Intel RAID Expander Card RES2SV240

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Jeroen1000

Limp Gawd
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Sep 17, 2010
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Seems to be the same price as the HP one. The HP one has double the number of ports however. Only nice thing about it is the fact that it can be powered by a molex connector. As for compatibility, it's LSI based, so should work with quite a few things.
 
An expander marketed as universal would be quite nice but I know now that this is unlikely to happen anytime soon, if ever.

If I'd go Areca, I'd be likely to get the HP if it is compatible with the newest generation. Otherwise, I'd be trying this a viable alternative.
 
Here's the manual for the Intel SAS expander, for anyone interested in it

http://download.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/e93121002_res2sv240_hwug.pdf

Cleared up a few things for me...

  • There are no connectors on the rear, so you lose 4 or 8 ports when you connect it to a RAID card.
    You can cascade them, but it doesn't say how many times
    They only list Intel RAID cards as compatible - but these are LSI cards in disguise, so hopefully it will be at least as compatible as other LSI based stuff

The card is more attractive to me than the HP one as it can run off a molex, and is low profile if slot mounted, but obviously it doesn't have as many ports...

There are no instructions for upgrading the firmware - presumably becasue there have been no updates yet - hopefully this will be possible from a non-Intel card.
 
20 ports for $340, not so great. you'd be better off with multiple HBA cards if low profile is important, and you'd have a lot more bandwidth that way. on the bright side at least its SAS-2.
 
The HP is certainly better value for money. And I don't need low profile, although if it works well I have some external chassis that this could work in thanks to the molex.

For my application, I don't want to give up more PCIe slots than I have to. With the HP, I will lose a slot, and then another slot so that I can route 4 of the SAS connectors externally via bracket I already have. All my internal drives can be handled by a combo of ROMB, a RAID card (leaning toward LSI 9280 4i4e) and this expander - I have 12x 2.5" and 8x 3.5" in this server, so beyond that everything has to be external. I have 7 slots to play with, but will need about the same number of 10GbE NICs as RAID controllers. I guess the ideal for me would be something with the form factor of the HP with 4 external connectors instead of 1. Then I could have 3 RAID cards and 3 NICs.
 
I can't find a UK stockist of this (the disties want a minimum order of five). So...

I've ordered one of these from "LimitedGoods.com" (never heard of them before, but Provantage wouldn't ship to UK from the US, I think because the Intel warranty only covers US & Canada).

I will be testing it with an LSI 9280 4e 4i on a Supermicro X8DTH-6F motherboard and also an Areca 1680ix-24 in a Dell PowerEdge 840.

I don't expect it to arrive for a week or two, so if anyone buys this expander before then, PLEASE post with your experiences!

Thanks,

Aitor
 
The RES2SV240 finally arrived today.

Bad news first: it didn't work with my Areca 1680ix-24. The firmware would not initialise if the RES2SV240 was connected. However, this could be because ix's have SAS expanders and there could be an incompatibility; it could also be this particular card, which is now living in a Dell PE840 after it stopped working in the Supermicro X8DTH-6F based system that it used to live in.

Good news: It works fine with an LSI 9280 4i4e, and I assume other LSI 9260 and 9280 cards. I haven't tried it with the X8DTH-6F's LSI SAS2008 on board RAID.

Following issues with the RES2SV240:

1) it sends "sensor bad errors" continually to the RAID card. I think this is because nothing is connected to the SGPIO pins on the RES2SV240; I don't have a suitable cable. In the LSI MSM you can turn this error from a Warning to Information, to downgrade the severity.
2) The slot order is reversed. E.g. if your drives are slots 0,1,2,3 when connected directly to the RAID card (appearing under backplane in the physical tree view in MSM), then if you connect them to connector 0 on the RES2SV240, they will appear as slots 3,2,1,0. Or 7,6,5,4 if connected to connector 1.

