ZeusRAM - anyone know of a cheaper cable option for dual SAS?

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christer

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Dec 28, 2016
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Hi -

I recently got a ZeusRAM Z4RZF3D-8UC for use as a ZIL, but I am wondering which cable I should get to be able to utilise the dual/wide SAS port on the ZeusRAM for max speed, but using a single controller. I have found one cable alternative below, but was wondering if anyone knew if there was a cheaper option? I have alternative HBAs to use in my storage server, so I am mostly indifferent as to SFF-8087 or SFF-8643.

I have tried to read up on what others have done, and understand from this thread:

ZeusRAM under $300 BO on Ebay

that this $75 SFF-8643 cable should work fine:

SA-4382-HDD-.5M-N2 - Int. HD MiniSAS (SFF-8643) to *2 Dual Port SAS Drive (SFF-8482), 30AWG 10G , .5 meter

but I am uncertain as to whether or not there is a cheaper alternative that will work equally well, for example this at $25:

Dell T3F4V / 18XYD Internal miniSAS SFF-8087 to Dual SFF-8482 SAS

or this at $29:

Dell 7W5N8 Internal miniSAS HD SFF-8643 to Dual SFF-8482 SAS

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 

T_Minus

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Feb 15, 2015
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I got that $75 one myself a month or so ago to compare to the other cables I have with Zeus. Sadly, I haven't gotten back to the project to try it out.

In my search I did NOT find a cheaper/different dual SAS cable.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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If I'd knew how to identify whether the Zeus is connected via dual or single connection I could tell you whether the cheap dell ones work...

I have one from ebay "Internal Dual-Port SAS Cable - SFF-8643 to 2 SAS connectors SFF-8482 12G SAS 3.0" and a bunch of the T3F4V's
 

azev

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Jan 18, 2013
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I doubt any of the cheaper alternative will work. Take a look at the cables, the expansive cables actually have 2 cables connected to the device side plugs, where the cheaper one only has one cable.
With the real dual port sas cable, your os will show 2 of the same device and through MPIO you can set it up so that it only sees one.
 

azev

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Jan 18, 2013
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Hm, neither of my cables resulted in two devices (in freenas):/
There's a few possibilities; either the cable is not dual port, freenas have mpio configured as default, or last but not least maybe the deviceonly has single ports.
Can you try on windows server ?
 

Rand__

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its currently in use as slog. Will have to move things around first;)
 

Rand__

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So my Zeus on a 2008 HBA with the Dell cable was only a single device in a Windows VM. Will need to test the other "Dual Port" cable seperatly
 

christer

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Dec 28, 2016
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So my Zeus on a 2008 HBA with the Dell cable was only a single device in a Windows VM. Will need to test the other "Dual Port" cable seperatly
Thank you for testing. Seems like the more expensive dual port cable is necessary after all then to achieve max speed.
 

Rand__

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Well I am not sure to be honest... in my tests it didn't came close in saturating a single SAS channel (sync nfs writes) but I will need to run some further ones with a different (faster) pool
 

Rand__

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So after flashing my M1215 with LSI firmware i see this:
20170225_133301_small.jpg

This is the cable used ("Dual port internal mini HD SAS SFF-8643 to 2 dual-lane (x2) SAS connectors SFF-8680, 12G SAS 3.0 capable"):
s-l1600_2.jpg

I got it cheap on ebay, the seller said he/she got it from serialcables.com. No idea re the original price, but he offered it for ~$20
 
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azev

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I got it cheap on ebay, the seller said he/she got it from serialcables.com. No idea re the original price, but he offered it for ~$20
Wow I've been scanning ebay for one of those and never found one, lucky you for getting one for 20 buks.
 

Rand__

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Btw, just found that it now also gets discovered in Freenas (without additional config on my end)

da1 at mpr0 bus 0 scbus3 target 2 lun 0
da1: <STEC ZeusRAM C023> Fixed Direct Access SPC-4 SCSI device
da1: Serial Number STM000170464
da1: 600.000MB/s transfers
da1: Command Queueing enabled
da1: 7629MB (15625000 512 byte sectors)
da1: quirks=0x20<NO_UNMAP>
da2 at mpr0 bus 0 scbus3 target 3 lun 0
da2: <STEC ZeusRAM C023> Fixed Direct Access SPC-4 SCSI device
da2: Serial Number STM000170464
da2: 600.000MB/s transfers
da2: Command Queueing enabled
da2: 7629MB (15625000 512 byte sectors)
da2: quirks=0x20<NO_UNMAP>


Now need to think/read on how to set that up so its used as one device (?) :)
 
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whitey

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Jun 30, 2014
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I don't quite follow, if memory serves me correct the ZeusRAM does not have 2 ports of sas connectors does it, hell maybe some models do? I know I have heard of dual-port theory on ZeusRAM's before though so not doubting the capability, just can't visualize it in my head or if some have two ports or you fan-out to connect to two stg heads.

Clue a brother in :-D
 

Rand__

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Its a dual-port SAS connector. I assume it could be used to do a dual head setup. But I was referring to a review that I had seen somewhere (cant find it on the quick) where it claimed that full speed was only usable if connected by dual port capable cable.

Edit: Found it- brochure, not a review

https://www.hgst.com/sites/default/files/resources/HGST_ZeusRAM_ds.pdf

ZeusRAM has two 6Gb/s SAS ports that can each run independently. The two ports are connected to two separate hosts (HBAs) to provide for a redundant or high availability configuration. It is also possible to connect the two ports in a dual-port mode and run multipath I/O drivers (MPIO) which are available with standard operating systems to achieve higher performance.
upload_2017-3-8_17-28-22.png
 
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Rand__

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Which means you actually can see on the cable if its dual port capable or not I just realized (to make a contribution to the original topic here;) ) - just check if the cable has pins on the upper side of the bridge:)
 

Taccess

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Jan 21, 2018
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Hi

Can someone tell me once I have a dual port sas st4000nm0025 connected via the SFF-8680 dual port cable to my lsi 9361-8i what I need to do in Windows 10 to set this up properly please ?
 

Joakim Lindgren

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Dec 11, 2019
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Hi folks! I trust there is someone in this forum that have the answer to my question regarding the old question what cable to the ZeusRAM drive:
The (very cheap) recommended cable (12Gb/s) for the drive is:
12G Internal HD Mini-SAS SFF-8643 → (2) SFF-8680 Target-based dual port 29-pin drive receptacle - CS Electronics
High Speed Serial Cables, Adapters and Accessories from Serial Cables

Then you can utilize the Dual port and MPIO in order to get the extra speeeed :)

So I have a couple of 6Gb/S HBA´s:
LSI SAS 9211-8i and LSI SAS 9201-16i (both with SFF-8087)

How can I get dual port functionality (MPIO) with ZEUS ram with my 6Gb/s HBA´s.
Is there a dual port 6Gb/s SFF-8087 cable?

Can I utilize the below connector?
ADP-8780: 12G SAS Drive (T-Card) Adapter w/SFF-8087 Cable Connection to SFF-8680 Drive Connector



Thank you for your help!

// J