goal #

find a device you want to connect. #

in general this should be a sata or sas device. sata express and pcie devices can already be excluded.

figure out what connection is needed #

have a look at the type of connector your device has to figure out the exact type. details here

select hba #

this will be the most important choice you’ll make

vendor #

there are only 3 valid players left on the market: broadcom, microchip & atto.

broadcom #

• by far the dominant player
• their older products can are sold under the “lsi” or “avago” brand name
• almost all hba’s and raid controller from vendors like hp, dell, ibm, lenovo, etc… are actually broadcom devices.

microchip #

• also known as microsemi, adaptec & pmc-sierra
• no current oem cards that i know of
• market share tiny compared to broadcom but they’re trying to make a comeback

atto #

• no experience with their hba’s

controller mode #

• you want a “hba” controller, also known as “it mode” for older controllers.
• you do not want a raid controller, even if it’s running in jbod mode.
• you do not want a “sas expander”

the fine print #

there might be some non obvious limitations for certain devices. they are mentioned in the manuals, which i recommend reading. at this stage in your journey they might not stand out, so here is the list of caveats i’ve found.

some controllers i have used #

• lsi 9300-4i (hba)
• broadcom 9500-16e (hba)
• cisco mraid 12g (raid)
• dell perc h730 (raid)

current advise: broadcom 9500 series

• non-oem (so actual broadcom) highly suggested over oem versions
• 2 connectors recommended (so 9500-16i, or 9500-8e/16e)
• cheaper alternative: lsi 9300-8i or 9300-4i4e

selection criteria #

• current needs and possible future needs
• price
• eol/eos timeframe
• amount and type of connectors
• power/heat

get cables #

install hba, drivers-firmware-airflow #

read small print (like 9300 doesn’t do sata1, 9600 doesn’t do sas, etc…) #

storcli & sg3 utils #

connect device #

initialize, update fw, reformat #

profit #