Dell 2.5inch PCI-E SSD Cage + Controller

[Stanza]

Saw this on ebay

Pcie SSD SAS Card Expander KIT Dell Poweredge Server R720 R820 Ypnrc N2R9K 693W6 | eBay

and was wondering what the controller was...

Then I looked into it some more and realized it's a new way to connect SSD's direct to the PCI=E Slot
eg not using a card type solution....

So it uses new type SSD's in a normal 2.5inch form factor..... but doesn't go thru a typical SAS/SATA controller.... which I guess gives more throughput / less latencies ??

Either way I guess it might be cheap for someone to grab (cheap as in compared to new).....
but to fill it with drives, you might have to do some unmentionable favors to Bubba......

Drives
Micron 350GB SLC Pcie 2 5 Inch SFF SSD Solid State Drive MTFDGAL350SAH Dell | eBay

 

[AERuffy]

without looking at what chip is under that heatsink I'm going to say it's nothing special, just another HBA and does in fact go through a sas controller.

 

[Chuntzu]

Probably a plx pcie bridge or switch on the card