Four 2,5" SSD to iPass + Four 3,5" HDD to RAID Card connection?

[alyks]

Hi,
I want to make this configuration in my new Mac Pro

I want to use MaxConnect and StarTech 3.5 Bay to dual 2.5 HD SATA hard drive adapter to mount four 2,5" SSDs (soft RAID) in second optical drive
Also I want to connect four internal Mac Pro Hdds to Raid Card (Hardware RAID 5)

Questions:
1 red: What cables will I need for 2,5 SSDs drive connection and power? Whether this cable will work? or I need special ipass cable?
2 blue: Will the lengths of the Mac pro cable be enough to connect standard HDDs to Raid card?
3: Which RAID Card is the fastest, which would you recommend to use?

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

1. I don't know about that cable but personally, I would use some combination of an ATA to SATA power cable converter and then some SATA Y power splitters to connect all the four drives to the ATA power cable for the second Optical drive. Space would probably be an issue though.

2. I've got no idea I'm afraid.

3. No idea.

I would say though, wouldn't it make more sense to send the SSD drives to the RAID card? I mean, since you're obviously going for a seriously fast setup (I'm guessing main drive) using the SSDs, wouldn't it be better to have *them* go the hardware raid route, so as to maximise speed? If you were to do this then you could leave the other drives and the iPass connector alone and just get a cable long enough to reach from the SSDs to the RAID card.

 

[nanofrog]

1. This cable.
2. It should if you place it in the closest slot to the HDD's. (Tight fit).
3. There are multiple candidates. More info would be needed to help.

What are you doing with it? OS X only, Boot Camp, etc.?

The SSD's would be better for the RAID array. No mechanical parts to fail.

 

[Cryptic1911]

oh man.. brilliant idea! i'm going to have to do some research on this as i may do this if it can pan out


I bought this cable for my server that i just built.. its the same as the tripplite, but its got an extra sideband cable attached that you dont need to plug in. its like $10 cheaper than the one from provantage.. cant go wrong either way, i've purchased from both companies

 

[nanofrog]

The Sideband connector isn't needed internally in a Mac Pro.

The savings may not be much, but every thing counts. You can always put toward other toys!

 

[Tbarr]

Hi,
I want to make this configuration in my new Mac Pro

I want to use MaxConnect and StarTech 3.5 Bay to dual 2.5 HD SATA hard drive adapter to mount four 2,5" SSDs (soft RAID) in second optical drive
Also I want to connect four internal Mac Pro Hdds to Raid Card (Hardware RAID 5)

Questions:
1 red: What cables will I need for 2,5 SSDs drive connection and power? Whether this cable will work? or I need special ipass cable?

I just got the MaxConnect kit for two HDs in the lower position. You might want to consider that the two HDs are only secured by the two screws on the inboard side of the drives. The 'Kit' is only a machined piece of Aluminum for the bottom plate and a piece resembling a T to support the Optical drive. The vertical part of the T is three 'Pillars' that connect to the bottom plate with three screws. The top part of the T can be seen in the picture, is about 2 inches wide and connects to the Optical drive with two screws. The 'bays' are not covered using this kit.

I used two 1TB drives with the kit and the two screws seems to hold the drives sufficiently. You might have a problem trying to secure that circuit board with just two screws near the 'pillars' as the back part of the bottom plate only extends half the width of the HD. Whatever...

I connected the drives to the two 'extra' SATA connections next to the iPass connector. I would suggest leaving the iPass as is and run the cables to a RAID card if you still want one. I used the second ATA power connector with a splitter to power the drives. You WILL have to remove the forward fans to run the SATA cables to the Optical bay. Much easier that way.

And... it works... the Optical bay door opens and my Software RAID survived me moving the HDs to the new location... I DID make a backup first, of course!

Have fun

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

Also if you have any view on how the last 2 SATA cables would get connected - some kind of SATA to IDE converter needed I guess - not included in the Maxconnect kit tho i dont think.

IDE to SATA converter could be used, but some form of additional SATA controller is preferable for both additional SATA ports and speed (RAID card in Tbarr's case).

If you only need 2 SATA ports, they are available on the logic board. Look for "ODD Port", on the left side of the logic board, and beneath the iPass connector IIRC. These ports have been mentioned in other threads, and I seem to remember they can't be booted by OS X, or seen by windows. I would recommend doing a search.

Any thoughts on how 2 drives would work sharing a single IDE cable?

If you disconnect the Optical drive, and use both connectors, (1 per drive), it can be done. You would lose the optical drive unless there is a second IDE interface available on the logic board. If so, you'd need another IDE cable.
NO, if you meant how to use 1 IDE connector for 2 drives.
(Not sure if you actually meant cable or connector, Sorry).

