Multi-port SATA cards?

Howdy,
I�m trying to build a Solaris x86 machine that has at least 15 SATA hard drives. In order to do so I�m trying to find and multi-port SATA card that Solaris will work with. Solaris has a few SCSI RAID cards on it�s HCL but no SATA RAID cards. I don�t really want a RAID card since I want to use ZFS to manage the disks. Does anyone have pointers to multi-port SATA cards that will work?
hpaul

From looking at the source, the Solaris "aac" driver appears to
support a SATA RAID host controller (Adaptec 2410SA):
http://cvs.opensolaris.org/source/xref/on/usr/src/uts/intel/io/aac/aac.c#204
I'm not sure how well it works.
I seems that the new "sata framework" will be integrated / delivered
with Solaris Express soon. I hope that'll allow the use of standard
pci sata controllers in sata native mode
.

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Which E-SATA card for new Mac Pro??

I have the new Mac Pro 8-core 2.26GHz (Nehalem) and need to connect my two Western Digital drives via their E-SATA ports for video editing.
I bought a Sonnet Tempo card, having being led to believe this was one of the better cards, but sadly when I installed it, it didn't work. Careful reading of the small print on the Sonnet website informed me it wasn't actually compatible with the new MacPro.
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I have the new Mac Pro 8-core 2.26GHz (Nehalem) and need to connect my two Western Digital drives via their E-SATA ports for video editing.
Hi,
Unfortunately, the WD MyBook is not ideal for video editing. The enclosures use a bridge board that splits the connection between USB/FireWire/eSATA. This type of connection usually slows eSATA performance and is not compatible with all eSATA controllers. As a result, starting with the WD MyBook puts eSATA users at a disadvantage.
I agree with hatter that you would be better off with the Sonnet Tempo E4P and the FirmTek SeriTek/5PM. You could still use the WD MyBook as a backup device.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/sonnet/mac-pro/
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/5pm/
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata5pm.html
FirmTek sells a 2-port card with the SeriTek/5PM, but as it is Silicon Image SiI3132 based, performance will be limited to approx. 135MB/sec. with a single cable. If a dual bay direct connect enclosure like the SeriTek/2EN2 is used the RAID 0 performance will be approximately 150MB/sec. when the volume is empty.
Moving up to the Sonnet Tempo E4P can provide 210MB/sec. write and 250MB/sec. read performance with the SeriTek/5PM and a multi-drive RAID 0 configuration.
Most users interested in video editing are looking for high performance. However, if you don't need a high performance RAID, a 2-port card like the SeriTek/2SE2-E will do the job.
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/2se2e/
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Hello to all you fellow Mac pro users
Recently I ran into a problem while upgrading my macs hard drive space and it wound up taking the life of my logic board. What I actually believe happened is that the controller card and thus my mac cannot read from any of the SATA or optical drives, as I can still boot from an external firewire and the graphics card seems to be in okay shape. Since purchasing a brand new mac pro logic board can be a pricey endeavor and one which I cant afford at the moment a friend suggested I install a controller card in the mac pros available pci-e slots, then through some sata cables boot my system and run the hard drives off that.
Anyone know if this is possible? Could I potentially save my beloved mac pro by operating my internal hdd's on a pci-e controller card?
If this is possible does anyone know of compatible pci-e SATA cards for my OS 10.5 2007 2xDual-core Mac Pro?
Thank you all so much for your time!

Hi,
I think the odds of every port on the Mac Pro being defective is quite low.
This is what I would try:
1. Insert a spare hard disk into the Mac Pro.
2. Boot from the FireWire disk.
3. Clone the FireWire disk to the spare internal disk using the restore tab in Disk Utility with the erase destination box checked.
4. Boot off of the new cloned HD and verify if it is bootable.
You may also want to reset the PRAM and leave the computer unplugged for an hour if the tip above does not help.
If this does not work and your motherboard really does have all defective SATA ports a bootable PCIe card may be a possibility. However, you should know that most of these cards require the boot disk on the card to be cloned from an existing working system disk. You would need to clone from the FireWire disk to make the HD on the card bootable and you would need to verify that the Mac OS X Boot EFI BIOS is loaded on the controller.
Here are some Mac Pro bootable controllers:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/highpoint/4322/
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/areca/1680ix12/
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/highpoint/3522/
As you can see most of the bootable Mac Pro controllers are not inexpensive.
Happy Hunting!

Upgrading DVD - Add SATA card & Drives -SIMPLE

I just thought I would pass on my successful upgrading and expansion of my Dual 2.0A G5. I'm not endorsing the following products - just want to identify what worked in my scenario.
I bought an internal Pioneer DVR-111D DVD burner (16X and Dual Layer capable) for under $50 new. I followed the owner's manual that came with the G5 for replacing your optical drive. The instructions are clear and straight forward. The only thing you must do first is pop out the disk tray on the new drive using the paper clip emergency eject hole (before you install the drive). Then lift up on the front plate/door to remove this plastic piece so that the tray will open and extend out of the bay without hitting the computer frame. Out with the old 4X and in with the New 16X/DL. Booted up, called up System Profile and there was my new drive. Burned a 4.17GB test disk at 16X and all worked A-OK. No drivers, no configuring, Notta. Just Plug and Play.
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Lastly, this one bit me twice before I solved the mystery. I only had ONE drive show up in System Profile and on the Finder window initially. After much cable swapping, port swapping, rebooting, I went back INSIDE the dual bay enclosure to check cable connections. I noticed the data cable plug on the no-show drive was slightly askew due to other wiring pressing against it. I lined it back straight, powered everything up and that drive showed up now, BUT the other drive disappeared. Back in the box, yep, I bumped that ribbon cable plug on the other drive. Lined it back up and all works fine now. Watch out for these very "position sensitive" data cable plugs.
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G5 Dual 2.0A / iBook G4 14" Mac OS X (10.4.7) 1.5GB ram/1.35TB SATA HDs/2x19"LCDs - 768MB ram/Airport, Sony Z1U, ADVC100

