Rich Freeman wrote: > On Tue, Jun 4, 2024 at 6:19 AM Dale <rdalek1...@gmail.com> wrote: >> You ever seen one of these? >> >> https://www.ebay.com/itm/274651287952 >> >> Is that taking one of those fast USB ports and converting it to a PCIe >> x1 slot? Am I seeing that right? >> > No, it is taking a PCIe 1x slot, using a USB cable, and converting it > into 4 PCIe 16x slots (likely wired at 1x). I doubt that it is using > standard USB though it might be. Thunderbolt can be used to do PCIe > over a USB-C form factor I think, and there is some chance this device > is making use of that. > > I've used a similar device to connect an 8x LSI HBA to a 1x PCIe slot > on an rk3399 ARM SBC (I needed the riser to provide additional power). > In that case it was just one slot to one slot, so it didn't need a > switch. To run 4 slots off of a single 1x would require a PCIe > switch, which that board no-doubt uses. > > PCIe is not unlike ethernet - there is quite a bit you can do with it. > The main problem is that there just isn't much consumer-oriented > hardware floating around - lots of specialized solutions with chips > embedded in them, which are harder to adapt to other problems. > Another issue is that cases/etc rarely provide convenient mounting > solutions when you start using this stuff. > > Take the motherboard you're using. That has PCIe v5 in one of the M.2 > slots, and PCIe v4 in most of the rest of the interfaces. There is no > reason you couldn't run all that into a switch and have a TON of 8x > PCIe v2 slots to use with older HBAs and such. That one M.2 v5 slot > could run 4 8x PCIe v2 slots just on its own. You just need the right > adapter, and those are hard to find from reputable companies. There > is all manner of stuff on ali express and so on, but now you're mining > forums to figure out if they actually work before you buy them. >
I was trying to figure out what it was doing but wasn't sure. I've just never seen one of those before. At some point, I'm going to find a SAS card and post about it. When I'm ready to buy one that is. I wish I could get one that comes with cables that go from the card to SATA drives as a set. That way I know that part is right. At this point, it seems any LSI card will likely work. Just avoid RAID. I still wish that mobo had more PCIe slots. It just gives more options down the road. The speed and memory will be nice tho. When I finally hit the order or pay button. :/ Dale :-) :-)
