What is Slimline SAS 4i Connector (NVMe/PCIe Gen3 x4) on Gigabyte MZ32-AR0 Rev.1?

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latot

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May 7, 2023
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Hi, here the newbie :3

I was reading the manual of the Gigabyte MZ32-AR0 Rev.1, is for epyc 7002, I was looking one the manual to know more about the mobo, I thought would be fine to read, after all I know very little about this setups... and would be great have some NVME in raid....

Here the manual: https://download.gigabyte.com/FileL..._e_v10.pdf?v=403839afad78c873b56c7f3901d30d9e

Well, I thought there was no U2 ports, but then in the page 7:

14 SATA0 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (SATAIII 6Gb/s Signal)
15 SATA1 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (SATAIII 6Gb/s Signal)
16 U2_3 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (NVMe/PCIe Gen3 x4)
17 U2_1 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (NVMe/PCIe Gen3 x4)
18 U2_0 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (NVMe/PCIe Gen3 x4)
19 U2_2 Slimline SAS 4i Connector (NVMe/PCIe Gen3 x4)

Now I got confused by... a lot of things that I don't know...

First! I though U2 was for sata, but then it says is for NVMe...

Second, the port used is not for an NVMe, is an... Slimline SAS 4i Connector which I was not able to find how to use it! just some adapters but nothing that tells me more about it.

I was not able to find about raid with the U2 ports (?

In the manual there is no info how use/mount the U2/Slimline SAS 4i...

From page 7 too: 38 PCIE_7 PCIe x16 Slot (Gen4 x16) switch with 4 x Slim-SAS 4i from 4
what means switch? is like the mobo will switch between U2 and the PCIe?

How can I use that ports?

Thx!
 
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mattventura

Well-Known Member
Nov 9, 2022
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Slimeline SAS is just "yet another SAS/SATA/PCIe physical connector". It's a little inaccurate for them to call it a "U.2" port since you don't have to use it with U.2 drives (which are NVMe/PCIe, not SAS/SATA, but use the same connector shape as SAS).

You would typically connect these to a backplane with NVMe support, using an appropriate cable such as this (or a cable with whatever appropriate connectors on the other end).

You can also connect it directly to a U.2 drive using an adapter like this.
 
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latot

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mm, can they be used with a normal NVME? and why the descriptions says 14 and 15 are for sata and 16, 17, 18, 19 for NVME?
 
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mattventura

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Nov 9, 2022
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The two SATA ports can break out to 4 individual SATA ports using an appropriate cable.

If by "normal NVMe" you mean an M.2, you would need another adapter such as this one to turn an M.2 drive into a U.2 drive.
 
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bitbckt

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Feb 22, 2022
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Minor clarification: U.2 is also a physical standard. Signalling may be PCI-e (NVMe), SAS, or SATA, the same as with the board connectors under discussion.
 
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latot

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May 7, 2023
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mattventura said:
If by "normal NVMe" you mean an M.2, you would need another adapter such as this one to turn an M.2 drive into a U.2 drive.
Click to expand...
:O that type of adapter also has the option to the nvme be removable?

bitbckt said:
Minor clarification: U.2 is also a physical standard. Signalling may be PCI-e (NVMe), SAS, or SATA, the same as with the board connectors under discussion.
Click to expand...
that means, we can only use that connectors for the specified device?
 
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