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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Esata card for 1.8' SSD station red mag

axel ebermann

axel ebermann

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Hey guys,

Any recommendations for the best 4-port esata card to use with
the SSD download station ?

According to Red spec sheet they only work with Silicon Image
or Highpoint cards...

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

Axel
 
axel ebermann said:
According to Red spec sheet they only work with Silicon Image
or Highpoint cards...
Click to expand...

Well, I can tell you definitively that the 1.8" SSD Station does NOT work with the Lacie 4-port eSata card. Quite unfortunately for me.

Surprisingly, the Red CF Station works just fine with that same card.
 
Atto H680. This card has just plain worked with everything I've connected to it, SAS or eSata. Fastest thing I own.
(And that does include the RedStation 1.8" and the RedStation CF reader.)
 
+1 ATTO H680.
 
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thanks guys. any recommendation which breakout cable to use with that for regular esata connectors ?

D Fuller said:
Atto H680. This card has just plain worked with everything I've connected to it, SAS or eSata. Fastest thing I own.
(And that does include the RedStation 1.8" and the RedStation CF reader.)
Click to expand...
 
Use the HighPoint mini-SAS to eSATA x 4 fan-out cable. Make sure you get the eSATA version!

It's this one.
 
Axel,
Here there is more info from Jeff, as always very helpfull!!

Jeff Kilgroe said:
Go for ATTO, CalDigit or Sonnet.

The ATTO H680 is excellent, it has two quad-channel mini-SAS connectors on it that can each support 4 separate devices or channels via a mini-SAS to eSATA fan-out cable, it's 6Gbps per channel. They have the 3Gbps per channel version as well, the H380, but it does not support PCIe 2.0 and it's about the same price, often more expensive. Get the newer H680, especially if you have an '09 or newer Mac Pro that can offer PCIe 2.0 in your X4 slots.

CalDigit has a new combo card that offers two 6Gbps eSATA ports as well as two USB 3.0 ports. They also have the FASTA-4X card, which is simple and reliable and gives four eSATA 3Gbps ports. I have a couple of those and they are inexpensive and reliable.

The Sonnet E4P is also a simple and reliable 3Gbps solution with four eSATA ports.

AFAIK, the current REDSTATION modules as well as the RED SSDs are all 3Gbps. However, 6Gbps is still desirable for connecting other external storage and devices. The ATTO H680 is my top choice as you can also connect SAS devices to it, such as an LTO tape drive. mini-SAS to eSATA fan-out cables usually run about $50 for the good ones. I'm using the one from HighPoint. Just be aware that the fan-out cable is short, only about 2ft of cable for each device. You can get eSATA couplers and add on, but I don't recommend. I have a few and do it here and there, never had any issues <knock wood>, but I also don't do it unless I have no other choice.

Second choice would probably be a toss-up between the two CalDigit cards.
Click to expand...
 
I have an h680 and could not get I to work with esata. I called atto and they do not support esata on that card. My hpt mini sas card works great.
 
Tim Whitcomb said:
Which one? There are mutliple variants ranging from $400 to $1000 but all have the same model number?
Click to expand...

The ATTO H680. There's only one card with that model number. There are several products in the ExpressSAS line. Model number start with either an H or R. H for standard Host, R for the model with hardware RAID controller onboard. The next digit is either a 3 or 6, which identifies whether they are a 3Gbps or 6Gbps soluton. After that are two more digits, which represent the internal and external number of ports. So 80 represents 8 external and 0 internal SAS/SATA channels. So the H644 is a SAS/SATA HBA with 6Gbps ports, 4 internal, 4 external. The R60F is a RAID HBA with 6Gbps ports, 0 external and 16 internal.

Thomas Koch said:
I have an h680 and could not get I to work with esata. I called atto and they do not support esata on that card. My hpt mini sas card works great.
Click to expand...

Er... But the H680 is a SAS/SATA host adapter with only external ports. It *IS* an eSATA card. Sounds like you talked to someone who either misunderstood you or doesn't know their own products. Weird. ATTO support is usually pretty good.
Don't believe me? Here's the specs: http://attotech.com/products/product.php?cat=3&scat=4&sku=ESAS-H680-000

As for those who have had problems getting them to work, would love to offer help, but I'd need more info. I own several H680 adapters, two R680's and one R60F.. Best place to start is to be sure you have the most current drivers AND FIRMWARE installed. Also be sure you're using a properly shielded and grounded SFF-8088 mini-SAS to eSATA fan-out cable, like the HighPoint one I linked to earlier in this thread. If you use an improperly grounded one for conventional SATA (not external eSATA), you will have problems like intermittent disconnects or unrecognized devices.
 
I have recently been using a Caldigit 2x Esata and 2x USB 3.0 card on the Mac side and it works pretty well... I recently tried one of the " driverless " 2 port cards from new egg and it was a total disaster.. actually lost some footage from the card going sideways.
 
I can also confirm good results with the CalDigit FASTA-6GU3, which is the card Jarred speaks of. They're about $150. And the best, IMO, USB3 solution for the Mac right now. Handy if you have clients who are taking a liking to USB3 drives, I have a couple of those, the clients I mean. Personally I don't like USB3, but that's another discussion which has been beat to death already.

Other cards that work good are the CalDigit FASTA-4EX (quad 3G eSATA), and their ExpressCard34 adapters all work too.. The Sonnet Pro cards, PCIe and ExpressCard are good. And the HighPoint eSATA cards too...

I still recommend the ATTO SAS cards as a great option. They're rock solid and very versatile. You can connect SAS LTO units or RAIDs, eSATA storage and readers like the RED STATION. They have great compatibility on both Mac and Windows. I'm not affiliated with ATTO in any way, I've just become a fan of their products after using them over the past few years.
 
I've got some H380 that are working great with the 1.8" SSD. I would go for this instead of an sil3132 card. Silicon image will work but its a x1 card with only 250MB/s transfers. With the H380 or H680 its like having x8 independent channels 3gb/s.
 
I'm a die-hard fan of Caldigit; they make the best stuff and have excellent support. Not exactly so with Sonnet. Every Sonnet product I've bought has had trouble in some way; both drives and cards. Lastest purchase was a QIO that crashed my machine 4-5 times a day for a feature I worked on as a DIT (with the Alexa); every crash happened when I was ejecting cards. And their support doesn't give a rats ass about it - never heard back from them even though I've e-mailed them several times and tweeted about it a lot.
 
Yeah Caldigit has stepped up their game lately.. Jeff's recommendation of the H680 is pretty high though... most of the big dogs on the big productions all use that card. Atto has a new 6G version as well.
 
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