CS Electronics has incorporated the SFF-8087 connector onto both cable assemblies and pcb adapters. If a motherboard has SAS connections, should I automatically assume it has some type of RAID controller built-in or is this on a case by case basis?

Establish and tear down tunneled connections between SAS initiators and SATA targets connected to SAS expanders The SFF-8087 is a 36-pin ‘ Mini SAS‘ connector, and utilizes a plastic latching interface compatible with internal connections. Typical application would be a SAS link between a SAS HBA to a SAS drive subsystem.When purchasing SFF-8087 cables, pay close attention to both ends of the cables. There are many variants which commonly include SFF-8087 to SFF-8087, SFF-8087 to SATA breakout/ four 7-pin connectors, and SFF-8087 to SFF-8088. One needs to ensure they are purchasing the correct cable for their application. SFF-8088 External four channel connector (data only) SFF-8088 External SAS Connectors

The new generation HD Mini-SAS 3.0 SFF-8644 and SFF-8643 HD Mini-SAS connector interfaces have essentially replaced the SFF-8088 external and the SFF-8087 internal Mini-SAS interfaces, however CS Electronics continues to support our customer’s needs to preserve existing SAS architecture for older interface cables and adapters. SAS allows up to 65,535 devices through the use of expanders, while Parallel SCSI has a limit of 8 or 16 devices on a single channel. SAS error-recovery and error-reporting uses SCSI commands, which have more functionality than the ATA SMART commands used by SATA drives. [11]

SFF-8482 Internal single channel connector (data and power)

Multifunction 6X 24 Gb/s Unshielded Connector, Rev 1.1". Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Although, yes I can just go ahead and connect all the cables that fit I would like to have a better grasp of what I am doing such as: Serial Attachment 2X 24 Gb/s Unshielded Connector, Rev 1.0". Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Multilane Unshielded Serial Attachment Connectors, Rev 2.0". Archived from the original on June 6, 2021.

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( May 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Mini Multilane 4/8X Unshielded Connector (HDun), Rev 3.5". Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. Unshielded I/O Connector, Rev 1.2". Archived from the original on July 10, 2021 . Retrieved July 10, 2021.An initiator may connect directly to a target via one or more PHYs (such a connection is called a port whether it uses one or more PHYs, although the term wide port is sometimes used for a multi-PHY connection). No need for SATA interposer cards, which are needed for pseudo–dual-port high availability of SATA HDDs. [56] :17 Fan Kits Note: All fan kits require 12V power through a drive connection or motherboard connection. The SFF-8644 connector type is not the most common out there which makes it quite expensive. As one can see the cables have two pieces of PCB so instead of a single cable run, the cable must be split into two, one lead going to each PCB. This clearly adds cost as they are not straight through connectors terming to one end point. Personally I utilize a few SFF-8644 to SFF-8088 connectors in the lab. Conclusion

Mini Multilane 4X Unshielded Connector Shell and Plug, Rev 2.6". Archived from the original on January 29, 2019. Shielded High Speed Serial Multilane Copper Connector, Rev 3.3". Archived from the original on June 6, 2021. a b "24G SAS Data Storage Specification Development Complete; SCSI Trade Association Spotlights Technology at 2017 Flash Memory Summit". SCSI Trade Association. 2017-08-07. Mini Multilane 4/8X 12 Gb/s Shielded Cage/Connector (HD12sh), Rev 3.5". Archived from the original on November 12, 2020.Because of its higher signaling voltages, SAS can use cables up to 10m (33ft) long, whereas SATA has a cable-length limit of 1m (3.3ft) or 2m (6.6ft) for eSATA. [11] A SAS controller can control SATA drives, but a SATA controller cannot control SAS drives. Lower pins (S1-S7, P1-P11) defined as in SATA. Upper pins S8-S14 provide additional lane of data.