recommend jbod controller for 4tb drives

yee379

n00b
Joined
May 27, 2012
Messages
16
i just purchased a 4tb for 150USD :) problem is my current SAS1068E controller doesn't support >2tb drives... so i'm in the market for a 8 port sata controller board that will support my purchase. any recommendations?

don't really care about performance as it's mostly cold storage and backups, but must be compatible with my zfs ubuntu setup as a drop-in. (don't mind flashing, but don't care to mess around with anything else).

was originally looking at the ibm m1015, but ebay seems to be short in supply.
 
compared to the fact that you could buy one for around 75USD a year ago. :( they're all ~100+.

The consistent fall of hard disk prices may have stimulated demand for these cards. That's just a guess though.
 
SAS1068E is what is in your motherboard?
Can't connect it directly?

i'm not sure if i understand your question MrGuvernment: the 1068E is the chip set on the disk controller. i believe i should try to find one with a LSI 2008 chip set for the >2tb functionality - however, they're not cheap. i was wondering if there are other brands worth considering...
 
All 8+ port options are $100+ and have been since the start of 2013.

People have realized the value of the m1015
 
At first, when people found that m1015 could be flashed to 9211IT firmware, they were around $60-75, but as most storage oriented forums started to spread the word, and it runs great in multiple OS, so the demand increase thus we are atm into $100 range. You can find them a little below if you are lucky into finding sales on forums, but not a lot, as they still sell fine around $100. Heres an example, M1015s in stock $85, but i believe they are low profile brackets.
 
Heres an example, M1015s in stock $85, but i believe they are low profile brackets.

thanks for the link: sounds a bit dodgy to me, i think i'd rather pay the extra on ebay and at least have some financial recourse.

yeah, it's beginning to sink in now; shoulda bought the damn thing last year. the whole thai flood thing really slowed down hd price drops, otherwise i would have probably bought a card sooner - although from everyones response, i guess so would everyone else!

so the ibm m1015 card is still the best one to get from the sounds of it....?
 
or try to find dell H200 on ebay, can be flash to 6G SAS (IT) dell firmware.
the default H200 treats unconfigured drives as JBOD.

I bought two ~$70/each with freeshipping (highprofile bracket and non bracket) on early this year.
 
or try to find dell H200 on ebay, can be flash to 6G SAS (IT) dell firmware.
the default H200 treats unconfigured drives as JBOD.

I bought two ~$70/each with freeshipping (highprofile bracket and non bracket) on early this year.

thanks for the tip cantalup: a quick look on ebay shows that it's about the same cost as the ibm m1015 :( are there any benefits (except for supply) of the h200 over the ibm?

maybe i should rename the title: i found out that jbod is not that same as pass through (ie just present each individual disk to the OS): does any one know if the ibm m1015 or the dell h200 supports pass through (with the IT firmware of course)?
 
thanks for the tip cantalup: a quick look on ebay shows that it's about the same cost as the ibm m1015 :( are there any benefits (except for supply) of the h200 over the ibm?

maybe i should rename the title: i found out that jbod is not that same as pass through (ie just present each individual disk to the OS): does any one know if the ibm m1015 or the dell h200 supports pass through (with the IT firmware of course)?

no benefit on H200 over M1015, both are just supply and demand.

to flash H200 to IT 6G HBA -> http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=1045376

it supports passthrough, you can query with smartctl with -D option (as I remember..)

or H300.. this card is identical with M1015 with dellizer firmware, I do not have this card, and can not comment on this card.

as I remember (on linux). M1015 and H200 with IR ( as long as unconfigured drive, do not make logical RAID drive) or IT are pass-through.
I have both M1015 and H200.
 
I bought a H310 to try this out. I flashed a H310 to IT firmware using the procedure from the M1015 and the firmware from here: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/driverdetails?driverid=YJ78T

OEM LSI 9211-8i firmware complains about branding/can't load but I used the LSI mptsas2 bios with no issues.

I believe, hard to use firmware from LSI directly but possible, since Dell is well know on hardware locking on their firmware only.
H310 is identical with M1015 in hardware wise, but M1015 is easy to flash with LSI firmware directly.

I am sticking with my 1XM1015 and 2XH200 .. bought around $70/each including shipping.
I should bought H310 when was less $70, the last I saw was $68. the price is jumping up to ~$90 currently(buy it now on ebay).. where is demands, there is profits.
 
Last edited:
I believe, hard to use firmware from LSI directly but possible, since Dell is well know on hardware locking on their firmware only.
H310 is identical with M1015 in hardware wise, but M1015 is easy to flash with LSI firmware directly.

I am sticking with my 1XM1015 and 2XH200 .. bought around $70/each including shipping.
I should bought H310 when was less $70, the last I saw was $68. the price is jumping up to ~$90 currently(buy it now on ebay).. where is demands, there is profits.

How did you get around branding error when flashing firmware on your H200? I tried to flash 9211 firmware, I may try 9210 firmware based on your reply.
 
Thanks for the thread. I just built a new Supermicro OI/Napp-it server to upgrade my NAS. I dropped 4 x 4TB HDs into it and realized my IBM BR10i doesn't support the drives. Purchased a H310 on Ebay.
 
Back
Top