Best way to connect / retrofit U2 drives

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UnknownPommes

Active Member
Aug 28, 2022
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So this is hopefully going to finalize the storage setup for a new hypervisor.
The system is going to have 4 U2 drives but the board doesnt have any slim sas connectors / native support,
so i will need to connect them via a pcie x16 gen3 slot.

Options:
  1. PCIE x16 Card to 4x SFF-8643 connector > four SFF-8643 + Sata Power to SFF-8639 cables (left image)
  2. PCIE x16 Card to 2x SFF-8654 / SilmSAS 8i connector > two SFF-8654 + Sata Power to two SFF-8639 each
  3. PCIE x16 Card to 2x SFF-8611 / OCuLink connectors > two SFF-8611 + Sata Power to two SFF-8639 each (right image)

Which option would you choose? or sth different?
Price on 1 & 2 very similar, 3 a bit more expensive,
all of the listings on amazon seem to be from some chinese sellers / drop shipped.

Also other question regarding cables / safety, i have heard many horror stories regarding the injection molded molex to sata connectors, catching on fire.
Doesnt this also apply to all similar style injection molded sata power ( and similar) connectors like shown bellow?
Do they have tend to have the same flaw / failure where one of the outside / live parts make contact with ground due to bad molding?

They have two/four of those connectors in this style, since the SFF-8639 connector basically includes a sata power connector.
Also there is going to be way more power going through them than with normal spinning disks, when the u2 drives are under full load.

Thanks for any help :)

 
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reasonsandreasons

Active Member
May 16, 2022
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Probably option 1, but provided you can spare the lanes (and/or have the clearance) I'd consider direct mount passive adapters. Saves you from dealing with power or cabling and is just generally easier. Signal integrity can get tricky on the x4 cards, though, especially on slots that are farther away from the CPU.
 
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i386

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Mar 18, 2016
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no 2 resembles my planned configuration (AOC-SLG4-4E4T + 2x CBL-SAS-1264-85) for a supermicro 745 with a 4x nvme backplane (BPN-SAS3-743A-N4)

What chassis/drive cages do you plan to use?
 
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UnknownPommes

Active Member
Aug 28, 2022
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i386 said:
no 2 resembles my planned configuration (AOC-SLG4-4E4T + 2x CBL-SAS-1264-85) for a supermicro 745 with a 4x nvme backplane (BPN-SAS3-743A-N4)

What chassis/drive cages do you plan to use?
Click to expand...
Since this is an Intertech DIY 4u Case, probably the just stick it in the case in front of the intake fan mount, or i will 3D print sth,
i also looked into those 4x U2 hotswap bays that you can put into a 5.25" bay from icedock but they are like 350€ so no...
Btw if you know a similar style hotswap bay thats not over like 150€ pls let me know (can be used / salvaged from other server)
 
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UnknownPommes

Active Member
Aug 28, 2022
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reasonsandreasons said:
Probably option 1, but provided you can spare the lanes (and/or have the clearance) I'd consider direct mount passive adapters. Saves you from dealing with power or cabling and is just generally easier. Signal integrity can get tricky on the x4 cards, though, especially on slots that are farther away from the CPU.
Click to expand...
i was thinking about that, but i dont want to use up more than one pcie slot, so i would need one that can hold 4 drives / has drives on both sides.
 
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