IcyDock 5.25 bay to 4,6, or 8 2.5inch SSDs, how to connect?

Hardware HDD's & SSD's
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So I am looking at the IcyDock bays that fill a 5.25 inch bay with SSDs and I have a question. How to connect more than 4 of them to the motherboard? The backside of the IcyDock thing has SATA ports and power connectors.

I see cables that go from SFF-8087 (device) to 4xSATA, another that is an SFF-8087 (host) to a 4x 7pin SATA, and yet another that is an SFF-8654 to 8xSATA without sideband.

So I can figure out that the HBA card end will have either an 8087 or an 8654 connector, but which of those 3 goes to the IcyDock?

Thanks in advance.

2

Are you looking at the IcyDock that has 8 individual SATA connectors on the back?

If so, depending on the connectors on your HBA, you will need 1 or 2 regular breakout cables (host-to-SATA). The SFF-8087/SFF-8643s will break out to 4 SATA (you won’t need the sideband with the IcyDock), SFF-8654 to 4x OR 8x SATA.

If you share the model numbers of your enclosure and the HBA we can give you a better idea.

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I have bought neither yet because I was unsure what to buy but yes, the IcyDock enclosures I am considering all have SATA ports on the back, 1 for each SSD it will hold.

The Express Cage enclosures with as I said before,. 4, 6, or 8 SSD capability.

This cable:

and this HBA, In my head works, but I don’t know for sure.

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That cable looks like it has 8 SATA ports into one 8i connector. With that card you would need two cables that each have four SATA ports and one 4i connector.

If you want to be able to hook up nvme drives to it later you could get a tri-mode controller. Otherwise get one that does SAS/SATA only. Those are usually cheaper.

If you’re going to be using ZFS, you’ll also need to flash the cards firmware to IT mode so it doesn’t try to do RAIDy things and get in the way.

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I thought a Non RAID HBA made the flashing step unnecessary?

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Also yes, you are right. I hadn’t yet had my morning coffee when making that post,m good catch.

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The situation with SFF cables is kind of bonkers, so no worries. It’s hard sometimes to tell the difference just from pictures also.

If “non-raid” means it ships from the factory in IT mode, sure. I saw that also, but didn’t look into exactly what it meant.

And if you’ll be running windows, or not using ZFS, then you shouldn’t have to worry about it.

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You need this cable to go with those HBAs. And while that HBA is fine, you can get a used 9300-8i off ebay for hardly anything and it will work just as well for you.

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I will be running linux and ZFS…

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I don’t know how far you are into your purchase, but have you considered the ICY DOCK ToughArmor MB998IP-B? You will need at most two breakout cables.

I’m using it with a pair of cables connecting 4 SATA to 1 Mini SAS HD in reverse. If the Broadcom HBA 9500-8i Tri-Mode Storage Adapter is already a final decision, you’ll need a SFF-8654 (SlimSAS) to 2 × 4 SFF-8643 (Mini SAS HD) cable. See: Broadcom’s Cable Guide for RAID Controller Cards and HBAs (126.7 KB zipped PDF) (original link: https://docs.broadcom.com/doc/12354774).

This cable right here

1496Ă—1552 135 KB

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That will make cabling a lot simpler wouldn’t it! Thanks for pointing that out.

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I picked up the 6 bay unit:

Amazon.com: ICY DOCK 6 Bay 2.5” SATA HDD / SSD Hot Swap Backplane Cage Enclosure for External 5.25” Bay | ExpressCage MB326SP-B : Electronics

and connected it to this SATA controller:

Amazon.com: Syba 8 Port SATA III to PCIe 3.0 x1 Non-RAID Expansion Card Dual ASM1064 Low Profile Bracket,SD-PEX40163 : Everything Else

They both are working just fine for me, but the breakout cable maybe a better and cleaner option.

13

The ICY DOCK ExpressCage MB326SP-B’s plastic build feels a bit too flimsy for my tastes. They also have a full-metal version: ToughArmor MB608SP-B. I do not have the ToughArmor, but had I known about it, I would have bought it instead since I’ve been satisfied with my three other ToughArmor enclosures.

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Gotcha, I kind of noticed that too but in my full tower case, it is solid in this case.

But I can understand what the plastic feel of it can seem pretty cheap.

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Quite frankly, the 9500-8i is extremely OVERKILL for 8 SATA drives.

I would recommend you start with this set:

  1. Icy Dock ExpressCage ($120) or ToughArmor ($285) - depending on how much you value cabling convenience.
  2. This LSI 9300-8i IT Mode HBA ($15 - I got one recently and works just great)
  3. Two of this breakout cable ($14 each) if you get ExpressCage, or two of this one ($15 each) for the ToughArmor