Intel RES2SV240 24-port SAS2 Expander Wiki

[odditory]

The Intel RES2SV240 24-port SAS2 Expander Card is based on the LSISAS2x24 expander chip. The LSI SAS2 expander chips are arguably the best SAS2 expander chips on the market. They're frequently OEM'd and found on RAID adapters like the Areca 1880i series, Areca expanders, Supermicro backplanes as well as LSI's own offerings.

Official Intel Product Page

Pros:
- MOLEX connector for power, unlike the HP SAS Expander
- Negotiates SATA up to 6G, unlike the HP SAS Expander which maxes at 3G for SATA disks
- Comes with 6 miniSAS cables: 2 x 10" and 4 x 24"
- Can be combined with the Supermicro ATX power control board for an inexpensive JBOD expander chassis
- Can be dual-linked (link aggregated) with RAID/HBA's and additional expanders for increased throughput
- Ideal for a 20-bay chassis like the Norco RPC-4220

Cons:
- 24 ports at around the same ~$250 pricepoint as the 36-port HP SAS Expander
- Not ideal for a fully populated 24-Bay server case since it only has 20 usable ports after an uplink to an RAID/HBA card
- No external SFF-8088 port, which would mean an SFF-8087 to SFF-8088 adapter bracket (~$35) would be required for building an JBOD expander chassis.

Bottom line: Due to its ability to negotiate a 6G link with SATA-III harddisks, the LSISAS2x36 (which the LSISAS2x24 is binned from) *is* the superior SAS2 expander chip compared to the slightly older PMC8005 found on the HP SAS Expander. Unfortunately the 36-port LSISAS2x36 hasn't yet shown up on a dedicated expander PCIe card, its currently only found integrated with other products as mentioned.

 

[Patrick]

Subscribed, I was thinking of buying one of these.

 

[nitrobass24]

My opinion is that other than compatibility reasons such as the Adaptec/HP Expander not working there is no reason to get the Intel, because they are similar in price and have less ports.

Disclaimer: I haven't owned an Intel expander

 

[odditory]

Updated post #1. Next stop is benchmarking the LSIAS2x24 against the PMC8005. I *suspect* the LSI is the beefier chip capable of delivering greater IOPS.

 

[Patrick]

The Intel is also LSI LSISAS2x24 based while the HP is PMC Sierra (think Adaptec 6-series) based.

 

[bookmage]

can this be daisy chained w/another RES2SV240? And this mounts via the PCI bracket? What is the PCI-express slot used for? power? stability? looks?

Can someone link to the Supermicro ATX power board? google comes up with a few different ones. This might be a good replacement for the HP SAS expander in my old 4020.

 

[odditory]

Daisy chaining: yes. It comes with a full height PCI bracket, yes. PCi-express slot is used for power, so you don't have to use molex if you don't want to.

Supermicro ATX power board is CSE-PTJBOD-CB1, I think they have a CSE-PTJBOD-CB2 now but I haven't seen photos of it to know the difference. I use the CSE-PTJBOD-CB1 in one of my spare Norco 4020's + the Intel expander. If I recall I got mine from Provantage, but I see PCConnection and other sites list the CSE-PTJBOD-CB1 in stock.

 

[bookmage]

how does the ATX power board work? connects to the RES2 via cable? or does card plug into it? Since orbitmicro has my backplane on backorder... I might just pick this up and sell the hp sas expander... or keep the hp as a spare thingy for future build...

And what does this ATX pwoer board do? Just allow you to connect your case power button to it? power the card via pcie slot? attach some fans? what's the benefit over the molex?

 

[odditory]

Looks like an Intel expander can't be mixed on the same Areca 1880i card with an HP expander. Unfortunately thats a deal breaker since I need two expanders per 1880i card in my servers. Haven't tested whether 1880i plays nice with two Intel expanders, but I know 1880i works with two HP expanders.

 

[DJ_Datte]

Finally, the card I've been waiting for has been released.

http://www.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=187

the LSI SAS2 36 port chipset, with both two external connectors.