As far as I can tell the RES2SV240 supports multiplexing; I'm not seeing a slow down on my SAS 2.0 drives when SATA 300Mbit/sec drives are connected, but I haven't done a big enough test to prove this.

It also supports two connections to one raid card, so hopefully link aggregation too - although I've not tested this.

In ATTO, I'm getting up to

360MB/sec from a 4 drive RAID 10 of 300GB Seagate Savvio 10K.3s (SAS 2)
290MB/sec from a 2 drive RAID 0 of 2TB Seagate Constellation (SAS 2)
150 - 260MB/sec from a 2 drive RAID 1 of 2TB Seagate Constellation (SAS 2) - the highest speed is a read speed when it can do parallel reads from both drives - I only see this with the 4k and 8k transfers
110MB/sec from a 4 drive RAID 10 of 320GB Hitachi 7K320 drives (SATA)

Overall I'm very happy so far. I was expecting it to be compatible as it's LSI based. I may be chaining Supermicro JBODs off this, which also use LSI expanders, so I hope they will be compatible too.

cheers,

Aitor
 
Anyone conduct tests cascading the RES2SV240 or connecting it to 9200-8e? According to aitoribarra's post above if the 9280 4i4e is compatible so I would assume similar for the 9280-8e but my project will not require raid on chip. My system will be zfs powered by ncp, eon or other.


aitoribarra or anyone else, does the RES2SV240 include any plastic sticky mounts to support inside chassis when not using pcie but molex? Are these called by a more appropriate name if I ever purchase them?
 
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acesea,

no mounts other than the pci bracket are supplied. However the board is drilled with 3 holes that could be used to mount to standoffs, but you will probably have to modify your case to do so.

Also, I have not tried the expander off the external port of the 92804i4e, but I don't see why it shouldn't work. Also, haven't tried cascading another JBOD. I have a SAS-1 supermicro JBOD connected to the external port of the 92804i4e, but I haven't tried running it off the Intel expander. The system is in production now which limits my ability to mess with it!
 
Just installed an LSI 9260-4i with the RES2SV240. Working great so far with ten drives attached, just as aitoribarra describes.

I tried and failed to get an HP Expander working with the LSI 9260-4i.
 
Wouldn't this card be perfect for the Norco 4220/4224? one cable run out the back with 20/24 drives connected internally? Card is powered by the 4 pin molex and no special card to power it? Would just need to find a Controller card w/an external port.
 
Does the RES2SV240 work with LSI and Adaptec SAS-1.0 raid controller? i.e. LSI MegaRAID 8708ELP and Adaptec RAID 5805?
 
A Wiki has been created for this card, it's still a work in progress.

This is a very good card, very impressed so far in a few weeks worth of testing, negotiates SATA-III disks at 6G unlike the HP expander, and it came with six SFF-8087 cables.
 
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It's a great card. I can confirm it too. Works great with Intel RS2BL080 (aka LSI 9260-8i). Came with all SAS cables (no SATA).
 
Another satisfied owner. In fact I was so pleased with them I bought two, one for my main chassis and another for an external JBOD. No messing around with firmware, it just works out of the box and has the highest compatibility with drives I've seen so far. I'm using with an Areca 1880i.
 
Quick question about this card: I'm assuming the 9260-8i can be setup for link aggregation with the Intel RES2SV240? If so, does that mean only 16 usable ports? Is that something worth considering for a stack of 5K3000s in RAID6 or is a single-link more than enough in a (4 + 20 configuration)? I almost wish a proper LSISAS2x36 bsaed PCI-E expander existed since I could get everything I wanted.
 
A single link can provide 2.4GB/sec.
Whether thats enough for you, i cant answear.
 
The marketing for the Intel RES2SV240 is a bit misleading but if you read through the documentation for inputs/outputs it becomes clearer.

You have a total of 6 connectors, 4 ports per connector, for a total 24 ports. How you use them is up to you but the documentation says one connector (4 ports) in will give you 5 connectors (20 ports) out. Similarly 2 connectors in (8 ports) will give you 4 connectors (16 ports) out. Those are the only configurations mentioned.

