Hello,

I want to add an external hard drive 4u enclosure to my Unraid here is the basic data cable conections:
 

SAS HBA controller -> SAS expander -> SATA drives
 

My question is from the controller to the expander can I go by SAS cable lengths or do I still have to go by SATA?  I think the expander ups the signal to SAS standards but I am not to familiar with SAS and SATA aside from general information.

 

Basic list of devices (not everything just the items for this part):

LSI M1050 Controller

Intel Res2cv360 Expander

NORCO RPC-4220

 

Thanks for the help

10 minutes ago, Shigo_Naito said:

My question is from the controller to the expander can I go by SAS cable lengths or do I still have to go by SATA?

SAS, but avoid getting close to the max, expander to SATA disks you're limited to 1m, but again if possible avoid max, e.g. use 0.5m

yep I am hopping to use 1.5m-2m 8088 cable to the box and then .5m from the expander to the bay.