Hello,
I'm currently trying to build a homelab server. It will rely on a Proxmox Host, which will host at least 2 VM's, one for storage in a Truenas Scale and a couple of other smaller VM's which won't always be running. As hardware I have a Asrock X470D4U with a Ryzen 5700X and 2x16 GB DDR4 with ECC. I might switch the Truenas Scale to Unraid if i'm not happy with Truenas. For now i have 3x4TB HGST enterprise mechanical HDD's and 4x1TB Kioxia SATA SSD's. I plan on upgrading these last ones to 960GB/1.92 SAS enterrpise grade with SAS3 12GBps drives.
I want an HBA to pass through my HDD's and SSD's through Proxmox to Truenas Scale.
I'm from Europe, (eastern Europe, so I have to deal with shipping issues sometimes because sellers don't trust that part of Europe) so i'm not blessed with such a big choice of second hand cards and prices seem to be a little higher usually then what I see in the US on ebay. Please take this into consideration.
I plan on passing an LSI HBA card through PCI Passthrough directly to the Truenas Scale instance.
In the last month i've been trying to find a good model to look for but right now I end up finding only problems with various models of the original LSI / Avago / Broadcom.
First of all, as far as i've understood from Reddit / other forum posts are these things true?
1. Do DELL made SASxxxx based controllers restrict the firmware updates to only work when using Dell hardware?
2. Do HP made SAS HBA's only work properly on HP Hardware?
3. Is cross-flashing so problematic/difficult, should i limit myself to a specific set of models?
4. Should i limit myself to only original LSI / Avago / Broadcom branded cards? I have seen a lot of Inspur-branded or Chinese offerings, i suppose I should avoid these, right?
Using this great list https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...and-hba-complete-listing-plus-oem-models.599/ and considering my somewhat limited budget would i run into any configuration / compatibility issues when using one of the below?
A. LSI SAS 9207 / 9208 / 9217 in IT mode: Does it support Trim properly without compatibility issues? What about older controllers based on the SAS2108 or SAS2208 chipset? Should I be worries about the total bandwidth available (since these controllers only support SAS2 / 6Gbps) since the SSD's will mostly be used for caching (L2ARC, SLOG) and only more recent data will be stored there before being archived to the HDD's?
B. LSI SAS 9300 / 9310 / 9311 in IT mode: Do these controllers really get as hot as redditors are complaining? It will all be setup in a Rack with proper airflow but since i'll have this rack in my 2 room apartment i've tried to get more silent fans (arctic / noctua / sunon)?
I'm not sure i will be able to find a card already in IT mode so I will do the flashing myself, hopefully without bricking it.
Should I look into other options without jumping to high in my budget (right my upper limit is about 150Eur incl. shipping)?
TL/DR:
Looking hardware reccomandation for an HBA card for system with both mechanical HDD and SSD's with Proxmox and Truenas Scale in VM
Should i buy LSI / Broadcom / Avago branded controllers or from Dell/HP/other vendors? Options limited to second hand and available in Europe.
SAS3008 or SAS2308?
Thank you in advance for your time and sorry for the long post.
I'm currently trying to build a homelab server. It will rely on a Proxmox Host, which will host at least 2 VM's, one for storage in a Truenas Scale and a couple of other smaller VM's which won't always be running. As hardware I have a Asrock X470D4U with a Ryzen 5700X and 2x16 GB DDR4 with ECC. I might switch the Truenas Scale to Unraid if i'm not happy with Truenas. For now i have 3x4TB HGST enterprise mechanical HDD's and 4x1TB Kioxia SATA SSD's. I plan on upgrading these last ones to 960GB/1.92 SAS enterrpise grade with SAS3 12GBps drives.
I want an HBA to pass through my HDD's and SSD's through Proxmox to Truenas Scale.
I'm from Europe, (eastern Europe, so I have to deal with shipping issues sometimes because sellers don't trust that part of Europe) so i'm not blessed with such a big choice of second hand cards and prices seem to be a little higher usually then what I see in the US on ebay. Please take this into consideration.
I plan on passing an LSI HBA card through PCI Passthrough directly to the Truenas Scale instance.
In the last month i've been trying to find a good model to look for but right now I end up finding only problems with various models of the original LSI / Avago / Broadcom.
First of all, as far as i've understood from Reddit / other forum posts are these things true?
1. Do DELL made SASxxxx based controllers restrict the firmware updates to only work when using Dell hardware?
2. Do HP made SAS HBA's only work properly on HP Hardware?
3. Is cross-flashing so problematic/difficult, should i limit myself to a specific set of models?
4. Should i limit myself to only original LSI / Avago / Broadcom branded cards? I have seen a lot of Inspur-branded or Chinese offerings, i suppose I should avoid these, right?
Using this great list https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...and-hba-complete-listing-plus-oem-models.599/ and considering my somewhat limited budget would i run into any configuration / compatibility issues when using one of the below?
A. LSI SAS 9207 / 9208 / 9217 in IT mode: Does it support Trim properly without compatibility issues? What about older controllers based on the SAS2108 or SAS2208 chipset? Should I be worries about the total bandwidth available (since these controllers only support SAS2 / 6Gbps) since the SSD's will mostly be used for caching (L2ARC, SLOG) and only more recent data will be stored there before being archived to the HDD's?
B. LSI SAS 9300 / 9310 / 9311 in IT mode: Do these controllers really get as hot as redditors are complaining? It will all be setup in a Rack with proper airflow but since i'll have this rack in my 2 room apartment i've tried to get more silent fans (arctic / noctua / sunon)?
I'm not sure i will be able to find a card already in IT mode so I will do the flashing myself, hopefully without bricking it.
Should I look into other options without jumping to high in my budget (right my upper limit is about 150Eur incl. shipping)?
TL/DR:
Looking hardware reccomandation for an HBA card for system with both mechanical HDD and SSD's with Proxmox and Truenas Scale in VM
Should i buy LSI / Broadcom / Avago branded controllers or from Dell/HP/other vendors? Options limited to second hand and available in Europe.
SAS3008 or SAS2308?
Thank you in advance for your time and sorry for the long post.
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