3 ms·

Why spend the money for a super fast direct pcie ssd and then pay more money to cripple it down to sata speeds when you could just buy a sata ssd or msata+adapt

Why spend the money for a super fast direct pcie ssd and then pay more money to cripple it down to sata speeds when you could just buy a sata ssd or msata+adapter way cheaper?

happycube 4y ago
Also it's a complex adapter, since it has to be a PCI-e host. Generally SATA->x (USB, SD card, etc) adapters can be done with much simpler app-specific microcontrollers with IP blocks sprinkled in.
GordonS 4y ago
One reason is SATA SSDs are more of expensive than their m2 counterparts - at least they were here in the UK when I recently purchased an SSD. Another reason could be size - in a 5.25" form factor, you could potentially "stack" several m2 SSDs in blade-like fashion. I haven't seen such a thing though, and heat might be an issue.
- upon_drumhead 4y ago
  2.5” 2T Samsung ssd on Amazon is $135 and a 2T nvme is slightly cheaper at $125. That $10 in savings is going to totally be eaten in adapters though. So there are 5.25” multiple m2 adapters out there like https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=255 https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=255 That one would require a sas controller to connect to. You generally don’t see a tighter system like blades due to needing a bifurcated pcie slot support, which at that point of server hardware, your are generally not using adapters like this.
  - Dylan16807 4y ago
    That enclosure isn't m.2, that's 2.5" NVMe. Like a SATA drive but with more pins stuffed in the plug. Though I guess you could put extra adapters inside it. Is the ability to bifurcate a PCIe slot (and avoid extra controllers) that rare? That's a shame.
    - upon_drumhead 4y ago
      Whoops. I linked the wrong model. Middle of that page has a section on all the different options for the drive bay. A few that look very similar are m2 nvme. I have a https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10DRH-iT https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10DRH-iT and they don’t support bifurcated pcie. It’s a shame cause I’ve extended the life of the servers by using pcie adapters to add high speed io layers and I’m limited to one device per port. I’d love to double that density.
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  SATA SSDs are a little bit cheaper here. Hot swap bays are usually set up for 2.5" drives. You can fit 4-8 into a single 5.25" slot. But the ones designed for performance will prefer U.2 drives and hook them up to PCIe. https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=321 https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=321
gigel82 4y ago
I agree it's a pretty niche requirement. But I have 8x 1Tb NVMe drives after pulling them out of a server and nothing to use them for :)

Why spend the money for a super fast direct pcie ssd and then pay more money to cripple it down to sata speeds when you could just buy a sata ssd or msata+adapter way cheaper?

happycube 4y ago

Also it's a complex adapter, since it has to be a PCI-e host. Generally SATA->x (USB, SD card, etc) adapters can be done with much simpler app-specific microcontrollers with IP blocks sprinkled in.

GordonS 4y ago

One reason is SATA SSDs are more of expensive than their m2 counterparts - at least they were here in the UK when I recently purchased an SSD. Another reason could be size - in a 5.25" form factor, you could potentially "stack" several m2 SSDs in blade-like fashion. I haven't seen such a thing though, and heat might be an issue.

upon_drumhead 4y ago
2.5” 2T Samsung ssd on Amazon is $135 and a 2T nvme is slightly cheaper at $125. That $10 in savings is going to totally be eaten in adapters though. So there are 5.25” multiple m2 adapters out there like https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=255 https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=255 That one would require a sas controller to connect to. You generally don’t see a tighter system like blades due to needing a bifurcated pcie slot support, which at that point of server hardware, your are generally not using adapters like this.
- Dylan16807 4y ago
  That enclosure isn't m.2, that's 2.5" NVMe. Like a SATA drive but with more pins stuffed in the plug. Though I guess you could put extra adapters inside it. Is the ability to bifurcate a PCIe slot (and avoid extra controllers) that rare? That's a shame.
  - upon_drumhead 4y ago
    Whoops. I linked the wrong model. Middle of that page has a section on all the different options for the drive bay. A few that look very similar are m2 nvme. I have a https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10DRH-iT https://www.supermicro.com/en/products/motherboard/X10DRH-iT and they don’t support bifurcated pcie. It’s a shame cause I’ve extended the life of the servers by using pcie adapters to add high speed io layers and I’m limited to one device per port. I’d love to double that density.
Dylan16807 4y ago
SATA SSDs are a little bit cheaper here. Hot swap bays are usually set up for 2.5" drives. You can fit 4-8 into a single 5.25" slot. But the ones designed for performance will prefer U.2 drives and hook them up to PCIe. https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=321 https://www.icydock.com/goods.php?id=321

gigel82 4y ago

I agree it's a pretty niche requirement. But I have 8x 1Tb NVMe drives after pulling them out of a server and nothing to use them for :)