M.2 to Sata Expansion Card?

[Gunndy]

Anyone have any experience with something like this for adding additional sata ports for TrueNAS?

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-ECS07-Expansion-SST-ECS07/dp/B0B8TV1QRG

States it's non-raid, but not sure if it's seen as an hba or not.

 

[Arwen]

It depends on 2 things:

• SATA chip used
• If a SATA Port Multiplier is used

The last is something to avoid, see below. I looked at the listed and it did not specify the SATA chip used. (And I don't have time to look at SilverStone's website...)

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

This resource was originally created by user: jgreco on the TrueNAS Community Forums Archive. Please DM this account or comment in this thread to claim it. In the last year or two, we’ve had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use...

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Their are a few SATA add on chips that work okay. I don't have the list handy.

 

[PD_ANZ]

@Arwen - if you could share the list that would be awesome!! Looking to use a sata disk controller but don't want to accidentally end up with a port multiplier!!

 

[Arwen]

@Arwen - if you could share the list that would be awesome!! Looking to use a sata disk controller but don't want to accidentally end up with a port multiplier!!

As I said, I don't have the SATA chip list handy. That is not something I follow.

As for SATA port multipliers, read the specifications of the card & chip(s) used on it. Some are clear about use of port multipliers, like a 2 SATA port chip on a PCIe card. But, the card has 6 SATA ports. Thus, 5 of them are on a SATA port multiplier, (and share bandwidth of a single SATA port).

Or just get an LSI based SAS HBA of the known variety that work. (Aka don't get a MegaRAID one...)

 

[brucoder]

Anyone have any experience with something like this for adding additional sata ports for TrueNAS?

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-ECS07-Expansion-SST-ECS07/dp/B0B8TV1QRG

States it's non-raid, but not sure if it's seen as an hba or not.

I use that exact unit with an ASRock Rack Mini ITX MB. It just shows up as five sd devices (sd2, 3, 4, 5, 6 for me).

As I said, I don't have the SATA chip list handy. That is not something I follow.

As for SATA port multipliers, read the specifications of the card & chip(s) used on it. Some are clear about use of port multipliers, like a 2 SATA port chip on a PCIe card. But, the card has 6 SATA ports. Thus, 5 of them are on a SATA port multiplier, (and share bandwidth of a single SATA port).

Or just get an LSI based SAS HBA of the known variety that work. (Aka don't get a MegaRAID one...)

Hi Arwen - this isn't a port multiplier. It simple converts the x2 lanes provided to the M.2 socket to 5 SATA ports like a normal SATA PCIe HBA. That one works great under SCALE with no special considerations that I've noticed. I'm using it with an ASRock Rack miniITX motherboard in the M.2 socket provided.

 

[jgreco]

Hi Arwen - this isn't a port multiplier. It simple converts the x2 lanes provided to the M.2 socket to 5 SATA ports like a normal SATA PCIe HBA. That one works great under SCALE with no special considerations that I've noticed. I'm using it with an ASRock Rack miniITX motherboard in the M.2 socket provided.

There is no such thing as a "normal SATA PCIe HBA". You're talking about a SATA controller. Call it that.

Please read the following and make sure you are NOT using a device that integrates a SATA port multiplier.

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

This resource was originally created by user: jgreco on the TrueNAS Community Forums Archive. Please DM this account or comment in this thread to claim it. In the last year or two, we’ve had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use...

www.truenas.com

Note that many "5 port" devices integrate a SATA port multiplier and will bring you misery.

AsMedia 106x based controllers that do NOT use a SATA PM have generally been found to work well if they are genuine. There are lots of knockoffs though. Buyer beware.

JMicron JMB58x controllers may work on FreeBSD but have had NCQ disabled due to various issues, and that will make them perform poorly. You probably don't want a poorly performing SATA controller for ZFS. Linux driver support has been a little dodgy as well, so you should probably find yourself an AsMedia instead.

Other JMicron controllers have various issues that make them undesirable. Remember that many of these are mostly "made for Windows" in some Shenzhen back alley operation pumping out cheap knockoff silicon.

 

[jgreco]

https://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-ECS07-Expansion-SST-ECS07/dp/B0B8TV1QRG

Please trim URL's appropriately in the future. For guidance, see the Forum Rules, conveniently linked at the top of every page, under the section "Offsite Links - Clean Links"

 

[HoneyBadger]

The SST-ECS07 uses the JMicron JMB585, I believe in a single 5-port configuration without a port multiplier. As @jgreco stated if NCQ is disabled under FreeBSD (CORE) for stability reasons, performance will be poor.

A similar card using the ASMedia ASM1166 chipset may work better, but finding a genuine and/or well-manufactured example may be the challenge here.

I seem to recall this discussion happening previously on the forum - or perhaps it was just in the context of JMicron chips and how some can do double-duty as a 1-to-4 port multiplier.

The LSI HBAs are the de facto choice, but obviously can't fit natively into an M.2 slot.

 

[jgreco]

ASMedia ASM1166 chipset may work better,

The ASM1166 has worked fine under both FreeBSD and Linux, as far as I am aware.

 

[brucoder]

There is no such thing as a "normal SATA PCIe HBA". You're talking about a SATA controller. Call it that.

Please read the following and make sure you are NOT using a device that integrates a SATA port multiplier.

Multiply your problems with SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers

This resource was originally created by user: jgreco on the TrueNAS Community Forums Archive. Please DM this account or comment in this thread to claim it. In the last year or two, we’ve had a resurgence of users asking about SATA Port Multipliers and cheap SATA controllers. Please, do NOT use...

www.truenas.com

Note that many "5 port" devices integrate a SATA port multiplier and will bring you misery.

AsMedia 106x based controllers that do NOT use a SATA PM have generally been found to work well if they are genuine. There are lots of knockoffs though. Buyer beware.

JMicron JMB58x controllers may work on FreeBSD but have had NCQ disabled due to various issues, and that will make them perform poorly. You probably don't want a poorly performing SATA controller for ZFS. Linux driver support has been a little dodgy as well, so you should probably find yourself an AsMedia instead.

Other JMicron controllers have various issues that make them undesirable. Remember that many of these are mostly "made for Windows" in some Shenzhen back alley operation pumping out cheap knockoff silicon.

This one is a JMI JMB585 SATA controller. It's working out of the box for me with both Core 12 and SCALE, but, YMMV.