Cable Matters Internal Mini SAS to SATA Cable (SFF-8087 to SATA Forward Breakout) 3.3 Feet

They are mini-SAS to SATA cables for use with a HBA card like the LSI 9201. These are the ones I used: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

If you don’t have a backplane, you can get this to use.

Cable Matters Internal Mini SAS to SATA Cable (SFF-8087 to SATA Forward Breakout) 3.3 Feet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_aR82FbER30CFW

Yeah looks similar to the ones that I have. Mine are longer, hence the higher price.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BPLYJC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You get a SAS to SATA breakout cable.

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

Look online for an H310 PERC card from Dell. They can be had very cheap and then flashed into LSI (mode?). That's most likely what u/onmf is talking about is the H310. I have one and then paired it with two of these SAS to SATA cables and was able to go from a max of like 5 drives to a max of 13 drives (2xSAS -> 4xSATA). Was fairly straightforward and worked great in FreeNAS pools and is working great now in Windows Storage Spaces with SnapRAID.

I was thinking. Could I skip a Raid controller entirly and just connect this to it?

Dell Perc H710

You'll need to get the right cables though (SAS to SATA) like this: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=sas+to+sata&qid=1586038306&sr=8-3

There may be a second cable for power, but that's a very common SATA breakout breakout cable for the data. What model is your server?

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

I don’t have a P410 card but the built in unit in my HP server has two SFF connections so you would need a breakout cable for this: Cable Matters Internal Mini SAS to SATA Cable (SFF-8087 to SATA Forward Breakout) 3.3 Feet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_j6JeEbFKPG11V

You're probably not going to find an ATX compliant board with more than 4-6 SATA ports. Get yourself a SAS HBA and a few mini SAS to SATA breakout cables. This should give you 8 SATA connections for the cost of a PCI-e slot. I'm building a whitebox NAS right now and I got one of these and two of these.

What kind of cables do you use with a card like this? Is it like this https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

Cable Matters Internal Mini SAS to SATA Cable (SFF-8087 to SATA Forward Breakout) 3.3 Feet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_7ZehEb4CDT1KJ

Just installed IBM M1015 flashed to it mode yesterday.

Followed this guide.

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/tutorial-updating-ibm-m1015-lsi-9211-8i-firmware-on-uefi-systems.11462/

The only thing I’m an advocate for is Using LSI raid card over using sata ports. Getting an flashed already from eBay is not that much. Runs 8 drives on 1 card.

example

these are the cables needed.

For your first question, how many TB of data are you planning to store? And how many people are going to be accessing the NAS at the same time?

>Can this be hardware accelerated or is software RAID good enough?

You absolutely do not want to use a hardware raid controller. The recommended way to add drives to a system are SAS PCIe cards. These can be flashed with raid firmware, or "IT" firmware (the card is then referred to as an HBA). "IT" firmware passes the disk through without hiding anything, which let's ZFS do it's job properly. Something like this is what you want. Note that these are intended for forced airflow, so you may want to put a little 40mm an on it.

These are the kinds of cables you would use with it if attaching it to a sata interface.

>Another question - Can RAID Z1 mix and match drives or will I have to get the same drives? In ZFS the capacity will be limited to the smallest drive in the array, so all the same.

>OpenMediaVault This is what I currently use for my own ~70TB NAS, though at this point I do most of my admin stuff via RDP. The most important thing is I don't really worry about anything breaking.

A special thing of note (since ZFS will be looking for errors for you) single biggest source of errors you are likely to encounter will be due to the cables (sata or sas, don't matter) or bad connections, rather than hard drives. So treat your cables nicely, and have a spare or two for testing.

Hey there. I am by no means a server expert, building one myself, but I am somewhat knowledgeable about general specs and such. The Xeon board is listed as Flex ATX, a form factor I have not heard of. You may have trouble finding a case with the right mounting holes. The Atom one is listed as regular Mini-ITX. They both have 8 threads but the Xeon draws 10 more watts. They both look like they support way more than just 4 disks using cables like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BPLYJC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ&psc=1

What price would you be able to get each board for?

Is https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-H310-6Gbps-SAS-HBA-w-LSI-9211-8i-P20-IT-Mode-for-ZFS-FreeNAS-unRAID/162834659601 plus 2x https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ what I'm looking for?

