manufacturers don't put really big heatsinks on these cards and use brass push-pins or steel mounting hardware, there are also workstation users who hate 10k+ rpm fans and want (semi)passive cooling.
Oh wow, brass ones would be great! Do you have a source for these or are you pillaging them from other cards?
 

chune

Member
Oct 28, 2013
119
23
18
9341? 9361? what are you killing off?
9361s OE LSI for the most part. I think I have one that was IBM branded and ironically that’s the only one that still works. I don’t care about speed so I would be totally happy to stick with old school 6gbps stuff but the VIB thing is the sticking point. Seems like I am just generating tons of heat for 12gbps speeds I don’t use.
 

DarkServant

Member
Apr 5, 2022
53
53
18
Oh wow, brass ones would be great! Do you have a source for these or are you pillaging them from other cards?
Oh, i think i do mostly the latter one... but there sure are options, problem would be the small quantities (Digikey...).
Some info about mounting Hardware: QATS Heatsinks
People already made a 3D-Printing-Model of an 40mm fan-holder for the 9300-8i/9311-8i nad others (DC-Axial-Fan Holders).


9361s OE LSI for the most part. I think I have one that was IBM branded and ironically that’s the only one that still works. I don’t care about speed so I would be totally happy to stick with old school 6gbps stuff but the VIB thing is the sticking point. Seems like I am just generating tons of heat for 12gbps speeds I don’t use.
Whats about the new Generation? Looks like they run cooler (at least the 9500-16i per spec-sheet).
But you want HW-RAID: Broadcom RAID-Controllers 9600-Series
 

ano

Well-Known Member
Nov 7, 2022
654
272
63
we have 0 failures from what is described here, and have hundreds of them

and yes new 9600 series are drasticly better than 9361 etc