MacBook Pro SAS Card

[Shaun Gish]

The best solution I’ve found so far would be this: https://www.magma.com/expressbox1.asp coupled with an ATTO SAS card (which I already own – H680)

Anyone have experience with this sort of setup or know of a less expensive alternative? (Not that this is THAT expensive for what I’m trying to do but if I can save a buck and it’ll work then I’d rather go that direction).

Thanks

[David Roth weiss]

The ones that I know are not controller cards, but rather bridge cards that are made by manufacturers of specific RAIDs with built-in controllers on-board. I’m thinking you should contact the manufacturer of your tape drive for their solution.

David Roth Weiss
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David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
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A forum host of Creative COW’s Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums. Formerly host of the Apple Final Cut Basics, Indie Film & Documentary, and Film History & Appreciations forums.

[Alex Gerulaitis]

[Shaun Gish] “Is there such a thing as an express card that connects to SAS? I have a tape drive that I’d like to connect to a MacBook Pro in the field (rather than bringing a tower with me).”

What’s the connector on the tape drive? Most likely it’s external MiniSAS SFF-8088 port, and I haven’t been able to find an ExpressCard-to-SAS adapter, so the PCIe extender solution from Magma (or a similar one) may be the only choice.

There is also one from StarTech for a bit less money; a matching ExpressCard adapter.

Alex (DV411)

[Shaun Gish]

Thanks for the alternative product. Ultimately I’ll probably end up buying both the Magma and the StarTech model (I need a more portable solution but the 4 card option for the price point is very attractive).

I’ll let you guys know how well they work (not that very many people will need an express to SAS type setup with thunderbolt being all the rage…)

Thanks