From owner-freebsd-fs@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Dec 14 16:33:55 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 86E601065686 for ; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:33:55 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from michael@fuckner.net) Received: from dedihh.fuckner.net (dedihh.fuckner.net [81.209.183.161]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 42B568FC1F for ; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:33:55 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from michael@fuckner.net) Received: from localhost (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dedihh.fuckner.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id CE1CD61D07; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:33:53 +0100 (CET) X-Virus-Scanned: amavisd-new at fuckner.net Received: from dedihh.fuckner.net ([127.0.0.1]) by localhost (dedihh.fuckner.net [127.0.0.1]) (amavisd-new, port 10024) with SMTP id 5tLsT9j6id0r; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:33:49 +0100 (CET) Received: from dedihh.fuckner.net (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by dedihh.fuckner.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id A4BE061D01; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:33:48 +0100 (CET) Received: from 85.176.191.115 (SquirrelMail authenticated user molli123) by dedihh.fuckner.net with HTTP; Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:33:48 +0100 (CET) Message-ID: <34a9ac6411eca56bca7766a5c745c694.squirrel@dedihh.fuckner.net> In-Reply-To: References: Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:33:48 +0100 (CET) From: "Michael Fuckner" To: "Wes Morgan" User-Agent: SquirrelMail/1.4.18 [SVN] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain;charset=iso-8859-1 X-Priority: 3 (Normal) Importance: Normal Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Cc: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org Subject: Re: SFF-8087 to fanout cable question X-BeenThere: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Filesystems List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:33:55 -0000 > Like some of you who have built big ZFS arrays on multi-port controller= s, > I've got a mess of cables in my chassis... Now I have some SAS backplan= es > with mini-sas (SFF-8087) plugs. I know they work because I've used them > with an Areca 1680 controller and some standard mini-sas cables. I deci= ded > that I wanted to go a different direction, and purchased an ASUS P5BV/S= AS > board that has a builtin 8-port LSI 1068-based SAS controller (and I > highly recommend it). Now I have the 4x SAS to SFF-8087, and it doesn't > want to work... But it worked going from the Areca controller to a regu= lar > 8-port SAS/SATA backplane. > Are these cables only usable in one direction? Yes! Multilane-multilane cables are all the same (even if some vendors have different part numbers for different directions). If you connect discrete ports to a multilane-backplane you need a reverse break-out cable. See: http://3ware.com/products/pdf/3ware_Cable_Brochure.pdf In contrast you need forward breakout for multilane controllers and discrete backplanes. > In summary: > > mini-sas (controller) to mini-sas (backplane) - works > mini-sas (controller) to 8-port SAS/SATA (backplane) - works > 8-port SAS (controller) to mini-sas (backplane) - nada > 8-port SAS (controller) to 8-port SAS/SATA (backplane) - works > > Any ideas? Sorry if this is just a "duh" question. I don't do this for = a > living, I'm just obsessive about my media server :) Trust me, it took me quite a while to figure this out... Regards, Michael!