External eSata Port Multiplier

It doesn't.  You have to use a pci-e host bus adapter.

http://www.ioisata.com/products/Host-Adapter/S3-PCIE1XG202.htm

I would appreciate any feedback that can be provided.

I had never heard of these devices, but I am assuming the XPS 9100 port supports them. Perhaps you could evaluate one and confirm or refute this conjecture?

Thanks for the input.  During my research for an answer to this I found a spec sheet for the X58 chipset.  I'm not sure I understand it entirely, but it appears to say that it does support port multipliers???  I put an excerpt regarding the port multiplier and the URL to the sheet.

www.intel.com/.../x58-product-brief.pdf

• Intel® Matrix Storage Technology1: Native support of external SATA ports (eSATA), combined with Intel Matrix Storage Technology (Intel® MST), provides the flexibility to add an external drive for increased data storage with up to 6 times faster performance than USB* 2.0 or IEEE 1394 4002. Support for eSATA enables the full SATA interface speed of up to 3 Gb/s outside the chassis. The Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) provides easier expandability with support for eSATA devices and native hot plug, while boosting boot and multi-tasking performance with Native Command Queuing (NCQ). In addition, support for Command Based Port Multipliers, and RAID levels 0, 1, 5 and 10 enable greater reliability for personal data, or maximum storage performance for intensive applications.

INTEL MST pre dates INTEL RST and even INTEL RST does not support RAID volumes larger than 2TB.

If you are working with tiny 120 gig drives you might be able to do something.

All of the documentation you reference came out before 3TB,6TB drives.

The newer Host bus adapters support JBOD and RAID with 3TB and larger drives up to 5 drives at a time.

Your system does not have UEFI Bios and cannot do GPT BOOT partitions.

http://www.ioisata.com/products/Port-Multiplier/SPM391.htm

Once again, thank you for your input.

I'm really confused now, since the sheet indicates it does support Command Based Port Multipliers.  None of my system is setup for RAID or GPT partitions.

The system I am using came out in mid 2010 and currently has 2 2TB and 2 1TB internal HDD, in addition to 5 external HDD (one eSata, 2 USB 3, and 1 firewire w/ 2drives) that range from 200GB to 4TB in size. Two of the drives are WD books and will remain USB 3.  The others are in old enclosures.

My goal is to consolidate and eliminate the smaller drives and older enclosures, then use my spare 2TB and 1TB drives in a 4 bay enclosure via eSata.  It is unlikely that I will use a drive larger than 2TB in the external enclosure. If Port Multipliers are not supported I'll just use a USB 3 port as I will not lose that much speed (if any) since my system is only SATAII anyway.

Thanks again, I appreciate your feedback.

Boot partitions larger than 2TB REQUIRE GPT.  MBR Boot partitions are Limited to 2TB.  You get GPT Booting from UEFI bios which you do not have.  You cannot mix and match different drives into a single drive when they are different speeds and sizes.  There are also firmware issues with USB enclosures when drives are LARGER than 2TB.   The port multiplier 

http://www.ioisata.com/products/Port-Multiplier/SPM393.htm

can handle up to 5 drives of 6 TB each for a drive that is 30TB in Raid0.  However it requires a HOST BUS ADAPTER to do this.

The Downside of Raid 0 is that when one drive dies 100 percent of the data is LOST.  The Downside of RAID 5 is that you lose 1 Drive to Parity aka 24TB instead of 30TB because of the Parity Drive.  You lose one drive in Raid 5 you can recover.  You lose 2 drives and you are DEAD again.  Its not a matter of IF the drives die its a matter of WHEN.

Thats why you REQUIRE a Host Bus Adapter.

WD used an OEM version of the Rocket 620.

Western Digital was shipping every unit of their new 3 TB Caviar Green hard disk drive with a HighPoint Rocket 620 SATA controller.
This SATA controller, which features a modified BIOS, allows Western Digital to circumvent the 2.1 TB capacity limit of current motherboard BIOSes.  Without it, you will only be able to access the first 2.1 TB of any hard disk drive that is larger than 2.1 TB in capacity.

There is no confusion.  You cannot use a port multiplier to overcome the 2TB limit.  It requires a host bus adapter with BIOS Extension to handle this.

Speedstep,

Thanks again for the valuable input.  You clearly have extensive knowledge in this area.  

I will not (at least at this time) be using any drive larger than 2TB.  I don't remember indicating that I wanted to use larger than 2TB, although at some point I may, but by then a system upgrade will likely be in order. When I set up/obtain a system I get the best that I can afford, with the best processor, expansion, etc.  My system although 5 years old, is still relatively fast and is mainly limited by the hard drive speed.

An upcoming installation of a Samsung 850 Pro 512GB SSD will complement the system soon and hopefully raise my performance level.  I know the USB 3.0 and 2.0 supports multiple drives in an enclosure because I have been using a couple, just with 1TB and lower drives.  As I mentioned I am going to take advantage of some larger "spare" drives that I have.  (one for music, one or two for movies and one for images).  That's why I want to use the dives for all my storage and the SSD for the workhorse.

The device I plan to use is either USB 3.0 or eSata, so one way or the other I will accomplish the goal. Even if I have to give up on the eSata I won't really experience that much difference (since I have SATA II and I am limited there anyway).  I may in fact be better with the USB 3.0???

I recently upgraded my E6400 Dell laptop to a Samsung Pro 256GB from the original 160 GB Seagate 7200 RPM and the difference is phenomenal.  Boots in under 20 seconds and just snaps programs open, eye-blink fast. Only bad thing there is that it was originally configured in BIOS to IRRT instead of AHCI and I cannot get the eSata enabled to be able to take advantage of the Samsung Rapid Technology.  But I digress...

I thank you again and wanted to let you know I appreciated your feedback and sharing knowledge.