Promise SATA Cards

[flambot]

Hello my fellow Unraidians,

 

Well I've just taken the plunge from the basic version to the "Pro" version and 15 data drive possibilities.  Thx Tom for the prompt mail-out of my rego file.

 

I went to get some more 500Gb HDD's this morning only to find most local vendors don't keep stock (even though advertised on their websites).  Thankfully I finally tracked down a store that had two.  I put two more on order.  This fills all the available SATA ports on the MB, so my next question is the add-on cards.  I rang the local distributor and they weren't very knowledgeable about the TX4 (seemed to think it was an old card).  The could offer other cards (think scary price!!), but I want something that's been tested to work.  I know there are some other Kiwis visiting these boards - any suggestions locally?

 

While these are currently not critical (I have 2Tb to fill up first) I'd like to chase these up now so I don't have to wait weeks for their arrival (I might have to import).

 

Hey Tom, could you possibly supply if need be?

 

Finally, my MB (P5B-E) has one external SATA port (there are 7 Internal).  Any suggestions as to the best way to utilise this port.  I'll probably have to drill a hole and thread a SATA cable outside.  Are long SATA cables okay?  Without this port I can't fulfil my 16 drive limit.  Thx in advance.

 

 

[cmhardwick]

flambot, where are you located? If in the US, you can get them from NewEgg, Amazon and CDW, all for close to the same price, seems like it was between $70 and $80.

 

I ordered mine from Amazon because it was a little cheaper and qualified for free standard shipping and I wasn't in a hurry

[Glimmerman911]

He is a kiwi, so like me (Canadian) Newegg is a no-go.

 

Newegg really needs to learn to ship internationally, or at least to Canada!

[cmhardwick]

Well, Amazon I ships to Canada, but don't know the charges/time lag. And it's not sold in the "Amazon Marketplace" from another vendor, it's actually sold from Amazon.

 

Just my 2 cents

[flambot]

Never think of Amazon as a company that does computer stuff.  I'll have a look.  Thx for the input.

 

[limetech]

...

Hey Tom, could you possibly supply if need be?

Are you talking about the Promise SATA TX4's?  If so, send me an email [email protected] and I might be able help you out.

 

Finally, my MB (P5B-E) has one external SATA port (there are 7 Internal).  Any suggestions as to the best way to utilise this port.  I'll probably have to drill a hole and thread a SATA cable outside.  Are long SATA cables okay?  Without this port I can't fulfil my 16 drive limit.  Thx in advance.

 

Long cables are ok.  You can attach an external SATA drive, perhaps using it to quickly transfer from existing hard drives - that is one of the uses we envision for the eSATA connector on the MD-1500.