January 5, 201115 yr I guess my first purchase will be a case and an add on SATA card for extra drives. I think I've already made the decision to get the Supermicro card since just about everyone is using it here with no problems. Any place in particular online that you guys like or use? I usually shop at Newegg, Buy, and Amazon. By the way, does this card come with the correct cables? I never bought a card like this, so I don't know how it connects all 8 cables to it? Also, this SATA card came out in 2005. Is there an updated or faster model that replaces this card? Eventually unRAID will hopefully support faster speeds, so instead of paying $100 for an old SATA card I may want a newer model. I'm also looking to get a 10-12 bay tower case. I would like one that has fans already installed. I would just plop in the hardware. I see many cases that look nice, anyone recommend a good solid case that has 10-12 5 1/4 bays? Would need HD hot swap modules also I guess.
January 5, 201115 yr It does not come with cables, so you will need to order those separately. I ended up getting mine from ebay.. if you watch there are some decent deals. I saw one go a few days ago for 80.00 which is 20-30 dollars off the regular prices.
January 6, 201115 yr Cards Superbiiz.com NewEgg.com Cables Buy.com NewEgg Rajahal hooked me up with these URLS's a while back. I bought both my cables and my card from NewEgg. Of course you will need 1 card and 2 cable sets for a complete build.
January 6, 201115 yr Author Awesome, thanks! I've also had my eye on a 6gb/sec card too. It has a faster processor on the card, so maybe i'll get max performance than the slower 3gb/sec card. Not entirely sure, but it is $100 more!
January 6, 201115 yr I just bought this card last week from NewEgg. As others have mentioned it does not include the cables. I bought 2 sets of this cable from NewEgg as well: 3ware CBL-SFF8087OCF-05M 1 unit of 0.5m Multi-lane Internal (SFF-8087) Serial ATA breakout cable, forward Item#: N82E16816116097 The build quality of the cables was good. The card was shipped from NewEgg's Fort Worth, TX warehouse and the cables shipped in a separate box from their Whittier, CA warehouse.
January 6, 201115 yr I almost always buy these cards from SuperBiiz as they consistently have them in stock, they ship them to me faster than Newegg, and they are generally cheaper than Newegg! Not cheaper you say? Always check this website before buying for a 5 - 15% off promo code: Superbiiz Promo codes. As for the cables I just go with whoever is cheapest, or maybe just default to Newegg if I'm feeling lazy.
January 6, 201115 yr Author Would you ever want to upgrade to a faster 6gb/sec card or just a faster HBA card that does its own processing?
January 6, 201115 yr Good question. Personally, I probably wouldn't because my server is plenty fast enough. Still, within a few years I'm sure it will be difficult to find SATAII card so we'll all be forced to upgrade to SATAIII. I don't know if anyone has done any testing with SATAIII cards just yet. If you want to test them out for us, please let us know how it goes. Of course you'll also need SATAIII drives. I believe that you will see some sort of performance increase, but I sort of doubt that it will be enough to justify the extra expense. Still, I would be very interested to see the results.
January 6, 201115 yr I just checked SuperBiiz and this card doesn't appear to be listed anymore...wtf?! Provantage is also a good source to get the card and cables combined. Newegg shipping costs on the cables is ridiculous...
January 7, 201115 yr It is still at SuperBiiz - http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-SASMV8&title=Supermicro-AOC-SASLP-MV8-8-Port-SAS-SATA-Add-on-Card When in doubt, just search for 'SASLP'.
January 7, 201115 yr It is still at SuperBiiz - http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-SASMV8&title=Supermicro-AOC-SASLP-MV8-8-Port-SAS-SATA-Add-on-Card When in doubt, just search for 'SASLP'. Just so you know, I did search on Supermicro and it didn't show up...thanks!
January 7, 201115 yr There are 30 pages of results when you search for Supermicro....I'm not surprised if you missed it in all of that...
