Is there such a thing as a SATA External PCI Card?

I

Imagine

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I've looked everywhere for one, but no one seems to sell them. I'm not looking for an internal PCI card, cause my G5s internal bays are full. I'm looking to add a third SATA drive. I bought a SATA external enclosure for my drive. I'm not looking to connect it via Firewire or USB.

If you know where I can purchase this card, please let me know.

Thanks
Dean
 
In principle there is a problem in a SATA controller not being plugged over PCI:
which other interface is fast enough? USB 2.0? 400Mbit/sec and SATA is at 1Gbit/sec. Firewire 800 is too slow as well. Where else would you plug it if not on a PCI slot? I would rather think of this: Get rid of one of your current PCI cards (if possible) and go for PCI SATA controller. Otherwise there is no way
 
Zammy,

I do have an extra slot for a SATA PCI card, but what I'm looking for is an external SATA PCI card. I already have 2 drives in the G5s bay, but looking to hook up another 2 SATA 10K drives, externally.

Any idea where I can get such a card?

Thanks
Dean
 
Imagine said:
Zammy,

I do have an extra slot for a SATA PCI card, but what I'm looking for is an external SATA PCI card. I already have 2 drives in the G5s bay, but looking to hook up another 2 SATA 10K drives, externally.

Any idea where I can get such a card?

Thanks
Dean
Click to expand...

Apple's solution is getting a FiberChannel controller card and an Xserve RAID...
 
Imagine said:
Zammy,

I do have an extra slot for a SATA PCI card, but what I'm looking for is an external SATA PCI card. I already have 2 drives in the G5s bay, but looking to hook up another 2 SATA 10K drives, externally.

Any idea where I can get such a card?

Thanks
Dean
Click to expand...
Hmmmm, if you want to have it external, how would you connect it to the comp? I could think of only one thing:
buy a second INTERNAL PCI SATA controller. Plug your two discs outside of the case using those billion wholes in the G5 case! :D
No, seriously, there is no way but using a PCI slot and as for PCI cards, there is no external solution available. Sorry.. :(
 
By nature, PCI cards are internal. There is no way to connect a PCI card externally. I'm taking what you said to mean you'd like a PCI SATA card that installs internally, but has external ports on it... and I don't think those exist.

What you might want to look for is a FireWire or USB 2.0 case that will house a SATA drive. That's pretty much the only option you have unless you install it internally, either with or without a PCI SATA card. I don't know if those exist, either. SATA is a relatively new interface for desktop machines, so you don't have a wide range of accessories to choose from at this point in time.
 
If speed is the issue, there are also raid 0 firewire discs for external use. Your 10k spinning discs should max. handle 60mb/sec. A raid system will make around 90mb/sec and still firewire 800 would be enough for this. the box will be just slightly bigger because of two drives instead of one... So, what do you think?
 
Thanks for your suggestions folks. I think I'm going to wait until they release SATA enclosures with PCI external connections. It shouldn't be too far down the road. On another note, I think the G5 Jam is a little pricey. $500 for a price and cover, I don't think so.

I appreciate your help.

Dean
 
Well, don't hold your breath -- SATA is primarily an internal bus, like IDE and ATA... we don't see any external IDE/ATA drives that connect via an IDE/ATA interface. FireWire and USB 2.0 are the busses used for external drives, so I think the closest you'll come is an SATA drive in a FireWire/USB enclosure in the future.
 
There is THIS CARD from High Point, which has a single external SATA connector. Unknown if this card will work in the G5. High Point also makes a dual, and I think a Quad, but these seem ready made for RAID systems.
There's a lot less "if's and maybe's" with a FireWire or USB solution. As stated above, SATA is not really designed for external uses, although RAID setups could be one of those uses.

Other solution: Use any SATA drive card, and run the SATA cable through a hole in the case... :D SATA cable is pretty thin, and wouldn't have to be a very big hole...
 
DeltaMac said:
Other solution: Use any SATA drive card, and run the SATA cable through a hole in the case... :D SATA cable is pretty thin, and wouldn't have to be a very big hole...
Click to expand...
Hey, this idea was mine and it was copyrighted! ;)
 
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