the proper solution to out of control cabling is ML cables. However, aside from the Supermicro 8-in-2 type of pseudo-enclosures nobody seems to make them for the typical consumer use. You can get 12 or 16 drive backplanes that use ML cables but they are necessarily wed to a particular chassis.
The problem with PMs is that the controller has to support them and that is fairly rare. Rocketraid has several such cards but I don't trust their drivers one bit. The Intel ICH10 I believe has ML support now. All the 4-in-3 or 5-in-3 units I've looked at do not use ML connectors which I think is silly. Especially when ML HBA's are dirt cheap. The most efficient external setup that doesn't cost an excessive arm and a leg is the 4 drive PM from http://www.cooldrives.com/sihasaraqudr.html But for sheer budget, you can't beat DIY. _______________________________________________ zfs-discuss mailing list [email protected] http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
