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I'm trying to expand my ZFS raid setup and I have used up all the available Sata-ports on my motherboard. I have read about SAS Expanders online and I think i have understood what they do. But one detail seems to be skipped everywhere I looked. I know that SAS Expanders are supposed to be connected (through sff-8087) to a dedicated RAID card. The controller I have found has a 8x pcie slot. Why does a SAS expander that is supposed to transfer the data through the RAID Controller need such a big bus? wouldn't a 1x pcie slot be enough for transfering configuration (or whatever) to the SAS-expander? Or does this imply that I can transfer the actual data though the PCIe bus and skipp the RAID card if I don't want hardware RAID and just want to attatch disks to be passed through to the os (as JBOD)?

SAS-Expander: "HP 24-Bay 6G SAS Expander Server Card - 8x SFF-8087, 1x SFF-8088, PCI-E - 487738-001 / 468406-B21"

Mureinik
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Jhonny97
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2 Answers2

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SAS expander requires an HBA (Host Bus Adapter).

You can find SAS expanders that do not require a PCI-e interface, and those that do, simply use the PCI-e interface for power and a place to mount the hardware. all data communication is via the SAS cable from the HBA to the expander.

Tal Aloni
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I know that SAS Expanders are supposed to be connected (through sff-8087) to a dedicated RAID card.

Expander must be connected to a RAID controller or a HBA (HBA can work in IT passthru or RAID mode, both will work).

The controller i have found has a 8x pcie slot.

Long story short: Integrated Intel chipset on motherboard (e.g. 8 sata connectors) drops speed proportionally to number of drives connected to chipset. 8 drives have pathetic benchmark when tested simultaneously. That is NOT the case with HBA/RAID. 20 drives will still have e.g. 400MB read and write thruput. Now you understand why 8x.

why does a SAS expander that is supposed to transfer the Data through the Raid Controller need such a big bus?

Expander chip consumes a lots of power, you can see it by temperature it generates, 12G expander heats to +90 celsius. Data does not travel thru the PCIe bus between Controller/HBA and Expander, it uses one/two uplink cables usually port 0 and 1 on expander. (If wrong ports are used, you will lose hierarchy, but will still work, read the manual of expnder for correct ports).

or does this imply that i can transfer the actual Data though the PCIe bus and skipp the RAID card if i dont want hardware RAID and just want to attatch disks to be passed through to the os (as JBOD)?

Expander won't do a thing if it's not connected to either HBA or RAID. Try to see Expander as some kind of multiplexer not as a controller itself.

SAS-Expander: "HP 24-Bay 6G SAS Expander Server Card - 8x SFF-8087, 1x SFF-8088, PCI-E - 487738-001 / 468406-B21"

It's highly compatible expander and will work with just anything you connect to it. Unlike its' sibling 12G expander which is damn picky (had a nightmare with 6 different models of IBM controllers/HBAs I had).

Have I answered all the questions you posted in such small article?

Peter
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