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Hey there,

So I am working on changing the storage solution on some Dell Poweredge R710 servers. Currently they have SAS hard drives installed. We want to use the same trays and put in some SATA hard drives, so is there an adapter or something to buy and use for this purpose? Another NAS laying around had some SATA hard drives with an adapter “chip” on the back of the tray that slides into the server, which had SATA that plugged into the drive and SAS connection going into the server. Or if there is a better solution completely that works too. Thanks for any help!

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SATA disks will work in the R710 without an adapter.

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So you’re saying I can just mount the drive towards the back of the chassis and it will fit no problem? Huh. That’s good to know!!!

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Yup. A lot of people do this with the cheapo Samsung SSD’s which use a SATA connection.

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In some Dell servers, the “adapter” you need simply extends the SATA connector so it can mate with the backplane. It’s needed because the mounting holes in the sled don’t let the drive sit back far enough. Most Dells don’t need this.

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I guess I am just a bit confused since they are different connections… from what I’ve read you can do a SATA to SAS cotroller but not the other way around.

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Interposer…

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I have various Dell servers. Some have SAS, others have SATA drives connected. The only time I have needed an adapter is when I put a 2.5" SSD in a 3.5" caddy. I get those knock-off adapters on eBay.

Dell EqualLogic uses interposers on their 3.5" SATA drives, but that’s a different beast.

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If, by chance, you had a SATA raid controller instead of SAS then SAS disks would/will not work, also the interface would not plug since there is an extra piece of plastic on the SAS drive. But you have a SAS controller and SATA drives will work and will mount.

Avoid mixing SAS and SATA drives in the same array, that is usually not a good idea.
GaryD has the best answer.

sas_vs_sata[1].jpg

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Thanks for all the help everyone!

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@rune3280 Nice photo of the difference between SAS and SATA, I’m going to borrow that for future use :slight_smile:

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Google has about 100 of that same picture, so I guess a few others use it as well.

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