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Quote from: HenryW on 16-March-07, 02:56:44
Have you tried to disable card in Device Manager when you don't use it? What is the model number of the card you are using?
It is a SATA 300 TX2, which means that it has two SATA ports and one IDE port. I have never used the IDE port, only one SATA.
I have never tried to disable it, but I could try, just to see what it did. It sure would be a lot more work to disable and enable it so that isn't a good long term solution. Among other things, it would mean that I would have to boot up in order to remove the SATA drive. Since it won't boot with the drive removed, it will require more planning.
Will post the results once I have tried. Still no reply from Promise :-(

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There a long thread about this on the 123MacMini forum. At page three, they mention drivers (you need drivers, right?) and there is a link...
http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=22943&postdays=0&postorder=asc& highlight=pcie+sata&start=30
Actually, that thread might refer to a different, but similar, card.
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My onboard IDE controller has given up the ghost so I have purchased a PCI sata card to use a spare sata disk, the problem is I can't see any way to get the 180 to boot from the PCI card. Anyone any ideas?

Yep - I disabled the PATA ports.
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hi daddyPaycheck,
have you used a sonnet unit before?
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Need help with e-sata card and Primera disc publisher.

Hello, I recently purchased a Primera Disc Publisher, you can read about it here:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/465853-REG/Primera_63124_Bravo_SE_Blu_Disc .html
About 20% of the time, it works perfectly.
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Sonnet and the E4P is popular, good company, and of course great for 4 SATA ports and PM support.
If you are not using SATA drives though, there are other options. check OWC for SATA PCIe and support.
http://www.macsales.com

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Any Firewire drive can be used to boot an Intel Mac (as well as any USB 2.0 drive.)
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I'm not sure why you feel there is indefinite information about bootable external drives and cloning software. The available information is quite definitive and specific. You seem to have a lot of information but don't quite understand it.
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NewerTech has SATA III controller.
As always, MacSales is a good place to see what might be available, whether you like or buy there or not, check their listings.

Raid or internal sata card for my mac?

Hi People,
I have some problems with my internal sata ports and therefore I'm thinking about buying either a raid card (I want to run my two internal harddrives in raid0 so doing it hardware would not be a bad idea) or just a simple internal sata card. But I can't seam to find any products like that except for the raid card apple wants like 1400$ for which is way overkill for this little hack. This can be done for something like 80$ on PC, isen't it possible to get something for my powermac g5 quad that will work?
Thank you in advance.

Hi-
Replied to your other post. Check out the Firmtek line (PCI Express) at OWC (will ship worldwide):
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Criteria=SATA%20High%2DSpeed%20Contr oller%20Mac%20Cards&sort=a
For RAID, this Highpoint would set you up right:
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Highpoint%20Technologies/RRAID2310/

MP early 2008: Seeking advice on e-sata card and external enclosure for backup purposes

Hi everyone
I currently have my home folder on an internal 3TB drive which is SuperDuper'd every day to an identical internal drive.
I am running out of space and need to think of a longer-term solution. I will have to use several large drives - one drive for photos, one for iTunes library, one for documents etc. Each drive would be mirrored with SuperDuper to something like an IcyCUBE and connected through a PCIE e-sata card. I'm not considering any form of RAID solution.
Is Sonnet still the card manufacturer to go for - if so, is the E2P the card I need? Are there alternative cards and if so what should I look for (certain chipsets perhaps)?
Are there any known compatibility problems between certain cards and certain drive enclosures?
Is there a way to have only one cable between the computer and the enclosure or must each drive have its own connection?
Thanks very much in advance for any help with this.
Cheers
Philip

E2P is a low end two port card with limitation in bandwidth. Maybe you want 4-port card to give you more growth and expansion.
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The issue are avoid those name brand WD and Seagate or LaCie enclosures.
Every new OS and Mac Pro has had some sort of change to drivers and such.
4TB drives should be part of your storage strategy.
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Sata Card for Dual 2.5 External Drives

Loking for a four port card that works with my G5 and have no idea what I need PCIX etc.
Looking to buy it here.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Search.cfm?Criteria=SATA%20High%2DSpeed%20Contr oller%20Mac%20Cards&sort=a&pg=2
Thanks in advance, tried to search but could not find an answer.

Hi Michele
If you have the first generation of dual 2.5GHz G5s, you have PCI-X. If you have the later model, you have PCIe (PCI Express). You can check which you have by launching System Profiler (from the Apple menu - About This Mac - More Info).
Check the "machine model".
PowerMac 7,3 - early G5 - PCI-X
PowerMac 11.2 - late G5 - PCIe
MacGurus has more information on SATA card compatibility here.
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