I have a LSI SAS 8708ELP running both connectors into the Intel RES2SV240 and it's working fine with SAS Drives. I'm going to get another 8 drives to max out this configuration (8708ELP can support only 16 drives).

The Backplane for the Chassis in my current Build can do 24 drives so I'll probably have to get another controller down the line but for now the Intel RES2SV240 fit the bill because I can put that off and buy more HD's.

As a aside, don't even waste your time calling Intel about this Expander. They will not support any configuration outside of what is listed in the HCL. Not for pre-sale and certainly not for tech support.

The only issue I had was the logs filling up on the RAID Controller with events at the level "Warning" being generated from the Intel RES2SV240. I'll explain a little since others have reported this too.

Your RAID controller will see anything connected to it's output side as a Backplane. The Intel RES2SV240 was made to only work with certain Backplanes which have features yours may not have. Specifically sensors for Fans, Temperature, etc.

So when these aren't present the Intel RES2SV240 generates a Event saying those sensors are bad and sends it to the RAID Controller which reports it.

The workaround is to disable (at the RAID Controller) the Event ID for that sensor.
 
My RES2SV240 is connected to RS2BL080 (LSI 9260-8i) and it's not generating any warnings. Actually it's completely transparent (no firmware, no drivers).
 
rmd3003 said:
My RES2SV240 is connected to RS2BL080 (LSI 9260-8i) and it's not generating any warnings. Actually it's completely transparent (no firmware, no drivers).
Click to expand...

Did you read what I wrote? The RS2BL080 is on the HCL for the RES2SV240 in case you bothered to look that as well as it being a Intel Controller and not a LSI Controller there shouldn't be any of the issues I mentioned with the events.

I also never mentioned anything about drivers or firmware.
 
Any benefit in using this over the HP Expander? I've got an LSI 2008 based controller, and I just figured "Why not get an LSI based expander?"

I just wish it was 28 (LSI SAS2x28 / LSISAS2x28) port instead of 24
 
Benefits over HP expander is the Intel (LSI) will negotiate SATA disks up to 6G whereas the HP maxes at 3G at the moment. Yes its unfortunate that there haven't been more offerings based on the LSI expander chips, at least standalone PCIe cards. LSI seems content letting other companies OEM their chips rather than putting their own expander offerings out. Main places you see the LSISAS2x36 chip installed is Supermicro's server backplanes, Areca's RAID cards and expanders, etc.
 
My controller has two SFF-8087 ports, and my case has 24 HDD lots. There'd be no problem putting one of the ports straight to a backplane, and the other to a RES2SV240, and then 5 SFF-8087 cables from there to populate the rest of the backplanes, would there?
 
EGOvoruhk said:
My controller has two SFF-8087 ports, and my case has 24 HDD lots. There'd be no problem putting one of the ports straight to a backplane, and the other to a RES2SV240, and then 5 SFF-8087 cables from there to populate the rest of the backplanes, would there?
Click to expand...

It will work.
 
Anyone tried RES2SV240 with Adaptec 5805Z? The Adaptec 5805Z is not compatible with the HP SAS Expander (PMC chip) so is there any luck for it to work with RES2SV240? I like the Adaptec 5805Z because I can be lazy and do no need to change battery, but it has only 2 ports so an expander card can be great for me...
 
Did anyone try daisy chaining these? Two of these would give me 36 ports in one box and only need 2 molex connectors. cost aside this might be useful in some cases... (as in physical case and situational case :-D )
 
I am starting to think I may get this instead of the HP expander but I have a few questions:

1) It is a low profile card and looking at Newegg's listing for this they just show the card with no bracket. Does it come with both a full height and low profile bracket?

2) Does it have to be plugged into a PCI-E slot or can it just be run free standing with molex power? What are the considerations if so?
 
