Re: [gentoo-user] Mobo, CPU, memory and a m.2 thingy. This work together?

[Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com>]

Rich Freeman wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 4, 2024 at 6:19 AM Dale <rdalek1967@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

:-)  :-)