Confused About Backplanes & Controllers

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JacobRhea

New Member
Feb 1, 2019
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I'm completely lost, what raid controller and cables would I need for the following two systems?

Motherboard: X9DRG-HF
Backplane: BPN-SAS-218A
10x 2.5" Trays

Motherboard: X9DRW-3F
Backplane: BPN-SAS-826A
12x 3.5" Trays

I'm just looking to run Proxmox on both of these and have the drives in raid-z2.
 

JacobRhea

New Member
Feb 1, 2019
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So would a LSI-9211-8i be what I need for the 218a since it has 2x SFF-8087 connections?

If so then I'd need a card with 3x SFF-8087 connectors for the 826A like a LSI 9201-16i?
 

ari2asem

Active Member
Dec 26, 2018
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So would a LSI-9211-8i be what I need for the 218a since it has 2x SFF-8087 connections?
if you use this hba, then you can connect 8 hdd. not 10 hdd

If so then I'd need a card with 3x SFF-8087 connectors for the 826A like a LSI 9201-16i?
hba cards with 3 sff-8087 ports are not so common. they exist (mostly areca brand). most common is 2* sff-8087 or 4* sff-8087
 

JacobRhea

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Feb 1, 2019
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So would a LSI 9201-16i in both of them allow me to use all the drives? The specs on it show 4x SFF-8087 mini sas connectors.
 

JacobRhea

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Feb 1, 2019
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Backplane: BPN-SAS-218A
HBA: LSI-9201-16i
Cable: 2x Mini SAS to Mini SAS (SFF-8087)
1x Mini SAS to SATA Breakout (SFF-8087)

Backplane: BPN-SAS-826A
HBA: LSI-9201-16i
Cable: 3x Mini SAS to Mini SAS (SFF-8087)


Would this be the correct cables needed for each?
 

nthu9280

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Feb 3, 2016
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What type of rear window / motherboard do you have?
If you have riser card setup, you should be fine with the 9200/ 9201 16i. They are full height and both your chassis are 2U

Depending on the OS you are planning to, you may want to look at ASR-71605. Though, they are technically RAID cards, they can be configured as HBA. You will need sff-8643 to sff-8087 and Sff8643- 4xSATA
 

JacobRhea

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Feb 1, 2019
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Depending on the OS you are planning to, you may want to look at
ASR-71605.
I'm going to be running Proxmox with a few Linux & Windows VMs. Would I run into any issues with this card? It's significantly cheaper than the LSI 9201-16i.
 

nthu9280

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I’ll let someone else experienced with proxmox chime in but you should be OK with Linux. Check Adaptec /Microsemi site for the drivers and OS support.
 

ari2asem

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Dec 26, 2018
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adaptec 71605 is better option then lsi. because with adaptec you can also run hardware raid if you need it later, without doing difficult firmware flashing.

all adaptec cards starting with 7 serie's have both hardware raid and hba support built in the official firmware.

adaptec 6th and 5th series have or hardware raid of hba, not the both at the same time in one card
 

Deslok

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Jul 15, 2015
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if you use this hba, then you can connect 8 hdd. not 10 hdd

hba cards with 3 sff-8087 ports are not so common. they exist (mostly areca brand). most common is 2* sff-8087 or 4* sff-8087
The 9211-8i Supports 256 drives not 8 but requires an expander(which neither of those backplanes have) for more than 8 Other backplanes do or SAS expanders are a viable option instead as well.
 

JacobRhea

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Feb 1, 2019
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The 9211-8i Supports 256 drives not 8 but requires an expander(which neither of those backplanes have) for more than 8 Other backplanes do or SAS expanders are a viable option instead as well.
Should I go for 2x Adaptec 71605 or look at changing out the backplanes in both systems?
 

nthu9280

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Feb 3, 2016
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My recommendation would be to go with ASR-71605. SAS expanders or expander back planes are fine for mechanical drives. However, for the sc218 chassis, I’d stay with “A” backplane for future proofing.
 
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ari2asem

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Dec 26, 2018
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right my brother! I just wonder about those 16 port adaptecs i see on eBay going for like 35 bucks. I once had a seller practically beg me to take like 10 for 15 bucks. Im thinking now I should collect a few and sell. They seem abundant on eBay with common prices going for like $40 bucks a pop...
Adaptec - Adaptec - Support

as far as i know adaptec 6th serie doesn't support hba-mode. i mean it is not mentioned by adaptec as HBA. they talk about JBOD. is this the same as HBA-mode?

because JBOD could also be as some kind of hdd drive pooling.

starting from 7th serie adaptec talks specificaly about HBA
 
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ari2asem

Active Member
Dec 26, 2018
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i have 71605e, it has both HBA and hardware raid.
i use this card in hba-mode with snapraid, without any issue under windows 10.
i dont have any experience with adaptec 6th serie
 

Markess

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May 19, 2018
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Adaptec 6 series still had the old JBOD mode as a pseudo-HBA. Series 7 is the first where they were RAID or HBA, with the HBA mode passing through raw disks. The recent significant price drops for Series 7 may be due in part to them falling off the current product listings. Series 8 is the oldest line still listed on the company product pages. That doesn't mean there's no support. You can still find downloads all the way back to Series 3 controllers, and earlier, on the website. I haven't been using my 71605 very long, but I've been very satisfied with it.

My only reasoning is that Adaptec firmware/software writes proprietary code to the disks when creating raid arrays. I could be wrong, but if you need to use another controller later, you are screwed.
But LSI do the same thing! LSI are much more common though, so if you loose an LSI controller, its probably going to be easier finding a replacement if you need one in a hurry.
 
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