Sorry if this is a stupid question but I can't seem to find a final answer to my question.

 

A while back I accidentally bought a 2x eSATA PCI-e card instead of what I was after, a SATA expansion PCI-e card.

 

Would it be possible for me to just run an eSATA to SATA (is there such a cable?) to my internal HDD through the back of my case, plug in a SATA power cable and add it to my drive pool?  Or is eSATA something completely different?

Yes. There is such a cable and it works fine.

Thanks mate!  That will give me space for two more drives while I RMA this SI-PEX40064 that was DOA.

 

 

Probably the best place to get this cable:  http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=102&cp_id=10226&cs_id=1022603&p_id=8792&seq=1&format=2

 

... both Newegg and Amazon are 2-3 times as expensive.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm in Australia.  I just got a couple off eBay.

...  I'm in Australia.

 

:)

... easy to overlook the many international users on this forum.  I wish it showed the country by your name.

 

We're spending 3 weeks in NZ/Australia next Feb -- definitely looking forward to visiting your great country.

 

Ah cool 

 

We're spending 3-4 weeks in the US next April, also really looking forward to it!

Reading this I remembered I had an Edge 10 DAS with esata connection lying around

 

http://www.edge10.de/das_e.html

 

These drives could be picked up by unRAID?

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I can't seem to find a final answer to my question.

 

A while back I accidentally bought a 2x eSATA PCI-e card instead of what I was after, a SATA expansion PCI-e card.

 

Would it be possible for me to just run an eSATA to SATA (is there such a cable?) to my internal HDD through the back of my case, plug in a SATA power cable and add it to my drive pool?  Or is eSATA something completely different?

 

 

You can do that. There are cables for that. It's a bit cumbersome but it's possible.

if you have the extra brackets you can get an dual eSATA bracket to SATA then use two regular eSATA to eSATA cables.

That's cleaner but has more connectors.

 

 

beacket

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=104&cp_id=10407&cs_id=1040707&p_id=7638&seq=1&format=2

I did not find suitable short eSATA cables on monoprice

 

 

bracket

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812226003&cm_re=esata_bracket-_-12-226-003-_-Product

esata cable

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812816035

 

 

or

esata to sata , but now you are running an external cable via a hole to an internal drive.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270167&cm_re=esata_to_sata-_-12-270-167-_-Product

 

 

 

 

While I've provided examples, I would suggest you look for other choices also. Find the best quality for the money you plan to invest in your build.  I've used some of these products and have not used others.