Best way to add multiple HDD connections to a motherboard?

[yamamoto2002]

For 18 drives, I recommend SAS Expander enclosure like Netstor NS385S-8028

and any SAS host bus adapter with external SAS connector. I'm long term fan of Adaptec so I'll choose something like HBA Ultra 1200-16e. While many people prefer second hand Broadcom/Avago/LSI cards.

 

Or goes to one box solution of Gamers Nexus route, Norco RPC-4224 and two SAS HBA with internal SAS connectors internal SAS cables and direct attach.

 

One thing to consider is external SAS connector and internal SAS connector has different shape

 

[yamamoto2002]

I went to direct attach route before and experienced cabling mess

and it narrows the choice of host adapters: so many output connectors are needed and I eventually DIY modified direct attach enclosure to SAS expander enclosure with second hand Adaptec 82885T. SAS expander simplify the connection between computer and storage.

 

BTW, If you goes to SAS expander enclosure route, be sure to check the expander enclosure accepts SATA drives, some enclosures only accept SAS drives and the HDD costs will be skyrocketed.

[yamamoto2002]

22 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

Or each cable splits into 8 SATA drives and I put them in the case normally...

I think a Mini-SASand Mini-SAS HD cable can connect 4 SATA drives and needs port multiplier or SAS expander to connect 8 drives. Latest Slim-SAS 8i can connect 8 SATA drives.

[yamamoto2002]

8 minutes ago, AudioDoctor said:

In my research I found this card and this cable are operable together

 

https://www.pc-pitstop.com/broadcom-hba-9500-16i-tri-mode-storage-adapter-05-50077-02-2

 

https://www.diliving.com/SlimSAS-X8-to-8-SATA-SFF-8654-74P-to-8-SATA-7P-SlimSAS-Host-RAID-to-SATA-Target-HD-85CM-Cable-p3247776.html

 

There are also cables that break out to 4 SATA drives with the same slimSAS connector at the other end.

The Broadcom card on the picture mates 4 SFF-8643 connectors and it is Mini SAS HD and it is not SlimSAS

 

Edit: It seems the picture shows different product and 9500-16i has SlimSAS 8i connector...

[yamamoto2002]

Yeah, sideband connector goes to nowhere so it is better without it

 

Edit: both cables do not have sideband cable, so difference is the length, I think cheaper one is better.

[yamamoto2002]

First one is 0.85 meter and second one is 1 meter. Functionality should be the same.

 

[yamamoto2002]

It is better to enable ECC periodical memory scrubbing on BIOS and set its interval to 24 hours, to self-heal single bit memory upset.

[yamamoto2002]

7 hours ago, AudioDoctor said:

Call me skeptical but.. Is this real ECC RAM?

 

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1729153-REG/sabrent_sb_dr5u_16gx4_laptop_ddr5_4x16gb_4800mhz.html

 

It says Integrated ECC, but I am suspicious.

I think it is not ECC memory of traditional meaning. Search "DDR5 ECC UDIMM" for real ECC memory for AMD desktop processors, I found some offers from Micron.