EXPIRED Intel 8x2.5" NVMe backplane - $50

[frankharv]

The cage above I am recommending fits in 2x 5.25" Drive Bays. It needs modding to fit anything so get your dremmel warmed up.

No it is not that bad but it is a tad narrower than 5.25" space. Needs 4mm spacing/shim or 2mm per side to center it up.

Make sure you see pictures because I have bought some Intel Cages with thick bezel for P4000 Server Chassis. Those need some mods (useless).

 

[Mithril]

These are the Intel cables I used with the LSI cards. They have a nice feel to them.

Intel AXXCBL700HDCV Oculink Cable Kit NEW BROWN BOX | eBay

Oculink Cable Kit AXXCBL700HDCV (). 700 mm long | cable kit (2 cables included) straight SFF-8643 connector to dual straight OCuLink SFF-8611 connectorsUsed to connect Trimode RAID AICs to HSBP PCIe #0 & PCIe #1 and PCIe #2 & PCIe #3.

www.ebay.com

I wish they worked on regular cards too. They do not from my experience.

My guess would be: " Used to connect Trimode RAID AIC" means some non standard pinout. Which echos my general experience with SFF-8643 and PCIe anything. I unwisely got into a bit of SFF-8643 PCIe gear and while all of the "non enterprise" adaptors seem to use the same pinout as so long as you get the right/good SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 cable things work, connecting to any SFF-8643 enterprise PCIe is... unpleasant.

 

[KC8FLB]

I just looked and 2 more available at this time of my post.

 

[frankharv]

This is the AIC that would be used in an Intel R2224WT Server. These have 24 bays with three PHS backplanes.
Nothing more than 3 Intel Cages stacked side by side.
AXXP3SWX08080

Intel AXXP3SWX08080 Accessory 8Port PCI Express Gen3 Switch AIC 8x NVMe +Cable | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Intel AXXP3SWX08080 Accessory 8Port PCI Express Gen3 Switch AIC 8x NVMe +Cable at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Notice the oculink connectors. This is why the Intel cables have two right angle connectors. You would need 2 sets of cables for this AIC.

sed to connect Trimode RAID AIC" means some non standard pinout.

I agree something is screwy.
Why would sidechannel comms render a cable useless. SFF-9402 is what LSI/broadcom uses supposedly.

My quest with this gear was after aborted IcyDock 4xNVMe Cage and thier peculiarities. Price went insane.

Some cables I used:

Supermicro Cbl-sast-0819 65cm Oculink to Oculink Cable for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Supermicro Cbl-sast-0819 65cm Oculink to Oculink Cable at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

Supermicro CBL-SAST-0929 57cm OCuLink to MiniSAS HD Cable | eBay

OCuLink SFF-8611 (x4) to MiniSAS HD SFF-8643. OCuLink Storage Expansion. ConnectorsHost - OCuLink (SFF-8611) (x4). Connectors (Other Side)Target - MiniSAS HD (SFF-8643).

www.ebay.com

You get what you pay for. Half the price but not terrible.

OCuLink SFF-8611 Male Plug to Male Plug Cable Assembly -20 Inches | eBay

<p>This cable assembly supports data transfer rates of up to 16 Gbps, making it suitable for a range of high-speed data applications. The cable is also designed to minimize crosstalk and electromagnetic interference, ensuring that data is transmitted accurately and reliably. The OCuLink SFF-8611...

www.ebay.com

 

[frankharv]

I have a feeling that this is what is going on in some of these cases:

Cable has crossover sideband mapping which differs from CBL-SAST-0929 resulting in incompatibility

Internal OCuLink x4 SFF-8611 to HD Mini SAS 4x SFF-8643 Cable, NVMe, 0.57m, 22in | eBay

NOTE2: OCuLink to MiniSAS HD cables aredirectional, this cable will only work with an OCuLink Host and MiniSAS HD Target. Up for sale is one (1) new genuine Molex (OEM for Supermicro)OCuLink x4 SFF-8611 Host to HD Mini SAS 4x SFF-8643 Target Cable.

www.ebay.com

 

[Mithril]

I have a feeling that this is what is going on in some of these cases:

Internal OCuLink x4 SFF-8611 to HD Mini SAS 4x SFF-8643 Cable, NVMe, 0.57m, 22in | eBay

NOTE2: OCuLink to MiniSAS HD cables aredirectional, this cable will only work with an OCuLink Host and MiniSAS HD Target. Up for sale is one (1) new genuine Molex (OEM for Supermicro)OCuLink x4 SFF-8611 Host to HD Mini SAS 4x SFF-8643 Target Cable.

www.ebay.com

At least they give you the cable pinout in the listing. Then to figure out what the pinout on both ends is... lol

Also something I ran across looking up the Supermicro card/cables is that SFF-8611 to SFF-8643 is *directional* at least for some pinouts. (Think forward VS reverse breakout for SATA/SAS)

 

[frankharv]

Agreed. That one ebay listing has more information than most tech sites.

It does raise more questions in my mind. Is that SFF-9402 "crossover" sideband or something else?

 

[frankharv]

Super Tech Bonus Question:

How does I2C know the address of each backplane?????? Some had jumpers and I wonder if that was it.

The R2224 has daisy chained I2C cables between the backplanes.....

Is it really SMBus???

 

[Mithril]

Super Tech Bonus Question:

How does I2C know the address of each backplane?????? Some had jumpers and I wonder if that was it.

The R2224 has daisy chained I2C cables between the backplanes.....

Is it really SMBus???

There are ways to do automatic addressing with I2C technically, but I'd suspect it's really SMBus and labeled as I2C (or maybe devices can fall back to "just" I2C

Looking up reference docs for "SFF-9402" leads me to this: https://members.snia.org/document/dl/27380 in it they note previous cables and pinouts exist using the mentioned list of possible connectors (so SFF-9402 is more of a "standard" than it is a connector or single cable type?)

