ALTRAD8UD-1L2T lists 4 SlimSAS (PCIe4.0 x8) and 2 OCuLink (PCIe4.0 x4) connectors.
I am not active in server space so have no idea how to make use of such. The only SAS cables I ever used are SAS->4xSATA cables in my NAS which I used to connect hard drives to old LSI HBA.
Can someone enlighten me? In few sentences per each rather than “external/additional nvme storage” please.
My understanding is they’re just unusual connectors for PCIe lanes. For example you can buy a cable that splits the x8 SlimSAS into 2*U.2.
I bought the “DiliVing SlimSAS 8X to 2*U.2 NVMe Adapter,SFF-8654 74pin to 2*SFF-8639 68pin Cable with Power, 75CM(Broadcom MPN 05-60005-00，CBL-SAST-0953)” and am successfully using a couple of NVMe drives.
As an example of how it’s “just PCIe” there’s even an adapter to convert it to a PCIe slot: SlimSAS PCIe gen4 Device Adapter 2* 8i to x16 – C-Payne PCB Design
Similarly with OCUlink, you can buy cables to convert from OCUlink to U.2: https://www.microsatacables.com/pcie-gen-4-16-gt-s-oculink-sff-8611-to-u-2-sff-8639-cable
There’s more information about OCUlink and how it’s essentially a better replacement for Thunderbolt at https://www.howtogeek.com/what-is-oculink/.
For an illustration, here’s one of those U.2 NVMe adapters being installed: https://youtu.be/D8EIs8s303k?t=5
I have bought this adapter: SFF-8654 8i to PCIe 4.0 x16 Adapter for Mainboard DIY Computers Accessories | eBay
I’m hoping to connect a fifth PCIe card with it.
Cannot try yet, my Altra board is RMA’d for repair right now.
I’ve bought a slimline-sas-x8-la-to-8-sata-x4-int-70cm from super micro and plugged it on SATA drives and it doesn’t work. I think I’m missing something here and what I do is stupid, but is there something else to do to enable/add driver in order to see disks ?
I made the same mistake: the SlimSAS connector provides PCIe so you need a drive which understands that. Which means M.2, U.2, U.3 etc. - for SATA you’d need to connect a controller to the PCIe bus.
I have this card working for me.
The power connector is placed rather inconveniently:
But I just cut it off and soldered an ATX12V extension cable to it.
I now have no less than 6 PCIe cards in my ASRock Altra system:
I’m struggling with these connectors as well. I got the SlimSAS 8X to 2MiniSAS HD 4X,SFF-8654 74Pin to 2SFF-8643 36Pin Cable 80cm(Broadcom MPN 05-60003-00) for NVME drives/U.2 adapter/Icy Dock chassis. Drives don’t show up
Likewise, using an Oculink connection to SATA drives, nothing shows up.
NVME slots on motherboard work great. Any magic setup, or should I assume the wrong cables?
That Broadcom cable is probably meant for Broadcom Tri-Mode HBA’s, they use SlimSAS too.
Oculink to SATA is never going to work, the Oculink slots are similar to the SlimSAS slots, they provide PCIe only.
Perhaps you need a SlimSAS or Oculink to SFF-8639 cable?
Thanks. I should have done a little more research before grabbing the cables. I ended up popping in a SATA controller and an NVME card and life is good.
