NI HDD-8265 - Square Peg in a Round Hole
NI HDD-8265 - Square Peg in a Round Hole
I operate for "Insert Major Company Here" and we’re relocating storage units and clearing outdated stock. I’ve obtained two National Instruments HDD-8265 drives that I’d like to install as JBODs at home. They sit in a PXI chassis, not a traditional motherboard setup. There’s no motherboard—just an ARC1882IX-12/16/24 Ver. 3A RAID card, connected via a PCIx16 slot card OSS-ECA-1x4-1x6. This is the standard method for linking to a host system. I don’t have the appropriate cable, and it usually costs around $700. While the RAID card can handle its tasks, it lacks a direct connection to a host for initial configuration. I’m considering having someone with more expertise set this up instead of trying to improvise.
Q: Can I connect this RAID card to my home server using a free PCIe slot? Keep all MiniSAS ports on the PXI chassis, install the RAID card in BIOS, reinstall it inside the PXI chassis, and use the web-based UI for further setup? It sounds logical, but I’m unsure. Another challenge is turning on the PXI chassis directly—since it’s meant to receive a signal from the host PC and doesn’t support power-on activation. Thanks for any advice or guidance. HDD-8265.pdf ARC1882_series_Quick_Start_Guide.pdf
The device on the shelf could actually be a SAS expander. (A SAS expander simply allows additional drives to connect to a SAS controller. It functions like a network switch but for SAS instead of Ethernet.) In this scenario, you might only require a SAS controller that matches the external interface on the shelf. (SAS expanders typically reside in a PCIe slot and provide just power, not full controller functionality.) You probably don’t need the proprietary card included with the shelf; generic LSI SAS cards and cables are widely available on eBay at very low prices. Honestly, this setup doesn’t seem worth the effort. It appears outdated, unusual, and power-hungry. If you plan to experiment with drive shelves, consider options favored by the homelab community—such as DellEMC or HP StorageWorks.
It is a SAS Controller (not sure if it is an expander) with RAID functionality. It has it's own BIOS software "McRAID" or something. It has an SFF-8088 port on the back of the card, but I don't believe connecting that to my server would do much without having it set up first (I have no idea). As far as it being old and weird, yeah, it is, but if it can get the job done, it's good enough for me. At the end of the day, I got these for free, I don't have the money to buy one myself, so if there was a way I could get these working, great, if not, nothing really lost. Edited April 1, 2024 by Kirino Adding better wording
I've worked with similar systems around 15 years ago, and to be frank, I wouldn't choose that PCIe cable. It was always a headache. Through these experiences, I gained valuable knowledge about fixing ZFS on Solaris. You'd often lose an entire shelf because the PCIe controller would reset the bus. I realized the backplane connects to the SFF-8643 in the Areca-controller. If that's true, you might be able to adapt and extract the Areca from it, using something like this: https://www.startech.com/de-de/kabel/sff86448plt2. This would provide an SAS connection to the outside world. You could also add some nice metalwork for installation, figure out how to power it on, and you're ready to go.