Reddit mentions of LSI Logic SAS9260-8I SGL Raid 8PORT Int 6GB SAS/sata Pcie 2.0 512MB

> Do you mind sending me a link to that memory? I can only find PC sticks for twice the price.

Sorry in my haste to reply I overlooked the fact that the T20 wants unbuffered ECC ram, which holy crap that jacks up the prices - the registered stuff is cheap, and would be awesome for say a Dell Poweredge server.

My apologies yo.

You say you have 24 gigs of RAM - so you're running 2x8gb & 2x4gb (I'm assuming ECC unbuffered here)? if that's the case, then while it may not be $100 for 32gb Newegg has a 3rd party seller showing $62 per 8GB ecc udimm here.

>Also have you looked into running SSDs? My dilemma is do I get the Samsung 850 Evo or the 950 with a PCI adapter

It looks like you can remove the optical drive and place 2 x 2.5" drives in its place. Me personally, for what you have listed above, I would just install 1 or 2256/500gb 850 evo's in its place and call it a day.

My home server runs all my VM's save for 1 on multiple 120/80/256gb SSD's (basically whatever we had laying around from work after upgrades - that 80 is an old Intel SSD from 2008 or 2009 I think).

So, what I personally would do is:

• upgrade CPU to model with higher clock speed/thread count
  
• upgrade the 4gb sticks of ram to 8gb sticks
  
• remove optical drive, install 2 SSD's connected to motherboard SATA ports
  
• Move quad port ethernet adapter down to the x16 (but 4x electrically) slot
  
• Buy RAID/HBA adapter, install it to top x16 slot
  
• buy 4 of the biggest hard drives I could afford and RAID them (hardware or software)
  
• reinstall pfSense and enjoy full speed internet ;)
  
  For our T30 server on Oahu, we used a 500gb Evo SSD for the 3 VM's, an LSI SAS9260-8i RAID adapter, these cables, and 2 6TB Seagate Ironwolf drives in a mirrored config, and 16gb of NON ECC DDR4 memory (it's not a super mission critical server).
  
  According to this thread you don't need ECC ram, and if you're data isn't suuuuuuuper important (like life threatening important), then to the ebay you find 32GB of non-ecc ram for $145.
  
  FWIW I don't run ECC ram at home, but my home server is mainly for Plex, a single Active Directory server, pi-hole, and pfSense. Not super mission critical, and if one of my Linux ISO's get's corrupted, no big deal.
  
  Our servers in our main office, they get the ECC ram, because that shit's critical - we do electrical engineering w/ AutoCAD, I don't need hours of work down the drain.
  
  Errrrr shit sorry I kinda rambled on and brain dumped. I hope something in that wall of text is useful. Aloha :D
  
  EDIT: forgot a word and a letter :/

High Point? Skip it and look for an LSI 9211-8I for $80 on Amazon. Hmmm.. Amazon.ca? You're getting screwed... Try this. Also look at Runtime Software for data recovery (especially if it was a RAID drive).

https://www.amazon.com/LSI-Logic-SAS9260-8I-8PORT-512MB/dp/B002IT4YG2/ref=sr_1_6?crid=36XXJ2IDV2X16&keywords=lsi+sas+9207-8i&qid=1566840839&s=gateway&sprefix=LSI+SAS%2Caps%2C246&sr=8-6

Don't forget the cable.. If it's a Dell drive, you might need a Dell PERC controller..

No ecc, no go (exp for zfs/storage cache). years ago i went amd for this reason, fx 8 series is dirt cheap and supports ecc

I dont think the asus storage solutions are any better than just having more pcie slots and buying cheap IT cards see https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002IT4YG2/ref=s9_dcacsd_dcoop_bw_c_x_1_w

Your board specs,
Total Slots : 8 (4-channel per CPU, 4 DIMM per CPU)
Capacity : Maximum up to 256GB LRDIMM
Memory Type :
DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 RDIMM
DDR3 1866/1600/1333/1066 UDIMM
DDR3 1866*/1333/1066 LRDIMM
Memory Size :
32GB, 16GB, 8GB, 4GB, 2GB RDIMM
8GB, 4GB, 2GB UDIMM
32GB, 16GB, 8GB LRDIMM

Its sounds like you want raid10 https://searchstorage.techtarget.com/definition/RAID-10-redundant-array-of-independent-disks you will need to buy a raid card if your motherboard doesn't support it. If it doesn't you will need one. I would recommend the LSI brand (I'm currently using an lsi card for raid6). https://www.amazon.com/LSI-Logic-SAS9260-8I-8PORT-512MB/dp/B002IT4YG2?ref_=fsclp_pl_dp_2 this one appears to support raid10. In the QA there is a user who explains how to set it up.

SAS really isn't for the average joe. I would highly recommend against it unless you are willing to go all in. With SAS, If you really want to do SAS then do it right. With Raid 5 and a good raid card.

I recommend the LSI 9260-8i. Its only $40~$50 more than the one you picked. But it the cheapest SAS raid card I can personally vouch for.

For Raid redundancy settings backup (raid doesn't die on you)... get the BBU battery kit. It costs around $160~$177 on its own.

The 9260-8i and it's BBU were used heavily at my last job. My former employers put this specific raid solution in their 2U supermicro 2010/11 server models. They have now since upgraded to much more expensive SAS raid solutions. This is how I know it actually is durable and worth the investment. The raid card has really good 3 year warranty. But be warned that the battery is basically out of warranty after a year. For home NAS usuage this is well beyond overkill... but we hoarders love that kind of shit.

Furthermore, I don't know anything about IT firmware flashing. My opinion is strictly regarding the SAS raid card itself.