External SATA JBOD

[Adriaan de Groot]

On Sunday 13 January 2008, Michael Fuckner wrote:
> Can this be done with esata and a port multiplier in the box like this one:
> http://raidsonic.de/de/pages/products/external_cases.php?we_objectID=4239

I did something similar with an Addonics 4-drive housing and a SiI 3124 based 
SATA controller. That meant writing some of the driver for the 3124, but it 
was fun (and the Soren did the heavy lifting).

> I want to use software Raid via ZFS, so this should be a dumb chassis.
> Is anyone using a simliar configuration succesfully? Are port
> multipliers supported by FreeBSD? Do I need any special Sata-controller?
> Can I read SMART information?

I don't think PM is supported yet. Certainly not in 6-STABLE, possibly in 7. I 
remember Soren was delaying PM work until NCQ was in; I had PM support 
without NCQ in 6-STABLE at one point, but that severely limits the total 
throughput of the drives. You may be better off with a 4-port card and a 
multilane cable (my HW setup is an X4200 with four red SATA cables snaking 
out the back from the 3124 to the external drives enclosure, which has 4 SATA 
ports on the back).


-- 
These are your friends - Adem
    GPG: FEA2 A3FE Adriaan de Groot
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