Reddit reviews OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives

Keep in mind that if it's access/seek times that's frustrating you, then SATA III vs SATA II isn't going to make much difference. Really, the only time you're probably going to see a difference is if you need to read a file larger than 300MB in under a second.

That being said, yes the PCIe cards will work. From what I can see, the power tab on the card might just be for the additional SATA port on the card. However, keep in mind that it's at best a PCIe 2.0 x1 card, which means you will absolutely max out at 5Gbit/sec at the best. You can get an OWC Accelsior S which is PCIe 2.0 x4 and definitely doesn't require external power, however, it's almost twice as much.

If all the drives are connected to 1 H200 and that is being passed through ESXi will not let you install onto it.

There are a couple options you have:

1: Obtain a PCI to sata card and put a small SSD/2.5" HDD and install your VMs onto that. (This is what I did)

2: PXE boot the image and install onto one of the drives being passed through.

3: Use the internal DVD drive or an external USB dvd drive to boot a FreeNas DVD and then install that way.

One caveat is that there are some conversion kits out there that conveert the DVD space into a 2.5" drive bay but I am pretty sure that the Sata connector on the motherboard is a SATA 2 spec so if you go that way you may not be getting the maximum utilization out of an SSD you put in there.

Edit: This is the PCI to SATA card I purchased. ESXI handles it no problem.

I use these for boot drives in my R710s. Might be what you're looking for: https://www.amazon.com/OWC-Accelsior-S-PCIe-to-2-5-34-6Gb-s-SATA-SSD-Host-Adapter/dp/B00WUZPMHE/

This is what I use:

OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUZPMHE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tD.WAbRK6H3FG

There is and is why I bought this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00WUZPMHE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Full SATA3 speeds for your SSD.

I just bought and installed this in my R710. It worked without any hassle when I began my Proxmox install last night.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B78SD66/

The onboard SATA is only 3Gb though, so you won't get full speeds. Although it will still be a lot better than a spinning disk.

I'm thinking about buying this though, for full SATAIII speeds.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUZPMHE/

I use this in my R710...
OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUZPMHE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_M8V3CbK1S0AX4

Please let me know if you get anywhere with this! Having the same issue with my r720. I tried this card also and got the same result OWC Accelsior S PCIe Adapter for 2.5" SATA III SSD Drives https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WUZPMHE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_teQ4Ab7GRMH0D

Maybe try this adapter. 720xd should have 3x full height pcie slots.

Or look at doing a pcie to m.2 SSD if you don't have the 2.5 inch SSD yet.