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MP All Models Bootable PCI SSD Cards/Drives for Mac Pro (NVMe M.2, U.2, EDSFF E3.S, etc.)

giggles said:
Moreover, would it be possible to actually use eight 4TB 2.5” SSDs, or four couples, inside the Pegasus R4i by using those enclosures that merge 2x2.5” inside a 3.5” case in RAID0? Would RAID5-ing four RAID0 couples be a problem? (“double RAID”, kinda like “double NAT”)
Click to expand...

combining RAID levels with multiple nodes being arrayed together you typically just merge the levels. RAID 10 is striped (RAID 0) across mirrored nodes (RAID 1). So you're talking about RAID 50 (there's also 60 for RAID 0 over 6). You'll want to do a lot of research about the true impact before deciding to go with a more exotic RAID flavor (I don't consider 10 exotic, 50 and 60 aren't really out there either but you should learn what you're getting into).

For that matter most people don't really learn what 0, 1, 5, and 6 have for impact either.
 
Noise levels on these PCIe m.2 carriers? (after all, thermals and 'quite' are meant to be one of the features of the MP7,1). Noisy carrier would be a drag, especially in a music /film production environment. So far have heard: the Highpoint can get very noisy; the Squid apparently not (?); the Sonnet, no idea. Then there's also the OWC Accelsior 4M2 which doesn't seem to be mentioned here as yet.
 
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Whoa, where did that thing come from? slipped under my radar. Any idea on price?

EDIT: $1,250 price tag (with 8 TB of blades)
OWC says its not that noisy.

6,000 MB/S.....the Sonnet lists up to 12,000. Hmmm....
 
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One reason I like the HighPoint 7120, it looks like it doesnt need a fan. Seems to need just the heat sink.

Screen Shot 2019-12-13 at 8.04.23 PM.png
 
profdraper said:
Noise levels on these PCIe m.2 carriers? (after all, thermals and 'quite' are meant to be one of the features of the MP7,1). Noisy carrier would be a drag, especially in a music /film production environment. So far have heard: the Highpoint can get very noisy; the Squid apparently not (?); the Sonnet, no idea. Then there's also the OWC Accelsior 4M2 which doesn't seem to be mentioned here as yet.
Click to expand...

Screen Shot 2019-12-14 at 01.32.48.png

OWC is hiding that it's a x8 card, with a ASMEDIA ASM2824 switch. Seems very overpriced, with a little more you can get a HighPoint SSD7101A-1 with double throughput/lanes from Amazon promos.
 
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So I'm trying to put an order together. Im going to get the Micron 9300 Pro 15.36TB drive, and the HighPoint 7120 card.

I'm not sure what cable to get. The NextWarehouse spec <http://www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?...MIwuvYkPi05gIVgobACh2GkAfMEAkYASABEgKD_vD_BwE> shows the drive has an SFF-8639 interface:
Drive InterfaceU.2 (SFF-8639) NVMe

So does that mean I need an SFF-8639 (drive) to SFF-8643 like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...639&qid=1576320257&sprefix=sff,aps,145&sr=8-6

Or do I need a cable with 2 SFF-8643 connectors like this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AOS4NE...colid=ZCJYBY6EVNJM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Unfortunately I cannot find any photos of the drive with the connectors showing to confirm. Thanks for any help!
 
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Looks like this was answered already in another similar thread here by @tsialex so thanks to him again:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...0-pro-15-36-tb-nvme-ssd.2179713/post-27323842

And so this is the cable to use:
https://www.amazon.com/Highpoint-86...31661-2276910?tag=macrumors-20&_encoding=UTF8

Ok, so then I think this is what I'm ordering but there is still one piece of the puzzle missing (see way below):

(1) 2bay drive cage for Mac Pro (Pegasus J2i):
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...2b896ac01ee5389bbf9495d679d9b3cfa01a0de491587

(2) 2.5" to 3.5" adapter (for Pegasus cage above, one of these 2):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P7FP48...colid=ZCJYBY6EVNJM&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Aluminum-Internal-Mounting-Absorption/dp/B07K8G41FZ/ref=sr_1_1?tag=macrumors-20&keywords=Orico+5,25"+to+2,5"

