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Green circuit board with eight internal SAS ports and two mounting brackets

LSI

LSI 9211-8i 6Gbps SAS HBA IT Mode P20 8-port network card

SKU CH-HPSN-S7WTD

Eight-port SAS HBA with LSI SAS2008 controller, PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface, and IT mode firmware P20 for direct drive access

  • IT Mode P20 firmware enables direct drive control for ZFS and unRAID
  • LSI SAS2008 controller delivers 6Gbps SAS and SATA connectivity
  • Eight internal ports via two SFF-8087 connectors support up to eight drives
  • PCIe 3.0 x8 interface provides host connectivity
  • Includes full-height and low-profile brackets for flexible installation

Eight-port SAS HBA for storage arrays

The LSI 9211-8i is an eight-port host bus adapter built around the SAS2008 controller chipset. It presents eight internal SAS or SATA connections through two SFF-8087 ports. The card targets builders assembling ZFS, FreeNAS or unRAID storage servers who need direct drive access without RAID abstraction.

PCIe 3.0 x8 link caps throughput at 6 Gbps per lane

The adapter installs in a PCIe 3.0 x8 slot and negotiates at 6 Gbps per physical lane. That ceiling limits aggregate bandwidth when all eight drives are active simultaneously. Workloads that demand sustained throughput beyond this boundary will saturate the link before the drives reach their own limits.

IT Mode P20 firmware exposes raw drives to the OS

Firmware version 20.00.07.00 runs in IT Mode, presenting each attached drive as a discrete block device to the operating system. This behaviour is the decisive factor for software-defined storage platforms that manage redundancy and caching themselves. Buyers who require hardware RAID volumes or battery-backed write cache cannot use this card for that purpose.

How it compares

Measured against everything we stock in Ethernet Cards & NICs, at today’s prices. Recalculated every night.

Price $55.99
Cheaper than about 64% of the 1,505 comparable items (median $90.99).

Specifications

No published specifications for this item yet.

Questions about this item

How many internal ports does the 9211-8i provide and what cables are included?

The card has eight internal ports driven by the SAS2008 controller. Two SFF-8087 to SAS/SATA breakout cables are included in the box.

What does the 6Gbps rating mean for each connected drive?

Each SAS or SATA drive attached to the SAS2008 can run at up to 6Gbps, so a hard drive or SSD will transfer at its native SATA III or SAS-2 speed without bottleneck.

Will the PCIe 3.0 x8 slot limit the eight ports in any way?

A PCIe 3.0 x8 link delivers ample bandwidth for eight 6Gbps ports, so the slot does not cap the SAS2008 controller in normal operation.

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