Something like this (just an example, lots out there, and similar variants). Very common in Enterprise hardware, so lots of good used options out there.

Then you'd need two cables like this

Those are just some examples to get you in the right direction, you may want to research more on the specifics.

Regarding unraid, it loads off a USB stick, but the OS and everything runs in memory directly. It's very small and fast. This is a very common approach with Enterprise hardware and OS to load off a USB and into memory. There are many advantages to unraid vs software raid 5, even moreso when talking about media servers. The biggest area in that regard is that you can mix and match drives and dynamically expand the array. You have full redundancy for single drive failures, and in the event of multiple drive failures you can still directly recover all the data on the other drives... This is definitely not the case with raid 5. There's a lot of information out there, but happy to help with questions.

The Dell H310 is a RAID card - so if youre using RAID in your setup you're good to go. Keep in mind that you can attach SATA drives to a SAS card, but not the other way around. So if you have SATA drives, you should be able to use some SF8087 to SATA breakout cables such as the one found here - https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

If you are wanting to do a RAID of any type, that card would work, however I do not have experience with that specific card, so I cannot recommend for or against it. I personally use LSI cards for my RAID volumes - its more personal preference/budget more than anything.

So something like this

https://www.amazon.com/LSI-Logic-LSI00303-SAS-9207-4I4E/dp/B008RTI5NA

paired with

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=pd_sbs_147_4/142-3174242-7192134?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B012BPLYJC&pd_rd_r=2ee4ef1c-faec-4ae3-a392-312d2bd398d1&pd_rd_w=joQZW&pd_rd_wg=PKsy6&pf_rd_p=bdd201df-734f-454e-883c-73b0d8ccd4c3&pf_rd_r=W9YJHAP4CZ9Z31XQZB9D&psc=1&refRID=W9YJHAP4CZ9Z31XQZB9D

And pass that card to freenas?

>9207-8i

I am really behind on modern tech. Does one connect a cable that has the SAS on one end and has 4 SATA connections on the other to that?

Like this cable:

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

So that card allows you to attach 8 drives to a system?

First things first: RAID IS NOT A BACKUP

RAID is mainly used for redundancy purposes where you can't afford to have downtime caused by a failed drive. It allows a system (most often a server) to limp along until downtime can be scheduled, the drive can be replaced, and the array rebuilt. Lets say you have your "backup" RAID in the PC that you're backing up and a surge fries your PC. RAID doesn't matter because that RAID array was zapped along with all of your other drives.

If you're looking for a backup solution go and get something like a 4tb WD MyBook and do weekly backups. WD includes software with their NASs that can automate this process. Or you can go all out and get a synology NAS or DIY it, it's really up to you. To answer your questions though:

> Should I do software or hardware RAID

Assuming this is a Windows host, I wouldn't touch software RAID with a ten foot pole. It requires you to convert disks to dynamic for RAID and recovering a dynamic disk isn't easy if the array does fail.

> what are your suggestions for the most budget-friendly way to do it

For hardware RAID, you can get recycled Dell RAID controllers for pretty cheap. I've never used one with a consumer OS but I've heard that the H310 (which is built off of the LSI 9211-8i) should be plug and play as far as drivers are concerned. You'd then need an SFF-8087 to SATA breakout cable to use the drives, you can get one on Amazon for like $12.

Hey, I'm curious how the SATA card worked out for you? Since you made this post I actually switched over to unRAID and its been great.

I also have done a ton of research into expanding the number of SATA ports and I think I've finally landed on the most recommended solution, and that's a SAS HBA with a sas to 4x sata cable (8 extra drives. The one I ordered was the LSI SAS9211 flashed into IT mode (which you need to do to get it working in unRAID). Another popular one is the LSI SAS9201 which does not need to be flashed. These can be bought on ebay for a pretty good price (like $30-60), as well as pre-flashed and I actually just ordered one.

I figured I would share what I have learned in case yours ended up not working out because I didn't see that chipset listed on the hardware compatibility section of the wiki. Just trying to help out a fellow newbie!

I'm not sure what you're budget is but an adapter 6805 can be had on eBay for $30 with sas cables to a backplane if you're not using a backplane Amazon has breakout cables relatively affordable.

