Re:Petabytes on a budget: How to build cheap cloud storage
by mmt on Wednesday September 02, 2009 @08:05PM
(#801434)
From experience, I can safely say that luck has nothing to do with it. LSI MegaSASes support more than 240, so it doesn't affect my math at all.
Similarly, from "at home" experience, I can also safely say that luck factors prominently in the vagaries of SATA port multipliers. The reason I even made the attempt was a lower price per port. This is why I'm so started that a solution based on them would end up being more expensive than a SAS-based one.
Of course, if the camel of performance gets its nose into the tent of ones requirements, it has to be the SAS way or the highway.
I don't think a single SAS card can support more than 128 (or maybe 256 if you're lucky) disks. This doesn't affect your math much, but I wouldn't want someone to try this at home and be disappointed. If you're not willing to build a custom case and don't feel like suffering the vagaries of SATA expanders, LSI SAS cards plus Supermicro JBODs are the way to go.