My Norco 4224 server of 14 years is currently loaded with SATA 2TB drives using onboard and SuperMicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 controller SATA ports (via reverse breakout cables).  The specs says the Norco 4224 accommodates SATA/SAS drives.

 

1. Does this mean I can just load a SAS drive into one of the drive tray and it will plug into the HBA like the SATA drives? 
2. Do I need to replace the onboard SATA port connections and SuperMicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 controller with something with SAS connection?
3. Does anyone knows what SAS version and bandwidth is the HBA that came with the Norco 4224?

 

Just planning my options to upgrading my drives and seeing what of the current server I can reuse.

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by mifronte
Grammar

I have a Norco 4220. Last month I added these items and it's working great. I did have to tape off some pins on the 14 GB refurb drives I bought to make them work, but that was also the case with the MV8. This is with unraid version 7.0.0.

 

Tape power mod:

https://imgur.com/a/3-3v-pin-reset-BFdmB

 

16 port SAS card:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326266070704

 

Cables (the MV8 cables won't work with the newer SAS card):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086TVKKNX?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Edited February 1, 20251 yr by Dase

22 hours ago, beanmeister said:

1. Does this mean I can just load a SAS drive into one of the drive tray and it will plug into the HBA like the SATA drives? 
2. Do I need to replace the onboard SATA port connections and SuperMicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 controller with something with SAS connection?
3. Does anyone knows what SAS version and bandwidth is the HBA that came with the Norco 4224?

 

1) Yes. To verify this, check the end where you insert the drives. You'll notice that you'll see one big connector that is entirely open, instead of having a separate power and data connector like with sata.

On the drive side, SATA drives have a hole between the connectors, but SAS has this filled in with pins on top for an extra connection.

2) SAS controllers can speak SAS and SATA protocols, but SATA controllers don't speak SAS so you need to replace it. Unlike SATA, SAS cables are straight through, so you can get SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 or SFF-8087 to SFF-8643 cables that will work, depending on what card you pick. You'll have to make sure they are intended for SAS/SATA though, not NVMe.

As for which card, it shouldn't really matter although if you get a SAS 4 card, those don't support 3Gbps drives anymore (SATA2)

3) The Norco 4224 supports SAS 2 meaning 6Gbps, with SFF-8087 connectors. Since these are 'dumb' backplanes, if you connect 12Gbps drives to a 12Gbps SAS controller (SAS 3) there is a chance they will negotiate at that speed as well. SAS is backward compatibile, so there is no reason to specifically buy a SAS2 card if they are more expensive.

On 2/1/2025 at 4:38 PM, Wody said:

2) SAS controllers can speak SAS and SATA protocols, but SATA controllers don't speak SAS ...

 

So does this mean if I use SAS controllers with straight through SAS cables, I can still use SATA drives?  If yes, can I mix SATA and SAS drives?

14 hours ago, beanmeister said:

So does this mean if I use SAS controllers with straight through SAS cables, I can still use SATA drives?  If yes, can I mix SATA and SAS drives?

Usually you'd use a SAS cable with a backplane, which then has SFF-8482 connectors where you insert the drives, or a cable with the SFF-8482 connector directly, but yes, SATA drives fit in those too. And yes, you can mix it. It's generally not recommended because they behave differently (when something goes wrong, SATA drives will say hold on, and hang the system until something happens, while SAS drives say come back later) and you don't want that in a business, but for unraid it's normally fine, I run two servers, one SAS only, and one mixed.