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Storage SAS/SATA HBA for non-RAID setup with power management

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by faugusztin, 12 Jul 2011.

  1. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Hi,

    i have a power management issue with my SAS controller. Intel SASUC8I, aka LSI SAS1068R doesn't support hard drive spindown inWindows (when used as a simple HBA without any RAID setup). This means that 8 of my 10 hard drives run without any standby all the time, 24/7.

    With Linux, there was no such problem - but on Windows this is a huge problem. To be more exact - when i try to issue the standby command on ICH10R controller, all goes well :
    But with hard drives connected to SASUC8I, i get :
    In Intel RAID Web Console, i can see that the "Unconfigured good spin down" is set to Disabled (Unconfigured Good = non-RAID and non-spare hard drive connected to the controller), and there is no option to change it.

    Unfortunately, i'm forced to use Windows, so switching to Linux is not an option.

    The question - are there any SATA/SAS controllers with 8 hard drive connectors (or 2 mSAS, which is the same as 8 SATA), for PCI-E interface, with support for hard drive standby feature and/or the HDIO_DRIVE_CMD(standby) command ?

    The system uses about 90W now, and according to my previous knowledge, spinning down 8 hard drives would easily bring me ~15W idle power reduction.

    Any suggestions ?
     
  2. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    Is there a firmware upgrade for the SASUC8I that might add support for this?
     
  3. Buck_Rogers25

    Buck_Rogers25 Minimodder

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    Not sure about this one. Fairly certain Areca do one, but they won't be cheap.

    I've just bought an Areca 1220 for a RAID6 array and just had a flick through the manual, and yes it does support it, page 135 of the manual if you want to download it from there website and check it out. I know they also do an mSAS version, the 1220ML I think it is, that has 2 mSAS as opposed to 8 SATA.

    Here's the product page for the Areca 1220.
     
  4. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Nope. Just flashed the latest LSI firmware, it doesn't support it.

    Exactly the problem. A 150€ card is acceptable. A 500€ card is not (ARC-1222). The problem is that i don't use any RAID functionality, if there would be simple, stupid cards for 8 SATA ports with no RAID functionality, i would buy them. But i have yet to see such card, looks like there is no market for 8 port controller with no RAID functionality :).

    Something like ARC-1300-4i, but with two mSAS connectors would be awesome - but again, no such product.

    Edit: Hm... There is ARC-1320-8i in "PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s SAS Host Adapters" part in http://www.areca.com.tw/support/photo_gallery.htm , but is nowhere to be found in product listings. Price is ~250W, which is a bit high, but could be acceptable in this case, if it would support the feature set i need - namely the hard drive spindown.
     
    Last edited: 12 Jul 2011
  5. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    Would a port multiplier work?
     
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  6. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    I'm not sure... It is more like a data storage, all drives are WD green drives so in theory it shouldn't limit me much if more hard drives share the SATA port. It would be connected to the SATA2 ports in P67 then...

    I think it is a good idea, this could be a solution too. The question is if there are any of these port multipliers on sale in my country at all (i had to import the SASUC8I, no one was selling it at all in my country).
     
  7. Buck_Rogers25

    Buck_Rogers25 Minimodder

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    Hmmm you really are in a bind then, not sure what else to suggest.
     
  8. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Well, it seems there are no port multipliers on sale in my country at all - the ones which were on sale are EOL or not on sale anymore. I checked out amazon.co.uk as well, and while there are some multipliers listed, none are sold by amazon.co.uk...

    What i found so far is http://www.leaf-computer.de/#portmultiplier - postage fee should be 5 euros, which is acceptable. Unfortunately if i got it right, this one is 1 eSATA->5xSATA multiplier, which is of course not a deal breaker - the board has eSATA ports plus i can buy eSATA->SATA cable as well.
     
  9. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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  10. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    P67 SATA connectors and the eSATA ports powered by Marvell 88SE9128 should support port multipliers according to the wikipedia article.

    The problem with that Syba port multiplier is that it is sold by Amazon.com, not Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.de or other european branch.

    Unfortunately this matters, as $67.99 equals €48.65, which is more than the €22 import-without-VAT limit, that means i will have to pay 20% VAT on it and on postage fees, which in best case scenario increases the price to the low €60 region. The other issue is that "Usually ships within 10 to 14 days." note :).

    I'm looking around for other port multipliers with relatively acceptable price, but thanks you for the good idea about port multipliers, i totally forgot about this option.
     
  11. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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  12. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Lycom is again, "3 to 5 weeks".

    I asked leaf-computer few questions about their product (linked above), and except the fact that it is eSATA->SATA (which is easily solvable by using SATA->eSATA cable instead of SATA-SATA cable) it pretty much does what i need - i asked specifically about passing all the commands (so sleep works as well). They are also preparing a internal SATA version, but it will take them cca 3 months to finish and start selling it.

    So now i'm stuck between the Dawicontrol you linked and LCPME5S - Dawicontrol give a little bit more features i will not use (aka indicator LEDs, 3.5" caddy) and it is internal SATA; LCPME5S on other side has disadvantages (eSATA, no caddy), but it smaller and cheaper by little more than 10 euros.

    Have to decide about it, but port multiplier seems the way to go.
     
  13. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    Update :).

    I found the Kouwell/Lycom ST-126 port multiplier at local shop for ~50e (idiots had it labeled "SATA controller").

    Unfortunately the Intel controller even in P67 doesn't support port multipliers, or at least not Sil3726 based ones. That ruled out connecting to the internal SATA ports, so i had to hack a solution through rear eSATA Marvell ports. I bought a eSATA->SATA cable, just to find out that it doesn't work and all shops are already closed. After a while i realized i had a eSATA PCI bracket from old ASUS board, which was technically a PCI card bracket with eSATA port on one side, and SATA cable on other side (something like this). End result ? I connected eSATA cable to the eSATA connector on motherboard, to the eSATA connector on this PCI bracket, and the SATA cable from the bracket to the port multiplier.

    End result - all drives work, port multiplier works, drive standby works. Power consumption in idle decreased from 89-95W to 71-75W idle power consumption - which is really cool considering it's a i5 2500K, GT430, 8GB RAM, DVB-C card, 10 hard drives + 1 SSD setup :). Plus i talk about power consumption from the socket, so the real power consumption when i remove the PSU (in)efficiency is around 60W.
     
  14. Fingers66

    Fingers66 Kiwi in London

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    Good stuff, I love the creative way you resolved it.

    Sent from my HTC Desire S
     
  15. Buck_Rogers25

    Buck_Rogers25 Minimodder

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    Nicely done mate :).
     

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