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

Thanks nanofrog
Think a SATA controller was what Maxconnect recommended also. Will need one where the ports are accessible from inside the case.

I found this on newegg. At $15.99, I'd say buy it, and don't think twice.
I went to the manufacturer site, and found it does support OS X.

Have already added the cable to allow access to these ODD ports externally - dont find my WD external drives work reliably here - hence looking at an internal solution

It seems that the ODD ports are far more trouble than they're worth.

Sorry wasnt clear - I meant both connectors - was concerned about some kind of contention with 2 hdd's on a single cable.

No problem, better than a misunderstanding.

 

[Tbarr]

You can look at the Installation Guide here;
Mac Pro Guide

I have two 80GB partitions on the two 1TB Seagates configured as RAID 0 (205MB/s). It Boots Fine from the RAID 0. It Boots Windows XP Pro 32 bit fine using a HD in Bay 4. The Two drives in the Optical bay run about 5F cooler than the drives in the built-in bays.

And, it appears to have solved a problem with Fusion. Every so often, Fusion would see the drives differently and renumber them, then complain that it couldn't fine the Image and want to make another one. I haven't had that problem since installing the two drives in the Optical bay using the ODD SATA ports.

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

I looked at the card and at that price i'd def pick one up - unfortunately they don't ship to the uk.

Sorry, I didn't realize your location.

Mailed the manufacturer to see if they have any uk suppliers.
Have found another US based company who's site says they will ship to the uk - http://www.directron.com. Mailed them and waiting for shipping costs.

Good Luck. Hope it's good news.

Anyway, all you need is an internal PCIe SATA II controller card that supports OS X. The OS X will be the difficult part, without spending an arm-and-a-leg.
Unfortunately, I'm not sure which would be cheaper, buying US and ship to you, or buying from somewhere in the UK.

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

Had a reply from Syba re the Sata Card cost/shipping to UK - seems like the card isnt compatible with Leopard after all - even tho as nanofrog says - the product page clearly shows a Mac OS X icon.

Have mailed to check with them.

----------------------------

Re: Syba PCI-Express Lower Profile 2-Port SATA RAID Card, Model: SD-LP-PEX2IR


Reply


Dear Customer,
Thanks for your inquiry.
This card is only compatible with windows based computer. It will not support Mac.

Best Regards,

Michael,

Syba Support Team

This really bites.

When I spotted the card, both the product description (newegg), and Syba's site both indicated it would work in OS X (10.4+).

I wasn't trying to send you down a road of misery.
I was also interested in both this card, and a RS232 PCIe card as well.
At least I can send an e-mail about it.
Thanks for the heads-up.

NF.

 

[rtrt]

nope it seems like it was me who screwed up

a

 

[nanofrog]

NF

I seem to have pasted the wrong product id into my original mail not sure how it happened - so pls don't give them any hassle.

i'm looking into it now and will update later when i hear back again.

feeling pretty damn silly right now.

rt

No problem. Sent PM.
I know I've done stuff like that before too. Even mixed part numbers with the wrong manufacturer.

Please keep us posted.
Inexpensive parts that work would be nice for a change.

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

ok here you go - the man from Syba he says yes .... and no

-------------------------
Dear Customer,
For this model SD-SA2PEX-2IR, it is compatible with Mac. However, we do not ship to UK. You may search on the internet to see whether any dealers might carry this product in UK.

Best Regards,

Might have some good news for you.

Costabunny (thread) found an eBay site http://stores.ebay.com/PCIMICROCOM that ships to Gibraltar. So hopefully, they would ship to the UK. BTW, she also found that if they don't have it listed, they can order it.

Prices actually look good as well.
I'll keep my fingers crossed. Let me know how it goes.

Good Luck,
NF.

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

port card ordered - arrives 6-10 business days from order - looking fwd to it already

Good to hear!
Keep us posted!

 

[ntux]

Also, looking at the specifications of the chipset of this card (Sil3132), it seems that both sata channels support port multipliers. That could be interesting.

 

[rtrt]

a

 

[nanofrog]

I mailed Syba - below is the positive reply. At least i think it's postive as I dont know what FIS means. Got to go out for a bit will download the manual and read it later.

Dear rtrt,
It will support multiplier with FIS based switching. You can see the manual from here http://www.adeltek.com/Product Manual/PCIi-Express IO controller/sd-sa2pex-2ir-C.jpg.

Best Regards,

FIS (Frame Information Structure) Switching (Source: Wiki)

"FIS–based switching is similar to a USB hub. In this method of switching the host controller can issue commands to send and receive data from any drive at any time. A balancing algorithm ensures a fair allocation of available bandwidth to each drive. FIS-based switching allows the aggregated saturation of the host link and does not interfere with NCQ."

It's about half-way down the page.