Sign in
Microsoft.com
 
Microsoft
 
 
 

locked
Using PCI-E card SATA Controller for adding more HDDs in a WHS PC. Possible? RRS feed

 > 

  • Question

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Good morning,

    I have recently built a PC, intended to be used as my Home Server and used with WHS operating system. The computer has been built in a Sharkoon Rebel12 case and an Etasis ET650 PSU, around an Asus P5QL-E motherboard, an Intel Pentium D 935 Presler CPU (3.2GHz), utilizing a Western Digital RE3 system disc and a bunch of 9 more SATA HDDs for storage, total 10 SATA HDDs. The first six SATA HDDs (including the system disc) are driven and controlled by the motherboard SATA controller. The remaining four HDDs are controlled and driven by two ASRock SATA3 controllers (PCI-E x 1), providing two SATA connections each.

    I was recently informed that the WHS operating system presents some problems in recognizing such kind of controllers. I need to know if this is true, partially or totally, and if there is a solution for it.

    Thanks in advance.

    Thursday, November 4, 2010 7:32 AM

All replies

  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote

    Primarily it's likely to be a driver issue. If you need to go through a server recovery (e.g. your system drive fails) you will need to supply drivers for any drives connected to HBAs not supported by "in box" drivers. It's much less likely that your add-in SATA cards will have the needed drivers, and if the drives connected to them aren't visible to setup, they won't be re-integrated properly and you won't be able to get them to reintegrate after the recovery.

    Like all disaster recovery plans, best practice is to practice the server recovery process before you need it for real. You absolutely do not want to do it for the first time when you really need to recover your server.

    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    Thursday, November 4, 2010 1:09 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
    Sign in to vote
    0
    Sign in to vote
    As Ken has said it may pick the drivers up from windows update when you first add the add in card, but you will need to make sure before you buy the card that you can get server 2003 drivers or at the very least XP drivers. you can initially add them at the very start of the server recovery with a USB thumb drive, but later on when windows is loading at the F6 stage you need to use a floppy drive, which most people dont tend to use anymore, I have an external USB one for convenience So it will work, but your biggest issue will be when you have a problem and need to do a server re installation
    Tuesday, November 16, 2010 8:56 AM