January 11, 201115 yr I hear you but I swear when I searched before it wasn't like that...I've used Superbiiz website for a while. Could've just been acting up at the time when I searched. For example, searching SASLP the other day gave me the AOC-SASLP-MV8, but searching it today gave me: http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=AOC-USLP8R&title=Supermicro-AOC-USASLP-S8IR-8-Port-SAS-3Gb-s-PCI-E-Internal-RAID-Adapter Another question for you. I've got SATA backplanes and the standard SFF 8087 forward breakout cables have straight SATA connectors. I think I need the 90 degree ones...have you seen these anywhere for less than $40 USD? http://www.xpcgear.com/multi-lane-sff-8087-mini-sas-to-4x-sata-right-angle-internal-data-hard-drive-forward-break-out-cable.html
January 14, 201115 yr I've actually never seen those right angle models anywhere. I've also never seen a SATA backplane that would accept right angle SATA cables, usually the ports are so close together that only the straight SATA cables will work. What backplane are you using?
January 14, 201115 yr Per my pm, I meant drive cage and not backplane. I'm using a Lian-Li PC80 with the EX-H34-B. The problem is the proximity of the fan to the SATA port. http://www.sundialmicro.com/Lian-Li-Expension-HDD-Kit-exh34b_1975_1466.html
January 15, 201115 yr Another question for you. I've got SATA backplanes and the standard SFF 8087 forward breakout cables have straight SATA connectors. I think I need the 90 degree ones...have you seen these anywhere for less than $40 USD? http://www.xpcgear.com/multi-lane-sff-8087-mini-sas-to-4x-sata-right-angle-internal-data-hard-drive-forward-break-out-cable.html Ebay is on your side. I am sure that I have seen these before for much lower price ($10-12) but quickly I can find only this one now: http://cgi.ebay.com/20-50cm-MiniSAS-SFF-8087-4SATA-90-Degree-w-Sideband_W0QQitemZ140431152775QQcategoryZ74941QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6373169623895047811 Once again you should look more and not be afraid to buy a no-name cable. The majority of all SAS Breakout cable on Ebay are probably the "forward" version.
January 15, 201115 yr Nice find bcbgboy13! Any idea what the 8 pin connector is for though? That's the first time I've seen it pictured in a SAS breakout cable.
January 15, 201115 yr Funny advertised as a 4 port breakout cable, but the cable shows 5 ports (0-4)? Am I missing something? Edit: On closer inspection, looks like #0 is not a SATA port. Not sure what that is. Also price is $23. Not such a bargain. Guess you could make a low ball offer and see if accepted.
January 15, 201115 yr Looks like the 8 pin connector is called a "Sideband Signal" and it still has 4 SATA connectors. A quick google of "sideband signal SAS" talks about using it in a managed backplane to monitor the controller and disks. If you can find a forward breakout cable with right angle SATA connectors for less than this I would be interested to know where. Previously, I could only find one for $40 USD.
January 15, 201115 yr Also price is $23. Not such a bargain. Guess you could make a low ball offer and see if accepted. Offer more than $17 USD ;-) I'm locked out for 30 days now!
January 15, 201115 yr Also price is $23. Not such a bargain. Guess you could make a low ball offer and see if accepted. Offer more than $17 USD ;-) I'm locked out for 30 days now! Depending on your setup, these right angle jobs can make it easier or harder to hook things up. Sometimes right angles just don't work at all. I'd recommend the straight one. No matter what you do going forward or what type of drive cage you might use, the straight ones will work. Here is one from Amazon for $18. I'm not advocating this one, just an example. Breakout Cable
January 15, 201115 yr Well, the only way I could use the straight cable (already bought one from Superbiiz on E-bay, seller memwizard for $14.49 shipped) is if I remove the fan from the drive cage. I could probably do this but would prefer to leave it intact.
January 15, 201115 yr Well, the only way I could use the straight cable (already bought one from Superbiiz on E-bay, seller memwizard for $14.49 shipped) is if I remove the fan from the drive cage. I could probably do this but would prefer to leave it intact. Sorry for not fully reading the thread. I see the pictures now. Makes sense to use the right angles here. But in general, if staight work, just not quite as pretty, still smart to go with straight, as they generally work in more situations.
January 16, 201115 yr Author Well, the only way I could use the straight cable (already bought one from Superbiiz on E-bay, seller memwizard for $14.49 shipped) is if I remove the fan from the drive cage. I could probably do this but would prefer to leave it intact. Funny you say that. I just ordered break out cables for that same exact price on Ebay and it was from the same seller! Very good price.
January 16, 201115 yr Funny you say that. I just ordered break out cables for that same exact price on Ebay and it was from the same seller! Very good price. Need another one?? ;-)
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