This is what I do I host a VM that I pass the raid controller to that manages all the drives and present it to ESXi as a NFS device. This VM is hosted on a SSD so that it's always accessible to ESXi in the case you need to take the NAS server down for maintenance. But is very painless.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adaptec-Raid-Controller-ASR-6805T-8-Ports-PCIE2-x8-512MB-2-8087-to-4-SATA/184103399410?epid=28031091139&hash=item2add6aeff2:g:SgoAAOSwicteB8PR

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwi77cqFodvmAhULtsgKHXnVD5UYABABGgJxdQ&ae=1&sig=AOD64_0NXqDS29xh-x7GZ905q9uZ4-TZTg&ctype=5&q=&ved=2ahUKEwjZ28GFodvmAhUGn-AKHVUKCpIQwg96BAgLEAo&adurl=https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref%3Dasc_df_B012BPLYJC/%3Ftag%3Dhyprod-20%26linkCode%3Ddf0%26hvadid%3D309773039951%26hvpos%3D1o1%26hvnetw%3Dg%26hvrand%3D6487806254521242144%26hvpone%3D%26hvptwo%3D%26hvqmt%3D%26hvdev%3Dm%26hvdvcmdl%3D%26hvlocint%3D%26hvlocphy%3D9008163%26hvtargid%3Dpla-570532547423%26psc%3D1

so i never can remember whether you want forward or reverse breakout cables here looks like forward. amazon link

the intel RES2SV240 does not need to occupy a pcie slot if you can provide power to the molex connector on the top.

​

you run two minisas to minisas from your m1015 card to the intel RES2SV240, leaves 4 ports, using the forward breakout cable, thats 16 sata ports.

I'm providing links to Amazon for illustrative purposes only, I'm sure after a bit of hunting around on the Internet, you could find the same or similar parts cheaper elsewhere.

Pretty much the only choice you have for adding additional storage to your R710 is to buy a Host Bus Adapter (HBA) card that has external socket connectors on it.

Put this in your R710:

LSI SAS9207-8E

https://www.amazon.com/LSI-SAS9207-8E-Logic-PCIE-8Port/dp/B0085FT292

The 'E' in the name denotes external connectors, if the part number ended in I, that card would have SFF-8087 internal sockets on it.

These are also available in quad port configurations too which can handle 16 drives, I have several of them.

You will need this cable:

External Mini SAS 26pin (SFF-8088) Male to Mini SAS 26 (SFF-8088) Male Cable

https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-External-26pin-SFF-8088-Cable/dp/B013G4F3A8

You will need an empty computer case in which you can mount an ATX power supply and hard drives.

The other end of the SFF-8088 cable will need to go to one of these:

Dual Mini SAS SFF-8088 to SAS36P SFF-8087 Adapter in PCI Bracket

https://www.amazon.com/CableDeconn-SFF-8088-SFF-8087-Adapter-bracket/dp/B00PRXOQFA

This mounts to an empty expansion slot in your ATX case and the example comes with both SFF as well as LFF mounting brackets.

Now, you'll need a forward break out cable:

Internal Mini SAS to SATA Cable (SFF-8087 to SATA Forward Breakout)

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

So, you mount the ATX power supply in the case, mount the hard drives, attach the power and data cables to the hard drives and now you need to be able to power on the power supply:

https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/atx_psu_startup/

As you can see, you're going to need to do some electrical and mechanical modifications to your ATX case to mount a switch.

Congratulations, you have just build yourself a home made DAS (Direct Attached Storage) box.

You also have the option of buying a used DAS from eBay, expect to pay around $300 and $100 for shipping.

I have a Supermicro SC826 chassis that only has the Supermicro JBOD board that is about the same size as a Pop-Tart which connects to a backplane, two power supplies and the SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 Adapter in it.

https://i.imgur.com/VeUZTd4.jpg

An SC846 based server sits beneath it.

If anyone else has some other suggestions for OP, please post 'em!