Now, to find somewhere to buy it

 

[zicoz]

Say I have one of these INTEL cards in a Norco 4220 JBOD chassis, how would I connect it to the main chassis? From what I can see it only has 6 internal SAS connectors, and 0 external. Would I have to pull cables from insode my main chassis to the inside of the JBOD chassis?

 

[XZed]

- MOLEX connector for power, unlike the HP SAS Expander
- Negotiates SATA up to 6G, unlike the HP SAS Expander which maxes at 3G for SATA disks
- Comes with 6 miniSAS cables: 2 x 10" and 4 x 24"
- Can be combined with the Supermicro ATX power control board for an inexpensive JBOD expander chassis

So nice !

My opinion is that other than compatibility reasons such as the Adaptec/HP Expander not working there is no reason to get the Intel.

Can you detail this (incompatibility) point ? Indeed, i was so disappointed when searching for a compatible SAS expander for my PERC6 card, that i fear to buy one.

By the way, even with this one, Intel doesn't talk too much about compatibility.

So, for any expander, there's no solution apart buying and testing it :/ ?

Looks like an Intel expander can't be mixed on the same Areca 1880i card with an HP expander. Unfortunately thats a deal breaker since I need two expanders per 1880i card in my servers. Haven't tested whether 1880i plays nice with two Intel expanders, but I know 1880i works with two HP expanders.

As saif previously :/

Finally, the card I've been waiting for has been released.

http://www.chenbro.com/corporatesite/products_detail.php?sku=187

the LSI SAS2 36 port chipset, with both two external connectors.

Now, to find somewhere to buy it

Waiting for your results !

 

[odditory]

Say I have one of these INTEL cards in a Norco 4220 JBOD chassis, how would I connect it to the main chassis? From what I can see it only has 6 internal SAS connectors, and 0 external. Would I have to pull cables from insode my main chassis to the inside of the JBOD chassis?

You could ghetto rig by pulling an SFF-8087 cable between cases through empty PCI slots, but then you have to open up cases just to move them around - really impractical if cases are rackmounted. Shielding is superior on SFF-8088 cables for runs between cases - thats what they were made for - so best practice would be an SFF-8087 to SFF-8088 PCI bracket and SFF-8088 cable. Pc-Pitstop.com or ebay for those. Or, wait for the Chenbro 23601, since by the time you've purchased the PCI converter bracket for the Intel, you may be closer in price to the Chenbro anyway.

 

[zicoz]

Thank you, I guess I'll hold back on my buy untill the Chenbro pops up in stores then.

edit:

Just thought of something, could I then use those PCI-brackets in my server chassis? So instead of having 5 Chenbro expanders like I drew here:



I'd keep one Chenbro in the server that supplies the harddrives in that chassis, and then replace the rest with PCI brackets which are connected to HBAs inside the server and Chenbro cards in other chassis?

I guess I could just use HBA cards with 2 external 8087 ports, but I haven't found any of those. The closest thing I've found is one with 1 internal and 1 external.

 

[fadewise]

Has anyone mounted one of the Intel cards via standoffs in a Norco 4224 rather than using an expansion slot? Is there a good spot for it?

 

[nitrobass24]

Looking to try one of these out...anyone have one they wanna get rid of?

 

[ugn]

Does anyone know if this expander can be used with a Adaptec 5805?

 

[New]

Hi everyone! i'm new to raid technologies and i want to know if someone can help me to clarify a few doubts about this board.

Whats the difference between use "Intel RES2SV240 WITH Intel RAID Controller RS2BL080, RS2BL04" or the 24 ports "Intel RS2SG244 PCI-Express 2.0 x8 SATA". I'm planning to buy a few rackmount cases of 20 and 24 HD storage, but i really dont know the difference in the raid boards.

Thanks!

 

[ALpHaMoNk]

anyone have luck with this expander and Areca 1680? cuz I'm not

 

[Patrick]

Mu Areca 1680LP died so I can't test with it :-/