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Question regarding Intel SAS expander (ebay auction)


propergol

Question

I am still wondering if I should buy an other IBM M1115 or buy an Intel SAS expander...

Expanders are not very cheap  :rolleyes: ...

I manage to find one, not new RES2SV240, but it comes with an additional card and I don't know what it is.

Here is the auction : http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Intel-RES2SV240NC-RES2SV240-24-port-6Gbs-SATA-SAS-RAID-Expander-Card-/161823139680?hash=item25ad692760

 

$200 for both cards and cables, do you think it worth it? What is the second litle card exactly?

 

Thanks

 

 

EDIT : I need a new SAS card or expander because I plan to use SSD for caching, at least 3, and I miss some SATA 3 ports.

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Well, you need to have an SAS controller (RAID or HBA) before you can use the SAS Expander card. It connects to the RAID card, but can use the PCI Express port for power (only). 

 

I'm not sure what the other piece pictured is. The two models mentioned are "no cables included" (NC) and cables included. 

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Thanks. I have found what is the small card : it is a "riser" card and it seems it needs to be plug onto specific server ports.

 

Also regarding the SAS expander : yes I do know that I need a contoller  ;)  that is the reason why I did wrote that I already have a m1115.

 

I did have a closer look to the expander pictures and if you look at the Molex, it looks like the heatsink has beegining burning it  :o ...

I will wait for something less "used"...

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Ah, okay. I've not seen something like it before, and wasn't sure.

 

 

And I misread your post, I wasn't sure if you had a controller card or not.

As for which to buy ... that's really up to you.  Either is fine... but a single M1115 should be able to support running 34 drives at 120MB/s at the same time before bottlenecking. :)

 

 

As for the picture... that may just be the lighting.  It's hard to tell though. But if you don't feel comfortable about buying it, then definitely don't. Though, if they have the "make an offer" option (which it appears so), you could see about low balling the number and see if you can get it really cheap (like $90US... which would be less than that many new cables would cost you!)

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Well, good luck. And worst case, if it is burned, take the cables, resell the cards. ;)  You'll probably make a small chunk of money that way. 

 

 

And yeah, that's a bit cramped! 

In case it helps, you can get SFF-8087 (internal) to SFF-8088 (external) adapters, and you could grab a couple and build a case that just has a power supply, an SAS Expander card and drives. May be worth looking into for the near future, since it sounds like you're running out of space, rapidly (and that would allow you add more storage without having to tear apart your system).

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For my familly usage and my brain health I would stick with ONE box  :P  : all of my technicals problems in the very same black box  :D

 

Regarding the auction, after some discuss with the seller I did bought the cables and of course the expander (but not the riser card) for....more than I should have paid... : $133 shipped to France.

Since I can see it on Newegg.com @ $273, Amazon.com $265 without cables, it is not a bad deal, even if for a used part I found that still expensive.

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lol, I definitely understand that! :)

 

 

As for the auction, that's not a bad price at all. As you've said, it's much more expensive for a new card (and more so with cables, at around $350-400, in fact).  So, it's not a bad purchase at all!

But I definitely understand what you mean.  Just keep in mind that this is enterprise grade tech, and is designed for heavy loads and 24/7 operation. That's why there is such a premium on the price.

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