Bookmage said:
Did anyone try daisy chaining these? Two of these would give me 36 ports in one box and only need 2 molex connectors. cost aside this might be useful in some cases... (as in physical case and situational case :-D )
Click to expand...

I believe someone here has posted that they were successful in chaining these to test.

I'm not sure I would go that route tho. With only 6 ports, you'll be down to 16 useable connections on the card. It's acceptable, but I probably wouldn't unless I'm being limited by something or require 6GB.

Here's hoping the 36 port stand alone version comes out soon (and reasonably priced) :D
 
ceatc0 said:
Anyone tried RES2SV240 with Adaptec 5805Z? The Adaptec 5805Z is not compatible with the HP SAS Expander (PMC chip) so is there any luck for it to work with RES2SV240? I like the Adaptec 5805Z because I can be lazy and do no need to change battery, but it has only 2 ports so an expander card can be great for me...
Click to expand...

I'm also curious if if the RES2SV240 works on Adaptec controllers (51645 in my case but I believe it would be the same as the 5805/5085)
 
OK, after some careful thinking and evaluation, I have decided to go ahead with purchasing a RES2SV240 to test out the compatibility myself. It is < 300USD with shipping to NZ so the price tag looks good to me.

The outcome is amazing. With the latest BIOS on Adaptec 5805Z (18252) the card can recognize the RES2SV240 and all drives on it properly. I guess to check out if an Adaptec card is compatible with this expander card or not, we can simply look it up in the compatibility report published on Adaptec website.

Usually, those cards that are compatible with LSISASX28 and LSISASX36 should have a very high chance of being compatible with RES2SV240 (LSISASX24). It seems all 5xxx cards are on this list.

The RES2SV240 comes with 2 short SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cables, and 4 long SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cables, and a low profile bracket,in case if you are curious about the content of the package.

Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to do further testing currently, and I would expect the migration of my machine happen in my next longer break, which may be 1-2 months later...
 
my RES2SV240 is connected to a RS2BL080 controller with two cables. but the raid web console only tells me that the RES2SV240 uses Connector 0-3
is this normal? how can a verify that link aggragation or two sas cables from controller to expander are enabled or working?
 
Has anyone tried this card with a LSI SAS 3442E-R HBA? I read of others having success with that HBA and the HP expander. I currently have that LSI card and am thinking about trying it out with the intel expander.
 
So, just for anyone who may be interested in using the LSI 3442E-R card with the Intel RES2SV240 expander, they do work, i just got my Intel expander in the mail today and currently have 2 drive working through it(wanted to test before adding more drives).
 
I'm chiming in to say that I have an RES2SV240 on the way.

My SAS RAID card is an ATTO R680 and it hasn't worked with the HP SAS Expander - which is a bit odd considering both are PMC-Sierra based.

It looks, to me anyway, that the Intel is a better all-round choice, so I'm hoping it arrives within a week (hard to find in Canada!) so we can get the SAS enclosure up and running.
 
@dialing_wand - Where did you order yours from? I special ordered my from N.C.I.X , $264.xx. They gave me a 2 wk estimated ETA.

On a separate note why can't I type the store name ++++ (N.C.I.X) witthout ++++ showing up?
 
Blackdragon said:
@dialing_wand - Where did you order yours from? I special ordered my from ++++, $264.xx. They gave me a 2 wk estimated ETA.
Click to expand...

I'm guessing we ordered from the same place (net link computer?) since I paid about the same. I was given a two week estimate but it shipped out today (less than a week from order date!)

Update: I don't know why either - but I was going to spell it EN-SEE-EYE-EX to get the point across and then just decided to use the full name. It's a bit odd - maybe it's being confused for a four-letter word?
 
I got mine from J&R through Amazon for $268 looks like the one from EN-SEE-EYE-EX is in Canadian dollars so it comes out to about the same price for me in the USA. Arrived 10 days after ordering.
 
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