Supermicro SAS Backplanes Explained | Supermicro Tech Tip

Video Description

In this video, I'm going to show you the 3 types of Supermicro SAS backplanes available in Supermicro servers. First, there are the "TQ" backplanes, which are direct attached but have individual connectors for each port. These are typically the cheapest type of backplanes, but they require a lot of cabling and SAS lanes from the controllers. Second are the "A" backplanes. These are similar to the "TQ" backplanes, but use consolidated SAS ports like SFF-8087 instead of individual SATA ports. This helps to reduce the amount of cabling, but you still need a SAS lane from the controller for each individual port. Finally, there are the "EL" backplanes which are SAS expander backplanes. These backplanes have a built-in SAS expander onboard and help to reduce the amount of connectivity required, and simplifies the number of SAS lanes needed from the controller. However, SAS expander backplanes are usually the most expensive. Additionally, there are SAS expander backplanes with dual SAS expander chips, e.g., the BPN-SAS2-826EL2. The dual SAS expander backplanes can provide redundancy as well as higher I/O bandwidth with SAS drives by load balancing the I/O traffic across both data channels. If you'd like to support this channel, please consider shopping at my eBay store: https://ebay.to/2ZKBFDM Links to other videos mentioned: 2TB Limit - https://youtu.be/u55vIGMzzKw SAS expander videos playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL28eVGz5vFQ-pn6eFBC6AmfbL3yPcBDV7 How to size your bandwidth - https://youtu.be/Q4e8kmuGm6o How to swap Supermicro 826 backplane - https://youtu.be/Ey95VDPo3Ug How to swap Supermicro 836 backplane - https://youtu.be/N6dH0yVL5UI How to swap Supermicro 846 backplane - https://youtu.be/JOSfH5GCpLg Timestamps: 0:57 - Overview of Supermicro backplane types 1:43 - Explaining "TQ" directly attached backplanes (e.g., SAS836TQ) 5:35 - Explaining "A" directly attached backplanes (e.g., SAS826A) 8:45 - Explaining "EL1" SAS expander backplanes (e.g., BPN-SAS2-826EL1) 14:58 - Explaining "EL2" Dual SAS expander backplanes (e.g., BPN-SAS2-216EL2) 18:16 - The advantages of a dual SAS expander backplane 23:35 - Recap eBay Partner Affiliate disclosure: The eBay links in this video description are eBay partner affiliate links. By using these links to shop on eBay, you support my channel, at no additional cost to you. Even if you do not buy from the ART OF SERVER eBay store, any purchases you make on eBay via these links, will help support my channel. Please consider using them for your eBay shopping. Thank you for all your support! :-)