I have some "generic" SFF-8643 PCI things, I'll try to check later if they are 9402 "standard" or not. Given the annoying pitch of some of these connectors I'm half tempted to look into making a tester

 

[efschu3]

One left, but good for me they don't ship to EU.

Cus actual I don't "need" it

Saved me 50 bugs xD

 

[IamSpartacus]

60 bucks used from this cat:

G18539-005 Intel R2208BB4GC 8x SAS/SATAIII 2.5" Hard Drive Cage W/ 1x G15232-550 | eBay

Product Type Hard Drive Cage. All the logos used are propriety to their respective owners and Technology Traderz does not have any authority over them. Note: Item is with 1x Backplane (Part# G15232-550 / G76116-001).

www.ebay.com

Undo one screw, slide backplane to side and throw away. Insert PHS and slide until screw hole lines up.

Trays.... Green or Blue?????

I like Green for SATA, Orange for NVMe and Blue for SAS.
That is my legend.
Officially Intel uses Green Trays for SATA/SAS and Blue for NVMe.
Orange come from EMC branded Intel servers.
There is also White Trays with green eject buttont. Not sure who OEM'ed those.

I advise buying the trays with the inserts. That way they include the custom screws.(not required but nicer than using countersunk screws)

What trays work with this?

 

[gregsachs]

What trays work with this?

I would expect this lot of 8 to work:

8x Intel D37158-002 2.5" Server Hard Drive Caddy/ Tray Hotswap SAS/SATA | eBay

This set of 8 Intel D37158-002 2.5" server hard drive caddies/trays are the perfect addition to your server storage system. Designed for SAS/SATA interfaces, they are compatible with 2.5 inch drives and will easily hotswap with ease. Made by a trusted brand, these caddies are built to last and...

www.ebay.com

if you want 6 orange tabs instad of the green see here:

LOT OF 6 D18156-002 Intel 2.5" Hot Swap Hard Drive Tray Only W/ 1x D31202-001 | eBay

Product Type Tray Only. All the logos used are propriety to their respective owners and Technology Traderz does not have any authority over them. Note: Item is with 1x (Part# D31202-001). Part Number: D18156-002 W/ 1x D31202-001 / G18877-002.

www.ebay.com

From the manual for the S2600wt series:

 

[Mithril]

Ok got mine in. I can confirm a normal 4pin CPU power connector works.

I currently only have a generic M.2 to Oculink adaptor I normally use paired with an Oculink to U.2 cable from Amphenol. I got a "generic" straight through Oculink to Oculink cable.

So "generic" m.2 to oculink, "generic" straight through oculink to oculink, and this part work together. I feel like that agrees with the "this is normal oculink.

As to working with other connectors (oculink to X cables) or non standard PLX cards, you'd have to match up the pinouts.

 

[frankharv]

I also got my three backplanes in and tested OK.

Please don't let my cable questions worry you. If you want to use LSI for NVMe you must pay the tri-mode cable tax.

Luckily the Intel Oculink cables can be found at a descent price on ebay and I am considering another set of two.
90 bucks for 4 quality cables ain't bad. Four more 9400-8i controllers at $100ea. hurts though...

One drawback of NVMe on LSI 9400 controller is SMART output is abridged. Not as much output.
The speed seems the same as with straight through PCIe cards.

Where I saw disappointing speeds was LSI 9405-16i ( x8 PCIe 3.0). With two NVMe the speed was same as 9400-8i.
Adding a third NVMe drive reduced all drives throughput numbers.
I need to see if I can get away with mixed mode two NVMe and SATA on it without penalty.

 

[Warmwelcome]

Looking for the pinout for the power for one of these backplanes. Anyone know it for me?

 

[Mithril]

Looking for the pinout for the power for one of these backplanes. Anyone know it for me?

It's just the standard 4pin CPU power ATX standard. 2 ground, 2 12v. If in doubt, check continuity on the ground pins to ground and the 12v pins to the 12v on the drive connectors. I can't imagine Intel would change the pinout on the same model however.

 

[Warmwelcome]

It's just the standard 4pin CPU power ATX standard. 2 ground, 2 12v. If in doubt, check continuity on the ground pins to ground and the 12v pins to the 12v on the drive connectors. I can't imagine Intel would change the pinout on the same model however.

Interesting. No 5v or 3v? This is for a slightly different backplane, the g15232-451. I tried emailing intel but they weren't willing to help.

 

[Mithril]

Interesting. No 5v or 3v? This is for a slightly different backplane, the g15232-451. I tried emailing intel but they weren't willing to help.

Oh, if it's a different backplane I'm not 100% sure. I'd see if you can find continuity with a multimeter.

 

[Warmwelcome]

Oh, if it's a different backplane I'm not 100% sure. I'd see if you can find continuity with a multimeter.

Ah. How would I go about doing that? Just check the pins for the sas connecter when its plugged in and see if it has the wrong voltages?

 

[Mithril]

Ah. How would I go about doing that? Just check the pins for the sas connecter when its plugged in and see if it has the wrong voltages?

No, I would never test voltage/polarity blindly with power applied. If a device is not protected against the wrong polarity or incorrect voltage it can be damaged that way, and if you short a power to ground you could also damage the power supply.

To check mine I used a multimeter to verify which pins were ground. Then testing the other pins verified they were electrically connected. Then I checked to see which pins of the sas connector they were connected to with the multimeter. Then I doublechecked that a ATX 4pin CPUpower connector fit and matched. (Sometimes people use standard connectors with different pinouts... :-| )