Cheers WonderSausage! I actually was thinking about getting the Enhancebox E4-MS but seeing I just need a MiniSAS interface I'll go with that one and save money. =) Although Enhance make solid well built products...hmmm.
You could look at
provantage.com ($364.12 for ML version, they may be able to order the MS model) or
nowdirect.com ($413.27)for the E4MS. They're usually cheaper than pcpitstop or scsi4me (same company BTW).
At least they were with an E8MS. Got it for $550.
As for a 4 bay enclosure, building one, or buying a less expensive model isn't a bad idea, if you don't care about looks.
In the case of a 4 bay exclusively, the throughput difference between MS and ML won't make a difference at all. It does on an 8 bay however.
If you plan to run from an internal SFF-8087 connector to an external enclosure,
don't use port adapters. They won't work with SATA drives. It can be done with a special cable however, that has an SFF-8087 (internal MiniSAS) to an SFF-8088 (external MiniSAS),
or SFF-8087 to SFF-8470 (MultiLane). But the MS ends are harder to find. (The ML as the external end has been around longer). Last I did this, the straight MS (internal & external) version had to be ordered, and was shipped directly from CHINA. IIRC, the lowest pricing was ~$75 USD each (slow shipping; takes up to 21 days). If you go this route with cabling, give yourself enough time to avoid overnight shipping, as it's expensive.
Good luck.
