4 Port SATA Adapter

Skiddley · 20 Jan 2017 at 17:26

Guys,

I need to extend my NAS server, as the exiting 6x SATA 3 ports on the motherboard are used. I have a mini-itx board with 1x PCI-E 3.0 x16 slot free, and need a 4 port SATA 3 adapter.

From searching, the affordable options are the High point 640L Lite, and a StarTech card + a few other garbage looking options.

RAID isn't in play here, but I do want quick read\write performance (~100MB/S would suffice). What is critical, is Win 10 support, and stability.

Any recommendations?

Armageus · 20 Jan 2017 at 17:59

Wouldn't bother with the highpoint - the startech is a better choice as is likely just a silicon image chipset that are normally well supported with generic windows drivers.

Skiddley · 20 Jan 2017 at 20:19

Thanks.

Noticed that the startech one supports Port Multiplying on one of the ports, so theoretically supports 7 drives from a 4 port controller (one port can host 4 drives).

Anyone done this? Sound like black magic.

Ricimer · 20 Jan 2017 at 21:54

What OS? The startech PCI-E has a Marvell 88SE9230. Windows will probably be ok. FreeBSD and Linux have a number of issues with these Marvell chips and will probably need NCQ disabling if you don't want the drive to go away occasionally.

The highpoint is also a Marvell but an older chip.

A bad choice for ZFS if you use it. I've spent ages looking for something similar for my Microserver, the problem is the LSI adaptors are all very hot and use lots of power, but work well. The Marvell ones are low power, but are no good for Linux/BSD.

TechMinerUK · 21 Jan 2017 at 00:45

Best option IMHO would be to try and find a M1015/Perc H200/H310 and flash it to IT Mode so you can use it in JBOD mode. That way you get a good quality card which can be used for SAS drives if you ever needed to. Only issue is they are "cheap" to the extent of being around or under £40 if you're lucky.

If you want as cheap as it gets then StarTech is definitely the way to go and certainly more reputable than other brands such as Symba (Although their not awful). Just make sure the card uses a Marvell controller if you're buying cheaper ones for reasonable driver support.

Ultimately what are you storing on them and how much of a price would you put on the data? You could get the cheaper card and relegate it to storing replaceable data

Skiddley · 21 Jan 2017 at 09:45

Win 10. Yes the startech is Marvell, so I'll take a punt on that and see how it performs.

Data is predominately media, the NAS runs our DLNA server (Mezzmo) primarially, plus provides backup to my work laptop. I'm not running RAID, but instead use pairs of drives hosting the same data, with nightly syncs between the two (robocopy). I only expose the 'primary' drives to clients (i.e., the apps serving clients). The need for doubling down on disks is part of the reason why I need more ports

I may relegate the secondary\backup drives to the startech controller as the onboard one hasn't missed a beat so far.

Not running freeNAS.

Thanks all.

TechMinerUK · 21 Jan 2017 at 22:06

Let us know how you get on, it's a shame JBOD/HBA cards are so expensive at the moment

Skiddley · 30 Jan 2017 at 16:24

So I installed the Startech SATA 3 4 Port PCI-Express card today. No issue at all so far.

Brings the disk capacity up to 10 drives in my NAS now, or 13 if I use Port Multiplication.

Plan is to run another 2 mech drives, for an array of 4 pairs. The OS runs on an M2 SSD hidden behind the mobo. You can just see the Startech controller under the PSU.

SupraWez · 30 Jan 2017 at 16:34

Nice tidy install.

Deleted member 138126 · 30 Jan 2017 at 17:17

Skiddley said:
So I installed the Startech SATA 3 4 Port PCI-Express card today. No issue at all so far.

Really nice build. What case is that?

Skiddley · 30 Jan 2017 at 21:26

rotor said:
Really nice build. What case is that?

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/lian-li-pc-q25b-mini-itx-cube-black-ca-433-ll.html

4 Port SATA Adapter

Deleted member 138126

Deleted member 138126