Adaptec 58300 User Manual

Introduction to SAS

In this chapter...

Terminology Used in This Chapter ....................................................................................... 53

What is SAS? ........................................................................................................................... 53

How Do SAS Devices Communicate? ................................................................................... 53

What’s a Phy? .......................................................................................................................... 54

What’s a SAS Port?.................................................................................................................. 54

What’s a SAS Address?............................................................................................................ 55

What’s a SAS Connector? ....................................................................................................... 55

What do SAS Cables Look Like? ............................................................................................ 55

How are Disk Drives Identified in SAS? ................................................................................ 55

What are the SAS Connection Options? ............................................................................... 55

How is SAS Different from Parallel SCSI?............................................................................. 57

This section provides a basic overview of the main features of SAS, introduces some common
SAS terms, and explains how SAS differs from parallel SCSI.

Note:

For technical articles and tutorials about SAS, refer to the SCSI Trade Association

(STA

) Web site at www.scsita.org.