I'm currently testing with four 2TB Seagate low power disks and probably will be waiting until they hit a price/GB similar to the cheapest 1.5TB disks now before I buy any more. I can now hook up 8 disks directly to the P410 card (it has 2 internal mini SAS connectors). It could take a while before I can report back as the whole idea of this setup is to spread the costs by buying the different components over time.
all communication is done via the SAS bus. I don't think the PCIe bus is used for anything other than providing power. I think you can get away with powering it directly from a power supply, just soldering the +3.3 and ground directly on the SAS expander board and hooking that up to a power supply. Is anyone using this card (and the SAS expander card) at the moment or has anyone considered it and decided against it? Could you please share your experiences? Unfortunately I can find very little information on using this card in a home storage server.
I already have experience with Smart Array controllers in HP Windows server environments.Īlthough the total price (512MB + battery card, SAS expander, RAID6 license) will come close to a 16+ drive capable Areca or Adaptec card, the HP SAS Expander card and RAID6 license can be added when needed, spreading the costs. can be updated with a licence key to allow for RAID6, 60 and HP's ADG RAID (~$200 on eBay)
can be expanded beyond 8 drive connection limit with the compatible HP SAS expander card (PCIe 8x card) (~$200 on eBay). low initial purchase price (~$300-$400 on eBay). I'm currently researching a 16 or 20 drive Windows based storage server and am very interested in using the HP card for the following reasons: Has anyone used a HP Smart Array P410 RAID controller (maybe even in combination with the HP SAS expander card) or considered it for a DIY storage server project?