>I had issues with old data cables. The drives were fine but the error rate kept going up. Once I replaced the cables it worked for a while. I just rebuilt my NAS with a SAS backplane and haven't had any issues. My issues were definently the cables. Plus cables are cheapest so start with replacing those

Will you link me to what kind of sas backplane you used? I ordered one of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008J49G9A/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
With two of these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B012BPLYJC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

​

I was thinking of plugging all my drives into those considering these recent errors. Currently I have 7 drives. But I will still have an empty pcie slot for another sas/sata card if I need. Still, maybe a backplane is better. I will look into that

This is what I'm doing for bulk storage external to my PC (which is a Thermaltake Core P3, which actually doesn't have any 3.5" / 5.25" storage options at all):

• 2x of this 4-in-3 cage
• 2x of this 2 meter SFF-8088 to SFF-8088 cable
• 1x of this SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 PCI-bracket mountable adapter (doesn't need power)
• 2x of this SFF-8087 to SATA breakout cable
• Dell H200e
• 1 ATX power supply, with the green / ground wire on the 24pin connector shorted so it's always on, so long as the switch in the back is on

The two cages are mounted in my OG Thermaltake Armor case, which I haven't used as a PC case for a number of years now. I've had zero issues with drives disconnecting, data corruption (that I've noticed -- the storage is used for my Plex server, and Sonarr / Radarr / sabnzbd all download / process directly to this storage array), etc.

Eh.

Serve up individual disks to the VM, let the VM do the soft raid.

You can get a 8 port SAS controller for under 100 bucks, spend a little money to get the fanout to go from SAS to SATA:
https://www.amazon.com/2V36912-Smart-Array-8-Port-Controller/dp/B001S2PZ5Y/ref=sr_1_7?dchild=1&keywords=8+port+sas+raid+controller&qid=1604156880&sr=8-7

Fanouts:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/ref=sr_1_10?dchild=1&keywords=sas+to+sata+fan+out&qid=1604156974&sr=8-10

Just as examples of what I am talking about. I bought a used IBM RAID controller that had half a gig of cache and an onboard battery for under $100 on ebay.

My 2 cents:

TL;DR: In Windows backup to 3TB drives, create 8TB unRaid array, migrate data and add in 3TB later.

Q1: I see 2 problems with this. First you don't mention having a SSD cache drive so you wouldn't be able to make a VM (unless you were planning on using those 3TB drives but my own experience trying VMs on platter drives was not pleasant -- very slow.) Second, making a VM to use the LSI in unraid seems a bit complicated at this point.

Q2: Correct, you shouldn't reflash to IT mode while the card manages the raid between the 2 drives - you would loose (or greatly risk) data.

I think, based on what I read, is to copy data to those 3TB drives using an external case(s) in your existing windows instance. Then, boot into unraid (after reflashing to IT mode if your card needs it), create the 8TB array and migrate from the 3TB drives (use the Unassigned Devices plugin). Once that is completed, and assuming your motherboard and/or the LSI card has enough ports and there is space in the case, install the 3TB drives and add them to the array.

​

PS:

Your LSI card may support something like this to support multiple drives: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC

I don't have your card, but please check https://wiki.unraid.net/Hardware_Compatibility also. Looks like it should work once flashed to IT mode.

I went with 2 of these no name sata expander because I wanted to add 6 sata ports. It didn't play well with my motherboard so I returned them and went with the lsi sas 9207-8i. I am very happy with this decision even though the card I received was non genuine.

Some info if you're not familiar, and it took me a bit to understand.

8i is internal connectors

8e is external connectors

8i uses mini sas to sata cables

The card ran really hot so I had a friend 3d print a fan mount for the card and it worked well - 3d printed fan mount

Good luck! I hope this post helped at least a little because one day I was in your shoes.

Edit: formatting

Your main PC needs a SAS card with SFF-8088 ports on the back of the card that are accessible externally.

You can use an SFF-8088 to 4X SATA cable to go from the main PC to an external case of drives and directly connect to SATA.

https://www.amazon.com/Mini-SAS-SFF-8088-26P-SATA-Cable/dp/B00PKN5NXG

Or buy an SFF-8088 to SFF-8088 cable from the main PC to the external case.

https://www.amazon.com/CableCreation-External-26pin-SFF-8088-Cable/dp/B013G4F3A8/

Then you buy a bracket like this and put in the external case of drives that convert 8088 (external connector type) to 8087 (internal connector type)

https://www.amazon.com/CableDeconn-SFF-8088-SFF-8087-Adapter-Bracket/dp/B00PRXOQFA/

Then this cable to convert 8087 to 4X SATA

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Internal-SFF-8087-Breakout/dp/B012BPLYJC/

Obviously the one cable solution is cheaper but the 2 cables and adapter bracket can make a cleaner setup. There are 6 feet long versions of the 8088 to 4X SATA cable so hopefully you can get the two cases within 6 feet of each other.