8 port sata card for Windows 10

[ascarneiro]

Hello,

 

I need add a 8 port sata card on my plex server, im using Windows 10.

 

I looked at Supermicro card, but the product page dont say anything about Windows 10 drivers.

 

Anyone know a stable 8 port sata card, compatible with Windows 10  and with SMART support and allow drives save energy (stand by)? Im using StableBit DrivePool and Scanner.

 

I dont need RAID, just HBA.

 

I know about the M1015 cards and similars with same chip, but these card need firmware crossflash and I do not want to stay depending on whether an update works or not, I prefer a solution plug-and-play.

 

Any advice?

 

Thank

[Christopher (Drashna)]

More than likely, it shouldn't have an issue with Windows 10.

 

That said, what care are you looking at specifically?

[gj80]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101792&cm_re=AOC-SAS2LP-MV8-_-16-101-792-_-Product

 

I've bought and used many of those on several builds of mine with Windows 10 (and also Server 2016) with no issues. It is an HBA with no RAID mode at all, so there's no need to flash it, and it's dirt cheap. I've also been using these in very heavily stressed systems that process upwards of 20TB reads per week and 5-10TB writes over a long period, so I'm quite happy with their stability.

 

If you were to try to use it with an expander, it might get hairy and I wouldn't suggest it (I just don't know what it would or would not work with), but if you're directly connecting it disks/backplanes then it should be fine.

 

The Windows 10/2016 drivers are available on Supermicro's website. It doesn't *say* it supports 10/2016 last I checked, but if you download the driver, the readme specifically states that the latest update is Microsoft WHQL certified for 10 + 2016, and it has worked for me on several systems running both.

 

They come with a full and low profile PCI bracket.

 

Oh, and they're 8-lane PCI-E 2.0 cards.

[dingho]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816101792&cm_re=AOC-SAS2LP-MV8-_-16-101-792-_-Product

 

Does the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 support idle drive spin down and  can read SMART data?

 

Thanks.

[gj80]

Does the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 support idle drive spin down and  can read SMART data?

 

It reads SMART data fine since it's just a JBOD controller. I'm not sure about drive spin-down - I keep all my drives on.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

It's a Marvell based chipset, so it should work fine.

 

SMART data, yes. Spindown? I don't know. I believe it *should*, but I can't verify. 

 

 

Though, there is a price premium, the LSI/Avago/Broadcom  SAS 9240-8i or SAS 9207-8i cards are very good cards.  And definitely support SAS expanders. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0085FT2JC/

[dingho]

Though, there is a price premium, the LSI/Avago/Broadcom  SAS 9240-8i or SAS 9207-8i cards are very good cards.

 

Do you know if those cards support spin down?

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Do you know if those cards support spin down?

 

Yes and no.  Some do, some don't.

 

There is a hack that forcibly enable spin down though.  

 

By "hack", I mean it's either editing the driver files or adding a registry entry.  And in this case, it DEFINITELY does work. 

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/2400-issues-with-drive-idling-on-lsi-based-hba-cards/

[ascarneiro]

Hello

 

Thank everyone for the advices.

 

After some months of research, I purchased one Adaptec HBA 1000-8i,  this is a 12Gb SAS card with 8 port.  This card arrived today and is running now on my PLEX server with drivepool + snapraid.

 

This card have native windows 10 drivers, no issues to install, easy firmware update - im very satisfied.

 

Now Im looking for a SAS Expander - I saw the HP SAS Expander 24 port, really low cost (30 - 40 US dollars on ebay) - this will be my next buy.

 

For now I have 8 port on SAS card and 6 port on motherboard - with the SAS expander I can full my LIAN LI PCD8000.  

 

Thank

 

Alvaro

[CyberSkulls]

Aren't those $30 HP expanders the old SAS1, 3Gb/s cards? I assumed they all were and would hit the 2TB drive limit. Hoping someone with more knowledge can correct me on the 2TB limit if I am wrong.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Aren't those $30 HP expanders the old SAS1, 3Gb/s cards? I assumed they all were and would hit the 2TB drive limit. Hoping someone with more knowledge can correct me on the 2TB limit if I am wrong.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

 

Yeah, they appear to be so.  So don't expect any drive over 2TB to work. 

 But they would work, in theory. with the right adapters.   

 

But you'd really want a SAS3 expander, and that will cost you. 

Specifically something like the: Intel RES3TV360, but it's $300, give or take.

[Spider99]

My HP Sas expander works fine with 6tb drives

[ascarneiro]

again, thank everyone.

 

this is why a read alot before purchase... 

 

some people say these HP expanders run with 6Tb, 8Tb drives, others say no.

 

@Drashna:  nice card this RES3TV360, but is too much for my needs.   Well I have 3 sata ports to use, I can expand 3 hdds, so I will need more only in 2018.

