Asus H110I-Plus paired with MZHOU SATA expansion card supporting six ports
Asus H110I-Plus paired with MZHOU SATA expansion card supporting six ports
I connected my Asus H110I-Plus to a MZHOU SATA expansion card with six ports and installed nine drives: three Samsung EVO SSDs and six 3.5-inch HDDs. My system only recognized four HDDs from the card, but when I removed one, another worked. It seems there might be an issue with the chip or the setup preventing full utilization of all drives.
The controller card seems to have some issues. It includes a dual SATA controller using the ASM1061 chip, and another chip called JMB575 that acts as a port multiplier. This multiplier chip functions like a network switch, combining signals from up to six SATA devices into one output—essentially sharing bandwidth among multiple drives. You might find on this card: the ASM1061 handling one SATA port and the JMB575 managing the others. It’s unclear if all drives are compatible with port multipliers, as some may not handle them well.
They’re mostly refurbished or used items. Prices rose temporarily due to the Chia mining boom, but they should stabilize now. Check eBay for terms like: sas controller hba jbod, SAS cards with 1 or 2 connectors for 4 SATA ports, HBA JBOD, and LSI controllers. Look for SAS connectors labeled SFF8087 and search for matching cables or breakout options. Prices range from around $40 to over $65 depending on specs and accessories. Several listings show multiple drives connected via these ports, while others list controllers with separate cables.
The 9260 controller requires RAID setups for drives, not standalone ones. 9211 offers the best compatibility overall.