Recommendation for non-RAID, JBOD PCIe card supporting 3TB drives

[kurtkurtosis]

I am looking for a non-RAID or JBOD capabable PCIe card that supports 3TB drives for my new SM X9SCM-F.

I have had good experience using a RocketRaid 2720 in RAID-5 for WHS 2011 on a different box but Linux support does not seem very good.

However, I am also interested in experimenting with a wide range of OPs such as WHS 2011 with DriveBender which is my first project right now, and later with Ubuntu server, FreeNAS and Solaris Express 11. Especially ZFS is on my list which is best setup through a single disk drive pool. I am using a SUPERMICRO AOC-SASLP-MV8 card right now but only 2/8 channels are working and I will have to replaced that card and it doesn't support 3TB drives (as I have read, but not tested yet)

Thanks.

 

[Patrick]

Look at the IBM M1015. They are fairly inexpensive and SAS2 based cards.

 

[lippy]

Also see this thread about the AOC-SAS-MV8 and 3T drives:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1324649

 

[kurtkurtosis]

I ordered the M1015 as there seems to be a lot of good documentation out there (this & other sites) on flashing, configuration, and drivers.

In retrospect the SM AOC-USAS2-L8e (JBOD only) card might also be a good choice, although it is full-height which could be a problem once I retire the system to a U2 case.

http://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-USAS2-L8i.cfm?TYP=E
http://opensolaris.org/jive/thread.jspa?threadID=122000

 

[Patrick]

Also see this thread about the AOC-SAS-MV8 and 3T drives:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1324649

Yea 3TB SATA drives at this point should be paired with the 6.0gbps controllers.

 

[nitrobass24]

If you update your mv8 with the latest FW you shouldn't have issues with 3Tb drives.
ftp://ftp.supermicro.com/driver/SAS/Marvell/MV8/SAS2

 

[kurtkurtosis]

Nitrobass24, appreciate the link & advice, but since the SM SATA II card is essentially "toast" with only 2/8 channels actually working, I'd rather expend my efforts & energy on the newer SM SATA III and IBM M1015 cards going forward.

 

[nitrobass24]

Nitrobass24, appreciate the link & advice, but since the SM SATA II card is essentially "toast" with only 2/8 channels

Ahhh missed that part.

Well hopefully it will help someone that has a working card

 

[hatbrox]

according to IBM website, the IBM M1015 is a RAID Card only.
no JBOD mode supported.

so the IBM M1015 is not really a replacement for both mv8 card.

By the way, the mv8 Rev 1 (SAS) also support 3TB HDD assuming correct firmware is installed (see thread referenced earlier)

the MV8 Rev 2 (SAS2) supports the 3TB by default and add SATA III and PCI X8 support.

I also wanted to try drivebender but I finally decided it's not a mature product for my need. However you should consider FlexRaid, there is much less risk for your data.

 

[nilsga]

According to many users both here and over at other communities, the M1015 is well known to support both JBOD, and from what I have read, also can be flashed with "IT"-mode firmware.

 

[dswartz]

Correct, at least one thread on these boards describing exactly how to flash to IT, resulting in an 8-port HBA.

 

[apnar]

Even without cross-flashing the M1015 with it's most current firmware it supports JBOD just fine.

 

[dswartz]

Yes, it works. Some of us are anal and don't want anything unnecessary in the way Well, and also, historically, there have been issues sometimes with JBOD in raid firmware not always being very stable (not pointing fingers at any particular adapter...)