Internal SATA to External SAS SFF-8088

[TerraPassenger]

Is an adapter/cable available that will convert 1 or more internal SATA connectors to an external X4 mini-SAS SFF-8088 connector? I need to connect my PC to an external IBM tape drive. The tape drive is sensitive to the block transfer size.

Anyhow, does such a converter/cable exist or will I need to purchase a RAID card with an external mini-SAS connector?

Thanks in advance for help.

 

[Pinhedd]

Not likely. Even if such a thing does exist (which I doubt) I would highly advise against using it. SAS and SATA are two very different interfaces and are not compatible for a reason. I suggest getting your hands on a controller card which can handle both

EDIT: I'm just going to edit this for clarity. SAS and SATA share the same pinout for their power and data connectors. The only difference between the two is that the SAS connector joins both together, however the spacing is identical. It is possible to physically hook up a SAS drive to a SATA connector and vice versa. This does not mean that the onboard SATA controller on most chipsets has the capability to control SAS hard drives as most do not. However, there do exist professional RAID cards which can handle any intermingling of both interfaces since the physical layer is otherwise identical.

 

[palladin9479]

A SAS device can't work on a SATA port, but you can plug a SATA device into a SAS port.

SAS and SATA are electrically compatible but are different protocols. SAS HBA's understand both the SAS and the SATA protocols but SATA HBAs only understand the SATA protocol.

 

[TerraPassenger]

Thanks Palladin and PinHedd.

 

[TerraPassenger]

Best answer selected by TerraPassenger.