I've been shopping around for a mini-SAS to 4xSATA drive cable and I keep seeing these references to some coming "w/Sideband".

Does anyone know what "Sideband" might be referring to?

Yeh id like to know that tooo... i never worked out what it was for???

For your reference i have 2x mini-SAS to 4xSATA that you are looking for without sideband and dont have issues.

I have a non-sideband version already that I'm using with my Adaptec 31605 and 4 WD Raptors without any issues but I needed a second cable for some additional drives I've yet to install and no one in Canada had stock of the non-sideband version so I ended up ordering one with.

From what I've been able to find on the internet the sideband is an additional bank of connection on the same socket that aren't generally part of the SAS standard and are used by various vendors for additional signally, between a controller and backplane for instance. I'm guessing that the additional WD Raptors won't have the associated connections and will simply ignore the presence of the sideband altogether.

Considering the retail version of the 31605 comes with a sideband cable I figured I'd be safe. (I have the OEM version that came with no cable at all)

I'll try calling Adaptec on Monday to find out.

So the sideband is actually a fifth connector that is meant to connect directly into the backplane and can be completely ignored if you aren't using one.

Awesome thanks Eclipse1024

A sideband is extra wire that is used when hooking up extenders, LEDs & other hardware.

It is still ok to have even if you won't use it. It's just there "in case".

I work at a cable manufacturer and we have mini-sas to (4)SATA that you may need, however, there are several different types of "mini-sas" connectors that you need to decide on.

http://www.techcable.com/HTML/MINI-SAS.htm

Good luck