LSI 9260-8i SATA3 SAS 6Gb/s PCIe 2.0 RAID Card Unboxing & First Look Linus Tech Tips
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Description
ncix.com This is a very high performance, high bandwidth RAID card that I'll be using to do some testing with the OCZ Onyx SSD drive. It supports all the latest features, and I even have a battery back up that I'll be talking about a little bit in case you ever wondered what a battery back up does on a RAID controller.
This video is an unboxing and first look at the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-8i RAID controller. Linus explains the card’s key specifications, emphasizing its flexibility with both SAS and SATA drives and data transfer rates of up to 6 Gbit/s per channel. He distinguishes SAS as enterprise-grade and SATA as consumer-grade, noting that SAS drives are compatible with this interface card while the reverse is not. The host walks through the packaging contents, including the quick installation guide, cable kit, low-profile and full-height brackets, and a driver utilities DVD, highlighting that the kit can support a variety of chassis sizes from single to dense rackmount setups. He points out the potential to connect up to eight ports directly or split them to support up to 32 SAS or SATA devices using the appropriate splitters, and he previews a future series of RAID-focused videos while cautioning viewers that the current video is primarily an unboxing. A notable emphasis is placed on the importance of battery backup units to protect cache data during power loss, given the large onboard cache memory of this controller, and Linus explains how a battery backup ensures data can be safely written to drives after power is restored. The video closes with Linus planning future testing, including using OCZ Onyx SSDs to push the controller’s throughput and demonstrating real-world performance in forthcoming uploads. Overall, the unboxing frames the card as a high-end, flexible storage controller suitable for enthusiasts and prosumers building high-performance storage arrays.
Topics · hardware · storage · technology · unboxing
Questions answered
- What drives is the LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-8i able to host and how does it differentiate SAS from SATA in this context?
- The card supports both SAS and SATA drives with 6 Gbit/s data rates per channel. SAS drives are enterprise-grade, whereas SATA drives are consumer-grade. You can run a SATA drive on a SAS interface card, but you cannot run a SAS drive on a SATA motherboard interface; this card provides the flexible compatibility to use either type, depending on your storage needs.
- What is the purpose of the battery backup unit shown with the RAID controller?
- The battery backup unit protects the controller’s cache memory during power loss. Since the card has a large onboard cache, the battery backup ensures cached data can be safely written to the drives when power is restored, reducing the risk of data loss in critical storage scenarios.
- How many devices can be connected to the card, and what mounting options are available for different server sizes?
- The card supports eight ports and can be used directly or split using cables to reach up to 32 SAS or SATA devices. It ships with both full-height and low-profile brackets to fit various chassis, including single-server deployments and 1U or multi-U rack servers.