 

thank!

[Christopher (Drashna)]

My HP Sas expander works fine with 6tb drives

 

Some combinations will work.   Some won't. 

 

My system did NOT like the SAS1 expander and would NOT load any drive over 2TB.  But others with the same hardware did not have any issues.  

 

 

It's better to not take the risk .... more so because he'd be dealing with SAS1 vs SAS3. 

 

 

some people say these HP expanders run with 6Tb, 8Tb drives, others say no.

 

@Drashna:  nice card this RES3TV360, but is too much for my needs.   Well I have 3 sata ports to use, I can expand 3 hdds, so I will need more only in 2018.

 

thank!

 

 

Yeah, it's very dependant on the hardware you're using.  If you're willing to take the risk, feel free.

 

As for the RES3TV360, yeah, I totally understand.   But it will work, and won't degrade speeds. 

 

But if you do end up needing a lot more drives, it may be worth saving up for.  But that's my opinion. 

[HellDiverUK]

Just for completeness for anyone coming across this thread, the Supermicro SAS2LP-MV8 works fine in Windows 10, passes SMART and allows spin down.  It's a good card, I have had great success with mine.

[jaydash]

Sorry to revive an older post, but I came across this one after a quick search... also need an 8 port sata card for my server, I'm using Windows 10. I've been running a Highpoint card I wound up with for several years, but it appears to be throwing some errors and probably time to replace it...

Same as OP, I also just need a simple JBOD solution, no RAID necessary.  Just need it to be reliable (of course, right? haha), handle large (10+ TB discs), and have decent/recent driver support.

Any suggestions? Is the Supermicro card recommended a few years ago still a reasonable bet?

[RetroGamer]

On 6/4/2020 at 5:29 PM, jaydash said:

Sorry to revive an older post, but I came across this one after a quick search... also need an 8 port sata card for my server, I'm using Windows 10. I've been running a Highpoint card I wound up with for several years, but it appears to be throwing some errors and probably time to replace it...

Same as OP, I also just need a simple JBOD solution, no RAID necessary.  Just need it to be reliable (of course, right? haha), handle large (10+ TB discs), and have decent/recent driver support.

Any suggestions? Is the Supermicro card recommended a few years ago still a reasonable bet?

I would suggest a pure LSI HBA card, like the Dell m1015 and crossflash it to IT mode. It will then not do anything and give the software full access to the drives with nothing in between.

Myself i am using the LSI 9201-16i as one of my cards since i need 16 ports. But it is basically the same and it works wonderful. 

[Umfriend]

I believe I have the IBM M1015 but called Dell H310. I think it is the same card and I use it in IT/JBOD mode. No issues whatsoever, it drives 6HDDs and I got two more ports available.

The only thing I can not get it to do is allow for the drives to spin down.

[jaydash]

Thank you both! I'll look into those... I very much appreciate the input!

[Christopher (Drashna)]

On 6/7/2020 at 9:34 AM, Umfriend said:

I believe I have the IBM M1015 but called Dell H310. I think it is the same card and I use it in IT/JBOD mode. No issues whatsoever, it drives 6HDDs and I got two more ports available.

The only thing I can not get it to do is allow for the drives to spin down.

Update the firmware and drivers.  IIRC, that's a very version specific issue. 

[Chris Downs]

On 6/4/2020 at 4:29 PM, jaydash said:

Sorry to revive an older post, but I came across this one after a quick search... also need an 8 port sata card for my server, I'm using Windows 10. I've been running a Highpoint card I wound up with for several years, but it appears to be throwing some errors and probably time to replace it...

Same as OP, I also just need a simple JBOD solution, no RAID necessary.  Just need it to be reliable (of course, right? haha), handle large (10+ TB discs), and have decent/recent driver support.

Any suggestions? Is the Supermicro card recommended a few years ago still a reasonable bet?

Dell Perc H310 or one of the variants are generally very cheap now - I use three of them, flashed to IT-Mode. They are essentially transparent interfaces now.

I got them from ebay, and one from AliExpress IIRC. All under £30 delivered. You will need some of these cables: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B07QFSLP6F

The cards have 2 SFF-8087 ports, with each one having 4x 6Gbps SATA lanes for 8 drives at full 6Gbps speed. However, that is not the limit on drives. Each card can handle up to 256 physical disks using SAS expanders - so adding more later on doesn't need HBA replacement.
The H310 comes in another version, with external SFF-8088 connections instead, to allow for an external JBOD drive enclosure to be connected.

Definitely avoid the 8-port SATA PCIe cards on ebay and Amazon that have 8 actual SATA ports, but only a x1 PCIe interface. There are *some* with x4, but very few. I have one with 6 ports and x4 PCIe, and that works nicely.