Mini SAS HD cable to sata with "strange" connector

[Cougar014]

Hi everyone,

I have this cable to connect my wd reds to my onboard HBA:
http://m.reichelt.de/interne-extern...Ibd552f9567b60f2a61be5ac4ac561c6b&LANGUAGE=EN

But can someone tell me what i have to do with the 8-pin connector?

Thanks in advance

 

[Spearfoot]

That's a mini-SAS SFF-8643 to SAS/SATA breakout cable. Some motherboards (and HBAs?) have a mini-SAS connector that you would plug this cable in to. When you say 'onboard HBA' do you mean a built-in SAS controller on your motherboard? If so, what motherboard are you using? If not, what HBA?

 

[Cougar014]

Thanks for your answer
I have the Supermicro X11SSL-Cf motherboard.
With onboard LsI hba.

And the mini sas cable goes onto the motherboard. And the sata on the HDD.

But i mean the 8-pin usb look-a-look header connector which is placed between the 4 sata connectors

 

[Spearfoot]

Ah, ha! That's a sideband connector used to plug into a backplane or disk enclosure. AFAICT your motherboard doesn't support sideband. You could select an SFF-8643 cable without the sideband connector, but it probably won't hurt anything to use this cable if you can't find one without it.

 

[Cougar014]

Ah ok, Thanks! (again).

Good to hear that.

Just as a mini update:
I'm currently trying to install Vsphere.....

 

[Spearfoot]

This might be a better and less expensive choice:

http://haehnlein-it.de/shop/Kompone...-auf-4x-SATA-Kabel-SFF8643-0-6m-mini-SAS.html

Or, at Amazon in the USA:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BW1U2L2/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[Spearfoot]

Ah ok, Thanks! (again).

Good to hear that.

Just as a mini update:
I'm currently trying to install Vsphere.....

Are you building an all-in-one? With ESXi booting FreeNAS, then FreeNAS using the LSI HBA to provide storage?

 

[Cougar014]

Yes that is want i want to do,

Kinda like we discussed in this thread:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/esxi-server.48740/

 

[Spearfoot]

Yes that is want i want to do,

Kinda like we discussed in this thread:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/esxi-server.48740/

Well, I believe I told you everything I know about virtualizing FreeNAS in that thread, which isn't very much! Good luck! :D

 

[Ericloewe]

I have to figure out how the whole SAS sideband stuff works. I mean, there's SCSI Enclosure Services, which I assume operates over the SAS links themselves, then there's the sideband stuff, which gets dedicated pins on SFF-8087 and SFF-8643 (yay, I finally remembered the SAS3 connector designation!). And some lower-end solutions have individual connections for something...?

 

[Spearfoot]

I have to figure out how the whole SAS sideband stuff works. I mean, there's SCSI Enclosure Services, which I assume operates over the SAS links themselves, then there's the sideband stuff, which gets dedicated pins on SFF-8087 and SFF-8643 (yay, I finally remembered the SAS3 connector designation!). And some lower-end solutions have individual connections for something...?

I sheepishly admit that I never new about this 'ere new-fangled sideband stuff until this very day! I wish @jgreco would drop by and explain it to us...

 

[Ericloewe]

If anyone knows, it'll be him.