First of all, it is important to distinguish between the concepts of ‘port’ and ‘interface connector’. The electrical signals of a hardware device, also known as an interface, are defined and regulated by the interface, and the number depends on the design of the controller IC (and also the RoC). However, both interfaces and interface ports must rely on physical manifestations - mainly pins and connectors - in order to request a connection, which in turn constitutes a data preparation. Thus the role of connectors, they are always used in pairs: one end of a hard disc, HBA, RAID card or backplane is ‘snapped’ to the other end of a cable. As to which end is the ‘receptacle Connector’ and which end is the ‘plug Connector’, SFF-8643: Internal Mini SAS HD 4i/8i depends on the specific connector specification.
SFF-8643 : Internal MiniSAS HD 4i/8i
The SFF-8643 is the latest HD MiniSAS connector design for HD SAS internal interconnect solutions.
The SFF-8643 is a 36-pin ‘High Density SAS’ connector with a plastic housing, often used for internal connections. Typical applications are internal SAS warehouses between SAS Hbas and SAS drives.
The SFF-8643 is compliant with the latest SAS 3.0 specification and supports the 12Gb/s data transfer protocol.
The HD MiniSAS external counterpart of the SFF-8643 is the SFF-8644, which is also SAS 3.0 compliant and supports 12Gb/s SAS data transfer rates.
The SFF-8643 and SFF-8644 nurses support up to 4 ports (4 channels) of SAS data.
SFF-8644 : External Mini SAS HD 4x / 8x
The SFF-8644 is the latest HD MiniSAS connector design for HD SAS external interconnect solutions.
The SFF-8644 is a 36-pin ‘High Density SAS’ connector with a metal housing and is compatible with external connections. Typical applications are SAS shelves between SAS Hbas and SAS drive subsystems.
The SFF-8644 complies with the latest SAS 3.0 specification and supports 12Gb/s data transfer protocols.
The SFF-8644's internal HD MiniSAS counterpart is the SFF-8643, which is also SAS 3.0 compatible and supports 12Gb/s SAS data transfer rates.
The SFF-8644 and SFF-8643 nurses support up to 4 ports (4 channels) of SAS data.
These new SFF-8644 and SFF-8643 HD SAS connector interfaces essentially replace the older SFF-8088 external SAS interface and SFF-8087 internal SAS interface.
SFF-8087: Internal MiniSAS 4i
The SFF-8087 interface is primarily used as an internal SAS connector on MINI SAS 4i adapters and is designed to enable Mini SAS internal interconnect solutions.
The SFF-8087 is a 36-pin ‘Mini SAS’ connector with a plastic locking interface compatible with internal connections. Typical applications are SAS shelves between SAS Hbas and SAS drive subsystems.
The SFF-8087 complies with the latest 6Gb/s Mini-SAS 2.0 specification and supports 6Gb/s data transfer protocols.
The external Mini-SAS counterpart of the SFF-8087 is the SFF-8088, which is also Mini-SAS 2.0 compatible and also supports 6Gb/s SAS data transfer rates.
The SFF-8087 and SFF-8088 nurses support up to 4 ports (4 channels) of SAS data.
SFF-8088: External Mini SAS 4x
The SFF-8088 Mini-SAS connector is designed to enable Mini SAS external interconnect solutions.
The SFF-8088 is a 26-pin ‘Mini SAS’ connector with a metal housing compatible with enhanced external connections. Typical applications are SAS trays between SAS Hbas and SAS drive subsystems.
The SFF-8088 complies with the latest 6Gb/s Mini-SAS 2.0 specification and supports 6Gb/s data transfer protocols.
The Mini-SAS counterpart inside the SFF-8088 is the SFF-8087, which is also Mini-SAS 2.0 compatible and also supports 6Gb/s SAS data transfer speeds.
The SFF-8088 and SFF-8087 nurses support up to 4 ports (4 channels) of SAS data.
Post time: Jan-06-2025
