Ruben Schade  🔰 🇦🇺

#FreeBSD brain trust!

What's your go-to budget RAID controller card for JBOD'ing a bunch of #OpenZFS drives at home?

Clara's and my homelab/plex/bhyve/Minecraft server is running out of space, and we have no SATA ports left.

(Update: I meant HBA, not RAID. I just want something that exposes Just a Bunch Of Drives).

https://rubenerd.com/i-wanted-an-hba-not-a-raid-jbod/

Rubenerd: I wanted an HBA for FreeBSD, not a RAID JBOD

JBOD on RAID doesn't make sense. I really wanted a general HBA.

Dec 7, 2023 at 11:29pmWeb
Show threadMichael DexterDec 7, 2023
@rubenerd
U mean HBA. Always LSI/Avago/Broadcom. Like every vendor out there!
Show threadRuben Schade  🔰 🇦🇺Dec 8, 2023

@dexter YES, I knew there was a specific term for it, THANK YOU!

(Can you tell I live in Penguin land with RAID controllers all day?)

Show threadMichael DexterDec 8, 2023
@rubenerd
😭
Show threadK5KGTDec 8, 2023

@rubenerd I use this on my TrueNAS system (actually using Scale at the moment for ... reasons), should work without a hitch. Mine's full of 10 x 8TB drives.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09F2NCZN9/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I'm pretty sure your not supposed to use a hardware raid with ZFS.

(unless I completely missed your question)

Show threadRuben Schade  🔰 🇦🇺Dec 8, 2023

@K5KGT No you're right, thank you :). I wanted something that exposes Just a Bunch Of Drives for ZFS in a home env.

(@dexter reminded me that my clumsily-worded "RAID for JBOD" is called HBA).

Show threadDiane BruceDec 8, 2023
@rubenerd I'm glad of that correction as I was *really* wondering. ;) Sorry can't help you on a card. I do hope you have a PSU that can handle the extra drives.
Show threadFilip 👻Dec 8, 2023
@rubenerd been using LSI 9211-8I on my FreeBSD NAS — works like a charm 👌🏻 Usually LSI HBAs work reliably in my experience
Show threadMichael DexterDec 8, 2023

@rubenerd
"Hobart Airport (IATA: HBA, ICAO: YMHB) is an international airport located in Cambridge..."

LOL!
@encthenet

Show threadRuben Schade  🔰 🇦🇺Dec 8, 2023
@dexter @encthenet (I've been accused of not taking technical posts seriously enough, so I'm leaning into it 😅)
Show threadEric BorischDec 8, 2023
@rubenerd @dexter You can’t go wrong with LSI9207 series.
Show threadPhil Dennis-JordanDec 8, 2023
@rubenerd I’m using the SilverStone ECS06 with TrueNAS Core and it’s been absolutely fine. It shows up as a regular AHCI controller (ASMedia ASM1166 controller chip), so drivers are not an issue. The PCIe 3.0 x2 link might be a bottleneck if you’re using all SSDs, but for up to 2 SSDs and the rest HDDs it’s fast enough. https://amzn.to/4ac9wbt
It also works reliably with PCIe passthrough to a VM. (assuming the motherboard, CPU, and slot support it, of course)
Amazon.de

Show threadPete WrightDec 9, 2023
@rubenerd I’d be keen to know too. Back in the day I had a decent adaptec PCI sata HBA that worked well. Searching Newegg seems to turn up a bunch of rando brands of dubious origins…

I’m almost tempted to just upgrade all my drives to larger sizes 😁
Show threadTim PrestonDec 9, 2023

@rubenerd an LSI HBA flashed into IT mode https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=lsi+hba+&_trksid=p4432023.m4084.l1313

From memory the 9211 models are the cheapest. The TrueNAS hardware guide has more details. Good luck 😄