SATA - Connecting Multiple drives

[da644]

Hi.

We have a Dell server with a single SATA hard drive. We need to increase the capacity of the server. The server technical spec. says it supports up to 6 SATA hard drives. We have purchased 6 250GB SATA hard drives. However, when I opened the case it only has two SATA connections on the motherboard and each cable only has a single connection on it. Is there any way to connect multiple SATA drives to a single connection on the motherboard like you could with IDE? I have looked for a cable with multiple connections on it and can't find any.

Thanks

Andrew.

 

[Freestone]

Only one SATA drive per connection.

Perhaps others here can provide additional help if you post your Dell server model.

 

[da644]

It is a Dell PowerEdge 1800.

 

[Freestone]

I only had time to quickly glance at:

http://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/pedge/en/1800_brief.pdf

Page 3 mentions under Embedded Controllers:

"Single two-channel SATA controller(for up to 2 SATA hard drives)"

and page 9 under Upgrade Options:

"Add internal HDD storage (up to 6 x 300GB SCSI drives or up to 6 x 250MB SATA drives)"

My guess is you must purchase an additional card. I see mention of a CERC SATA 6Ch, which I'm guessing is a PCI-card providing 6 SATA channels.

PowerEdge information at:

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/pro...dge_1800?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~page=2#tabtop

 

[da644]

Ok thanks guys... I will get some PCI SATA controllers.

 

[smah]

FreeStone is correct the 6 SATA drives is when using the optional CERC (Cost Effective Raid Controller). There are only 2 onboard SATA controllers for this server. You can find a couple of discussions about this server, controller & drives in forum485.