Hi All,

 

Hoping someone can clear this up for me. I am looking at building a NAS (unraid of course) and the best options seem to be the Norco 4020 or 4220.

 

Thing is I am a bit new to SAS and I am a bit confused as to why everyone is getting the 4220 that comes with the SAS modules. Does this mean some are also getting 5 x SAS adapters on their MOBO, or buying MOBO's with SAS integrated? Or if just using SATA and bypassing the SAS plugs? Or using SATA to SAS Cables? In this scenario is there any real benefit? And if not - why not just go the 4020?

 

I am probably screwing this up but as far as I can work out the hardware options are:

 

HDD SATA <=> MOBO SATA (Case 4020):

- 2 x PCI(e) SATA x 8 expansions [+ MOBO SAT ports]

- 20 x SATA Cables

 

HDD SATA <=> SAS module (Case 4220) <=> SATA MOBO:

- 2 x PCIe SATA x 8 expansions [+ MOBO SAT ports]

- 5 x SATA Reverse Breakout Cables

 

HDD SATA <=> SAS module (Case 4220) <=> SAS MOBO:

- 5 x SAS PCIe Adapters?!!!?!? (really?)

- 5 x SAS Cables?

 

Have I screwed that up?

 

Thanks :-)

Helio

 

Many people use the Supermicro AOC-SASLP-MV8, so you would need 2 of those with 4x SFF-8087 Mini SAS connectors to the backplanes.  Then use a reverse breakout cable to take 4 SATA ports from your motherboard.

 

You can't use standard SATA cables in the Norco as the backplanes have SF8087 Mini SAS connectors.

 

Oh and SAS is compatible with SATA, so you can use the same cables and SAS controllers work with SATA drives.  (SAS Drives DO NOT work with SATA controllers).

Thanks Chris - that helped. That is all very expensive down in Aus - but ebay might make it possible

 

Cheers,

Helio.

There are no performance differences between SAS and SATA, the only difference is the 'tidyness' of your cables.  I use all SAS cables in my Norco 4220 - so I have 5 cables that cover all of my 20 drive bays (4 SAS-SAS for the two SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 cards, and 1 SAS-SATA to make use of the motherboard slots).  It is a much cleaner solution, and better for airflow.  However, there are some downsides, namely:

 

Cost.  The SAS-SAS cables were nearly $20 each, and the SAS-SATA was around $15.  SATA-SATA cables usually run less than $3 each (though you would need 20 of them).

 

Potential for array downtime.  If one of my cables went bad, a full 4 drives in my array would be inaccessible.  This is far past unRAID's 1 drive fault tolerance, so my array would have to be down until I could get that cable replaced.  If I were using 20 SATA-SATA cables in a 4020 instead, I could replace just the single bad cable and be up and running again.

There are no performance differences between SAS and SATA, the only difference is the 'tidyness' of your cables.  I use all SAS cables in my Norco 4220 - so I have 5 cables that cover all of my 20 drive bays (4 SAS-SAS for the two SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 cards, and 1 SAS-SATA to make use of the motherboard slots).  It is a much cleaner solution, and better for airflow.  However, there are some downsides, namely:

 

Cost.  The SAS-SAS cables were nearly $20 each, and the SAS-SATA was around $15.  SATA-SATA cables usually run less than $3 each (though you would need 20 of them).

 

Potential for array downtime.  If one of my cables went bad, a full 4 drives in my array would be inaccessible.  This is far past unRAID's 1 drive fault tolerance, so my array would have to be down until I could get that cable replaced.  If I were using 20 SATA-SATA cables in a 4020 instead, I could replace just the single bad cable and be up and running again.

 

Thanks for the info. I went the 4020... now off to find the best MOBO