Drivepool/Scanner and external enclosures.

[fleggett1]

Does DP/Scanner work with practically any external enclosure, particularly as it relates to SMART reporting?  I suspect my aging Norco is in its twilight and I'm probably going to have to redo the entire system in the next month or so.  I have 10 drives with the intent of getting more when prices are more favorable, but ran into the issue of finding a case that has the room along with an associated PSU with enough power leads (I don't want to resort to one of those cables with five power connectors that could cause a house fire).

To that end, I was eyeing this cute little beast:

https://sabrent.com/products/ds-uctb

(The 10-bay version.)

Should this work will full pooling and reporting functionality?  If not, does anyone have any suggestions for an alternative that's NOT a rackmount chassis?

Thanks in advance!

[Christopher (Drashna)]

There isn't a good answer here.  It's complicated, at best, and it is very hit or miss.  

And with USB, it is very much dependant on the chips being used.  ALso, if it's put into a RAID array, then SMART won't be accessible by StableBit Scanner. But should be accessible by StableBit DrivePool, in either case.

[fleggett1]

Ugh, you're killing me, man, just killing me.  I really had my heart set on that thing.

SUPPOSEDLY, the enclosure presents drives to Windows as if they were directly connected to an HBA and/or the motherboard itself.  I don't think it even requires additional drivers.  I don't know what sort of demon sacrifices it's performing in order to do that over a simple USB cable, but if it's true, you'd still have doubts?

I won't be using it in a (software) RAID configuration.  JBoD is the most my arthritic brain can handle.  RAID is like forcing me to use a third pedal in my automatic car.

[muaddib]

Quote

On 1/10/2023 at 8:14 PM, fleggett1 said:

Ugh, you're killing me, man, just killing me.  I really had my heart set on that thing.

SUPPOSEDLY, the enclosure presents drives to Windows as if they were directly connected to an HBA and/or the motherboard itself.  I don't think it even requires additional drivers.  I don't know what sort of demon sacrifices it's performing in order to do that over a simple USB cable, but if it's true, you'd still have doubts?

I won't be using it in a (software) RAID configuration.  JBoD is the most my arthritic brain can handle.  RAID is like forcing me to use a third pedal in my automatic car.

 

Did you set this up? I am having all kinds of issues with my Sonnet Tempo Sata PCIe card. I just upgraded to Windows Server 2022 and it is only seeing 2 of my 10 drives, 1 from each 5 bay tower. I need a replacement solution asap.

[fleggett1]

No, I'm still a way aways from getting the Sabrent (if I get it at all).  Your situation sounds really different, though.  You're running a Sonnet what?  Are you using an external enclosure of some sort?

[muaddib]

26 minutes ago, fleggett1 said:

No, I'm still a way aways from getting the Sabrent (if I get it at all).  Your situation sounds really different, though.  You're running a Sonnet what?  Are you using an external enclosure of some sort?

Yes I am running 2 Mobius 5 Bay Enclosures connected to the Tempo Sata Pro 6Gb 4-port, port multiplier. It worked great on my old Windows Server 2016 but I recall I had to jump through some hoops to get it working but I can't remember the steps. It is not working at all on my Windows Server 2022. It is very frustrating because my Server 2016 backup is corrupted, so I am all in on Server 2022.

[fleggett1]

Oooohhhh, you're talking about a card with eSATA ports.  Unfortunately, that's something way above my pay grade, as I've never fiddled with eSATA stuff.  Maybe Chris might know something.  Perhaps try using whatever driver Server 2022 pulls down for it instead of the Tempo driver?

[muaddib]

I jus

8 hours ago, fleggett1 said:

Oooohhhh, you're talking about a card with eSATA ports.  Unfortunately, that's something way above my pay grade, as I've never fiddled with eSATA stuff.  Maybe Chris might know something.  Perhaps try using whatever driver Server 2022 pulls down for it instead of the Tempo driver?

Server 2022 doesn't even see it and mark it as unknown. 

I just ordered: StarTech.com 2 Port SATA 6 Gbps PCI Express eSATA Controller Card - Storage Controller - 2 Channel - eSATA 6Gb/s - 6 Gbit/s - PCIe - PEXESAT32

and StarTech.com PCIe USB 3.1 Card - 2x USB C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) - PCIe Gen 3 x4 - ASM3142 Chipset - USB Type C PCI Express Card (PEXUSB312C3) just in case I will go the USB Type C route. However, I am really hoping that the new eSATA controller work.

Does anyone here have any experience with StarTech eSATA?