MB607SP-B and other "SAS compatible" Icy Dock backplanes

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anomaly

Active Member
Jan 8, 2018
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I've been trying to find details on actual SAS compatibility for MB607SP-B and similar backplanes from Icy Dock. There are some models with MiniSAS HD connectors but most rely on SATA connectors.

Would SAS2/SAS3 SSDs (15mm height, got some Toshiba and HGSTs handy) work at all in these, or Icy Dock is falsely marketing support for SAS? Although SATA connectors might be able to carry the signals for SAS to some extent, I don't think this will work at all with the cables connecting the controller to the backplane with SATA breakouts. I could be mistaken, and I hope I am, but so far nothing comes up in terms of people confirming support.
 

polpo

New Member
Feb 29, 2020
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Hi, Have you yet figured out this? I was wondering if it could workout with SAS/SATA HBA. If Mini SAS SFF-8087 to 4 SATA was fully connected to MB607SP-B, then would it be smart enough to work in SAS mode?
 

itronin

Well-Known Member
Nov 24, 2018
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Denver, Colorado
I have more than a few of the Icy Dock MB994SP-4S which I believe is an earlier generation of this bay/backplane. Works fine for SAS2/SATA 3 drives direct connect from a SAS HBA or via an expander. I do not have a SAS3 HBA in the systems with these cages so I can't speak to that. but I'd expect it would probably work fine. The backplane is pass through and there is no sideband connectivity.
 
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itronin

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Nov 24, 2018
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Denver, Colorado
Normal SAS->SATA fan out cables work then, I presume?
Yes. Forward Mini SAS and Mini SAS HD (SFF-8087 and SFF-8643) to SATA break out / fan out work fine from an HBA.

I also recently tested an M1215 (LSI 9300) IT mode HBA and it worked fine with the older M994SP-4S cages and SAS3 SSD's at 12Gbps.
 
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anomaly

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Jan 8, 2018
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Thank you a mil, @itronin. I will be rebuilding a Xeon system today with a MB994SP-4S and that definitely helped my concerns. Now I only have to check if all my fan out cables are properly labeled, I forgot if there is any indication for reverse/forward direction.
 

skorpioskorpio

New Member
Oct 9, 2021
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The Icy Dock cages are pretty much just passive boards. The one exception being that they are essentially 5V exclusive devices, they use 12V but only for the fans, the 3.3V is omitted on most models. So if there is any 3.3V reliant circuitry on the drive or feature that probably won't work. Like there is some spin-up on demand functions that some drives have that rely on 3.3V. The actual SATA connection is a pass through, it's the supplied power that could be an issue. How the drive connects to a SAS->SATA breakout cable should be the same either way, it's about what voltages are available to the drive.
 
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