Today I looked into connector numbering of SmartRAID 3154-8i16e, awesome hardware RAID controller card. It seems there is no info regarding to this topic on the net!
This card has 4 external HD mini-SAS connectors and 2 internal HD mini-SAS connectors. When SAS expander or port multiplier is not used, each HD mini-SAS connectors accommodate 4 SATA or SAS drives. Therefore up to 24 SAS or SATA drives can be connected directly to this card.
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| Fig.1 SmartRAID 3154-8i16e connector numberings |
Connector Numbering Scheme
There is a Connector id and CN id, these are differently numbered. From the observation, numbering scheme is as follows:- Connector number starts with internal HD mini-SAS connector to mate to SFF-8643 and external HD mini-SAS to mate to SFF-8644.
- CN number starts with external HD mini-SAS and continue with internal HD mini-SAS.
- Both numbers are assigned from the connector of the bottom of the card to the top.
About Slot Number
Slot number is assigned to these SAS/SATA ends. From the observation, slot number starts from 1, Connector 0 (CN4) has Slot 1, 2, 3 and 4. Connector 1 (CN5) has Slot 5, 6, 7 and 8, and things goes on.
| Connector 0 | CN4 | Internal HD mini-SAS | Slot 1,2,3,4 |
| Connector 1 | CN5 | Internal HD mini-SAS | Slot 5,6,7,8 |
| Connector 2 | CN0 | External HD mini-SAS | Slot 9,10,11,12 |
| Connector 3 | CN1 | External HD mini-SAS | Slot 13,14,15,16 |
| Connector 4 | CN2 | External HD mini-SAS | Slot 17,18,19,20 |
| Connector 5 | CN3 | External HD mini-SAS | Slot 21,22,23,24 |
SFF-8643 to 4 SATA fan-out cable connector numbering
This is a picture of my Microsemi Adaptec HD mini-SAS to 4 SATA fan-out cable, part # 2279800-R. Number tags are attached on each SATA connectors and this number starts from 0.
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| Fig.2 Closeup photo of SATA connectors of SFF-8643 to 4 SATA fan-out cable 2279800-R. |
MaxView Storage Manager Physical Devices View
MSM shows physical drive placement as follows:
(In the following example, drives are populated only on the external connectors. Following image is pictured during a test of automatic rebuild therefore RAID array is rebuilding.)
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| Fig.3 MaxView Physical device list |
