Creating a raid with one SATA3.0 port

[ironic_sobriquet]

does anyone make a board to do this, I don't want to plug in through PCIe (no more slots open)
basicly what I'm imagining is a SLI bridge to connect ~3 or so SATA2.0 drives with a SATA3.0 port on the other side to connect them to the motherboard...
this would not require port multiplying (as I know SATA does not support this) and would also be more discrete than a full sized PCI bus...
I know Addonics produced something like this for PATA CF cards http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_memory_reader/ad2sahdcf.asp which has a small switch on it to pop between RAID 0,1 and JBOD

anything like this that just has sata ports?

I mean consumer mech hard disks (@~7200rpm w/ a 16mb buffer) only use a little over 2 gbps... and a larger buffer only increases that slightly, atleast never hitting the 3gbps ceiling of RAID2.0, so I see this as a very realistic and inexpensive piece of hard ware...

thanks,
-Ian

 

[sub mesa]

this would not require port multiplying (as I know SATA does not support this)

Really.

Exactly what are you trying? Using SLI to connect two SATA 3Gbps drives to one SATA 6Gbps host adapter on the motherboard? Good luck - it will never work.

Either use port multipliers, or use proper PCI-express addon controllers. Good motherboards have 6 PCI-express ports; you all using them?

 

[chunkymonster]

So, in effect, what you are really looking for is a SATA 3.0 to a SATA 6.0 adapter? But with the ability to plug in more than one SATA3.0 drive.

Not sure what that would accomplish, other than being able to plug in 2+ drives into 1 SATA port on the mobo, and other than to solve your immediate constraints.

Essentially, this is why they make SATA/RAID controller cards.

The device you linked to, effectively, allows users to create a "poor man's" SSD using CF cards.

No such device exists for SATA drives.

Maybe a device like the StarTech External HDD Dock for Dual 2.5 or 3.5in Hard Drive would meet your needs. Fact is, a device like this is closest your gonna get to what you're proposing...

Good luck!

 

[ironic_sobriquet]

the idea is to have a hardware RAID through one port... this would primarily be useful on boards with fewer SATA ports (think; when mini ITX gets SATAIII)
this would enable one to reach the limits of SATAIII right now, rather than waiting for a SLED (like an SSD or a mech drive with a 1gb buffer...) to reach 6gbps... which isn't going to be happening this year or next...

or could I buy the ICs to build a small circuit board for this? a RAID IC couldn't cost more than $5-$15 and the I/O ports are a dime a dozen... anyone know? if you let me know I'll sell them cheap!