Adaptec 58300 User Manual

Chapter 5: Installing the HostRAID Controller and Disk Drives

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25

Connecting Disk Drives to HostRAID Controllers

You can connect SAS disk drives, SATA disk drives, or a combination of both to your 
HostRAID controller. There are no jumpers or switches to set before installation.

If you plan to build a bootable array using internal disk drives, ensure you install at least the 
minimum number disk drives required to support the RAID level you want. See 

more information.

Note: 

Although you can connect both SAS and SATA disk drives to your SAS controller, 

Adaptec recommends that you not combine SAS and SATA disk drives within the same 
array or logical drive. See 

 for more information.

You have two connection options:

●

To connect directly to the controller, see 

.

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To connect to a backplane, see 

Connecting Directly to the HostRAID Controller

In a direct-attach connection, SAS or SATA disk drives are connected directly to a SAS card 
with SAS cables.The number of direct-attached disk drives is limited to four per internal SAS 
connector. (For more information about direct-attach connections, see 

1

Install your internal SAS or SATA disk drives, following the instructions in your system’s 
documentation. 

2

Use internal SAS cables to attach the disk drives to the controller. 

3

When all internal disk drives have been installed and attached to the controller, close your 
computer cabinet, reattach the power cord, then continue with 

.

SATA disk drives attached to 
controller with fan-out cable

External

SAS cable

External SAS connector