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Old June 13th 08, 07:49 PM posted to comp.arch.storage
ewilts
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Default Should I use a 1x or 4x SAS cable?

On Jun 13, 12:48 pm, Ryan408 wrote:
I'm installing SATA drives in an external SAS enclosure. The
enclosure is connected to a LSI Logic MegaRAID 8888ELP RAID card.

My question is, what advantage will a 4x SAS cable connecting the RAID
card to the enclosure give me over a 1x cable? And does it matter
that the drives are SATA vs. SAS?


Although connecting a SATA drive to a SAS enclosure will work, you
won't get the benefits of a SAS drive. SATA drives are typically
bigger but slower (and cheaper). They can't read and write at the
same time - the SATA bus is unidirectional. Although I haven't tested
this, I believe that a 4x cable will not give you any benefit over a
1x cable - SATA is only 1-phy.

.../Ed

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