This is a PCIe extender card. Using SFF-8087 connectors does not make it SAS.Its just a SAS Bridge
Most instances of that card I could find its referenced as a SAS expander bridge so :shrug: when it came out the pcie ssd were fairly new and didn't have what has turned into the U.2 distinctionThis is a PCIe extender card. Using SFF-8087 connectors does not make it SAS.
Yup, it's for PCIe based drives. I had the same misunderstanding earlier until I did more research. Very curious about it being used in other systems other than the R720 and R820 it was made for.This is a PCIe extender card. Using SFF-8087 connectors does not make it SAS.
Where did you see that it does x8 only? Everything suggests x4x4x4x4Its just a SAS Bridge it should work in any system, that being said it's also a x8 card so not sure if you get a full x4 pcie lanes per drive (even though it requires a x16 slot from the looks of it).
By using these do you mean the R720s or just the card itself with the whole setup of cables and backplane?The company I used to work for as a software developer was using these in their build servers. But I was not personally involved in any server administration - so just user experience.
I have to admit that the idea of picking up the card for about $20 is slightly tempting. But then I would need to buy the rest of the kit - at very least a set of the original data cables (I vaguely remember reading about failed attempts to use regular SAS cables instead) and the backplane. Then I would need to make a custom power cable for the backplane. All together is going to set me back probably around $120. At that point I might get the cage and the trays as well. It would be still relatively inexpensive for a proper PLX solution but slightly more than I am prepared to throw away in case it would not work.
Also I do not know what PCIe switch the board uses but my understanding is that it is PCIe 2.0. So the x4 throughput is going to be limited at about 1500MB/s (PCIe 2.0 uses 8b/10b encoding, so about 20% overhead).
These are really tempting in that case. Would have to figure out how to fill the 4 empty bays in the Dell cage though.They were using the kits with R820 servers. The servers were purchased with the kits preinstalled. I do not know with 100% certainty whether the board has a PLX on it. That's what I have been told at the time but I have not seen it with my own eyes.
I can't confirm it either, but I do know that everything I've been able to find says that none of Dell's Gen 12 servers support bifurcation. I got one recently, so I'd been looking. But, this looks promising. I hope that if someone tries it, they post the results here.But you do confirm that these cards have PLX on them and I can just stick them into regular PCIe slots?
lspci -d 10b5:8632:0604 -vv | grep LnkCap:
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 5GT/s, Width x16, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <1us, L1 <2us
LnkCap: Port #4, Speed 5GT/s, Width x8, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
LnkCap: Port #5, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
LnkCap: Port #6, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
lspci -d 10b5:8632:0604 -vv | grep LnkCap:
LnkCap: Port #0, Speed 5GT/s, Width x16, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <1us, L1 <2us
LnkCap: Port #4, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
LnkCap: Port #5, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
LnkCap: Port #6, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
LnkCap: Port #7, Speed 5GT/s, Width x4, ASPM L0s L1, Exit Latency L0s <2us, L1 <4us
lspci -t
-[0000:00]-+-00.0
+-01.0-[01-06]----00.0-[02-06]--+-04.0-[03]----00.0
| +-05.0-[04]----00.0
| +-06.0-[05]----00.0
| \-07.0-[06]----00.0
+-19.0
+-1a.0
+-1c.0-[07]--
+-1c.4-[08]----00.0
+-1c.5-[09]----00.0
+-1d.0
+-1e.0-[0a]--
+-1f.0
+-1f.2
\-1f.3
lspci -Dnnd 10b5:8632:604
0000:01:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
0000:02:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
0000:02:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
0000:02:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
0000:02:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
lspci -Dnnd ::108
0000:03:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02)
0000:04:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02)
0000:05:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02)
0000:06:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02)
What is the full hardware setup? Did you need the cage? Do you need bifurcation?I have 4x Intel DC P3520 connected to the YPRNC in a test system (aka bunch of parts piled up on top of my desk). But I need to reclaim that desk space back by Monday. So if anyone got more questions - now is a great time to ask.
Code:lspci -t -[0000:00]-+-00.0 +-01.0-[01-06]----00.0-[02-06]--+-04.0-[03]----00.0 | +-05.0-[04]----00.0 | +-06.0-[05]----00.0 | \-07.0-[06]----00.0 +-19.0 +-1a.0 +-1c.0-[07]-- +-1c.4-[08]----00.0 +-1c.5-[09]----00.0 +-1d.0 +-1e.0-[0a]-- +-1f.0 +-1f.2 \-1f.3
Code:lspci -Dnnd 10b5:8632:604 0000:01:00.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb) 0000:02:04.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb) 0000:02:05.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb) 0000:02:06.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb) 0000:02:07.0 PCI bridge [0604]: PLX Technology, Inc. PEX 8632 32-lane, 12-Port PCI Express Gen 2 (5.0 GT/s) Switch [10b5:8632] (rev bb)
Code:lspci -Dnnd ::108 0000:03:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02) 0000:04:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02) 0000:05:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02) 0000:06:00.0 Non-Volatile memory controller [0108]: Intel Corporation DC P3520 SSD [8086:0a53] (rev 02)