Tips for a storage controller upgrade.

[wild_dog]

Heya all.

On my current rig, I'm using a Adaptec RAID 52445 as a JBOD controller for 24 SSDs.

However, this thing is more than 2 decades old, and the main bottleneck for my storage (specified total throughput to all drives is 1.2GB/s).
I'd like to upgrade the controller, but SATA/RAID controllers are not something that most tech comparison sites focus on, frustrating the search.
So i was hoping that the people here could give some tips on storage controller models/manufacturers that i could look for?

The current drives are connected through 6 SFF-8087 > 4*sata cables, so ideally I'm looking for controllers with 6 internal SFF-8087 connectors.
Since I'm using Microsoft storage solutions for software RAID, I don't need any built in RAID capability, JBOD is sufficient.

Any tips on finding a controller with those specs would be appreciated (I'll look for bargains on my own).

[Electronics Wizardy]

Broadcom(was LSI) is probably making some of the better HBA cards you can get. The new HBAs won't be cheap, but you can get away with a older model on ebay here, but the 24 port versions like the 9305-24i are still very expensive.

 

Id probably get a 8 port controller, and sas expander. You will still get much faster than the old HBA, and will be close the the pcie speed limits anyways. So something like a 9211 8i with a 24 port sas expander

[wseaton]

Another vote for the 9211....reasonably inexpensive, especially used.  

[jde3]

Another Vote for LSI, We have used several LSI Logic SAS 9207-8i cards with good results. They are very cheep considering.

[wseaton]

The LSI can also keep up with SATA SSD performance to some respect. Onboard Intel RST can't.

 

I've also not had 9xxx series LSI cards catch fire like Dell Perc 100/300 cards.

[Blue4130]

1 hour ago, wseaton said:

The LSI can also keep up with SATA SSD performance to some respect. Onboard Intel RST can't.

 

I've also not had 9xxx series LSI cards catch fire like Dell Perc 100/300 cards.

Dell cards catching fire? Any proof of this being an issue or just biased?