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Will a Hot Plug Sata drive work in an eSata port
Hello, I have an older PowerEdge T330.
It has 2 hot swap drives that are esata and in a mirror raid array.
I ordered a replacement drive from the dell website that says its for this particular machine with the service code, express code and all that. However what arrived is a Sata drive, Not esata.
Will the sata drive hot-plug into the esata hdd slot in the server and work?
DELL-Chris H
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February 7th, 2024 18:17
A Raid array is just another term for a Virtual Disk, so you wouldnt be able to have a raid array made up with SAS and SATA disks together. You can have multiple Virtual Disks on a controller, being SAS or SATA, but they can't be mixed within the same Virtual DIsk.
For an example, you can have a 2 drive Raid 1 made of 2 SAS drives, as well as have a 3 drive raid 5 made with 3 SATA drives, but you couldn't have a Raid made up with both drive types.
Chino de Oro
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February 7th, 2024 09:09
PowerEdge T330 uses SAS drive, SATA drive, but no such thing as eSATA drive. You can replace a failed SATA drive with new one and rebuild your RAID.
This is the simple process to remove/install hard drives on the drive carriers https://www.dell.com/support/contents/en-ky/videos/videoplayer/poweredge-t330-removeinstall-hard-drives-and-carrier/6079794596001
DELL-Erman O
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February 7th, 2024 10:42
Hello, actually T330 does not have an eSATA port. Maybe it can be tried with an adapter. It is technically possible to use a SATA drive in an eSATA port, which I do not recommend for enterprise products. Frankly, I am a bit confused.
Dell PowerEdge T330 Owner's Manual | Dell US
Hard drives
The PowerEdge T330 system supports SAS, SATA, Nearline SAS hard drives and Solid State Drives (SSDs).
Kris256
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February 7th, 2024 16:13
You are both correct, I got the name of the drive wrong. I don't recall what esata actually relates to, but the original drives would have been SAS as you both mentioned.
The visual difference on the back of the SAS drive is that the Power and Sata connectors have a piece of plastic that bridges them together vs the standard sata does not, right? Making sure I'm talking about the right drive. These are what is in the server currently.
The new drive that arrived does not have the SAS style connection which would lead me to believe it is a standard Sata drive. If that is correct can I hot swap a Sata drive into the SAS bay? I can't think of any reason it wouldn't physically fit, I just want to make sure I am doing the correct thing. Then as was mentioned above I would have to rebuild the array.
(edited)
DELL-Chris H
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February 7th, 2024 16:35
Kris256,
You may want to include pictures of what you are desribing to help clarify, as well as the specific part numbers for the drives. Also, either drive should work with the backplane.
Let me know if this helps.
Kris256
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February 7th, 2024 17:36
I grabbed the image off of another site as I do not have access to the server at the moment, Only the replacement drive.
Via the picture above the new drive I received is the Sata, and the drives that are currently in the Server are the SAS drives. The order references the new drive as "8TB 7.2K RPM SATA 512e 3.5in Hot-plug Hard Drive, CusKit". I don't think the website even shows any drives for this server mentioning Sas in the available parts list. I could be wrong, I'll check to make sure though.
(edited)
Kris256
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February 7th, 2024 17:41
It turns out Dell does have options for SAS for the interface. The limitation is they only offer 1.2Tb
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/pfydresults/244551?categoryId=8496
I guess it just boils down to Can I use a Sata in the SAS Interface?
I did find out further on this, so figure I would post for anyone in the future.
Connecting SATA drive to SAS controller
SAS controllers enable the use of SATA drives to expand the storage capacity with cost-effectiveness.
The use of SATA hard drives on SAS controllers is made possible by the fact that both share the same infrastructure and have similar features.
SATA drivesmay be plugged intoSAS controllers.
SAS drivescannot be plugged intoSATA controllers.
There is a difference between the SAS and SATA connectors, and both includes power and data. On SATA drives, there is a separation between power and data, while with SAS drives it is unified.
https://www.seagate.com/support/kb/connecting-sata-drive-to-sas-controller-006170en/
(edited)
DELL-Chris H
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February 7th, 2024 17:46
You can, as I stated before the backplane supports both. Now on a side note, you cant mix sas and sata drives within the same Virtual Disk, but you could have 2 Virtual Disks, one SATA and one SAS, but they can't be in the same Virtual Disk.
Kris256
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February 7th, 2024 18:10
@DELL-Chris H Would the same apply to having them in a Raid array? I have a mirrored array and in this case one of the drives would be the SAS and the other would be Sata. Would that give me problems?
david_lily
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February 8th, 2024 04:29
I think using a hot-plug SATA drive in an eSATA port should generally work without issues, as both interfaces are based on the same SATA standard. However, it's essential to verify compatibility with your specific hardware and operating system to ensure seamless functionality. Some systems may require additional drivers or BIOS settings to support hot-plug functionality over eSATA. Additionally, while hot-plugging is technically feasible, it's advisable to exercise caution and follow proper procedures to avoid data loss or damage to the drive or system. Overall, with proper compatibility checks and precautions, using a hot-plug SATA drive in an eSATA port can provide convenient storage expansion options.
david_lily
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February 11th, 2024 22:20
o, the SATA drive won't directly hot-plug into the eSATA slot in your server. They have different physical connectors. Unfortunately, even though your server supports SATA disks, the hot-swap slots themselves are specifically designed for eSATA connections.
It's important to stick with eSATA drives for hot-swapping in your Dell PowerEdge T330. Using an incompatible drive could damage your system or the drive itself.
Remember, prioritize using the correct drive type for your specific server configuration to avoid issues