Hi Larry Linder!

 On 2013.01.23 at 15:43:26 -0500, Larry Linder wrote next:

> Have a card which supports port multiplier - give you the ability to connect 4 
> SATA 6 drives to system.
> Hardware appears to work but SL 5.7 does not appear to support ESATA.
> Plan is to use a TR4M-BNC for 4  2 T byte drives.   Looking at ports and do 
> not see ports?

From my experience, SATA port multipliers are so unreliable and getting
them to work properly is annoying, so if it is possible, you really
should look at SAS expander technology. Something like Dell H200 ($120)
+ Intel RES2SV240 ($300) and you're set for 20 ports, at 24 Gbps total
speed. (you might need extra cables and internal-to-external SAS
brackets for external hard drives, though). I know it's probably much
more expensive but it's very solid configuration - works without
problems under any server OS. That is, if you need few dozens of drives.

If you need only a few drives, what about something like
http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_enclosures/scsat84xb.asp
or
http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_enclosures/sas4bay.asp
or similar solution, combined with Dell 6Gbps SAS or similar relatively
cheap card? No expander at all in either case, up to 8 drives, single
SAS cable for every 4 drives, very simple and reliable setup (can't
guarantee quality of this non hot-swap 8 drives enclosure, it feels too
cheap for what it offers, but there are many alternatives, this is just
an example).

-- 

Vladimir