(3) HighPoint 7120 PCIe NVMe U.2 Controller Card:
https://www.amazon.com/High-Point-S...oint+7120&qid=1576323797&s=electronics&sr=1-1

(4) Micron 9300 Pro 15.36TB SSD:
http://www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?...MIwuvYkPi05gIVgobACh2GkAfMEAkYASABEgKD_vD_BwE

(5) SFF-8643 to U.2 SFF-8639 connector (with 15 pin SATA Power Connector to connect the SSD to the 7120):
https://www.amazon.com/Highpoint-86...31661-2276910?tag=macrumors-20&_encoding=UTF8

(6) Belkin AUX Power Cable Kit for Mac Pro (to connect the power to the U.2 SATA cable source?):
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...8a998d86b7f6bb321444f9b8da85338e38d0bdb62e181



What I think is missing is how to power the drive. The SATA power cable needs to get juice from somewhere. What's the best way to supply it power? Some combination with the Belkin Mac Pro cable kit (6)? Or is there some other cable instead of (5) above that doesnt require the SATA source for power?

I guess i would get some 6/8pin molex to SATA power adapter cable, hook that to one of the Belkin cables, which I would hook to the motherboard, and then that sata end into the U.2cable (5). What a kludge. There's got to be some better, clearn way, no?
 
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So here's an idea. There are 2 sata ports on the mother board, I guess I could use one of them to do a sata to sata cable that would provide power to the U.2 (5) cable? Still kludgy but little less messy....

Also, does anyone know what kind of SATA ports are in there internally. Is it SATAIII or SATA6 protocol thats supported, and what type of SATA port is that?

31382-52411-sata-section-mac-pro-l.jpg
 
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Hey so I got the Pegasus here in person. Whats nice is the instrucitons finally explained the mystery port. In the figure item 2, the last thing, it's power for the staa ports. It comes with this nice cable that draws power for both of the SATA connectors.

Pegasus instructions.png


Still not sure what type of SATA is on board, but thought this would be of interest as it's another source of power on the motherboard.

which means the cable included with the Pegasus can feed power to the U.2 cable and drive.
 
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Yea intersting. Not as expandable but certainly less muss and fuss. Pricier per terabyte...
 
M3Jedi77 said:
I need to add 4TB of storage to my Mac Pro that just came with 256Gb. Need that 4TB to be as fast as possible.

Would an adapter like the one below work with 2 2TB NVME Sticks? Thinking of going with the 970 Evo Plus - and just praying they get along with the new Mac Pro.....

https://www.microcenter.com/product...x4-adapter-with-heat-sink-model-pcie-m20802hs
Click to expand...
No, this is for one M.2 PCIe blade and one M.2 SATA blade.

Btw, this is Chinese garbage. I'd never use one with a MP5,1 that costs 1/20 of a MP7,1…
 
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M3Jedi77 said:
I need to add 4TB of storage to my Mac Pro that just came with 256Gb. Need that 4TB to be as fast as possible.

Would an adapter like the one below work with 2 2TB NVME Sticks? Thinking of going with the 970 Evo Plus - and just praying they get along with the new Mac Pro.....

https://www.microcenter.com/product...x4-adapter-with-heat-sink-model-pcie-m20802hs
Click to expand...

not really. That takes sata ssd sticks which max out at 550MBs. You want to get something that takes nvme sticks, which max out around 3.5GBs
 
tsialex said:
No, this is for one M.2 PCIe blade and one M.2 SATA blade.

Btw, this is Chinese garbage. I'd never use one with a MP5,1 that costs 1/20 of a MP7,1…
Click to expand...

Ahhh thank you for letting me know. New to all this and was hoping I could pick something up locally tomorrow so I could be up and running with my 4TB Monday.
 
M3Jedi77 said:
I need to add 4TB of storage to my Mac Pro that just came with 256Gb. Need that 4TB to be as fast as possible.
Click to expand...

When you say as fast as possible, do you mean a sequential read/write or random? Different tasks require different specs. What do you intend to do?
 
ZombiePhysicist said:
So good news bad news. Good news is 16TB of super fast (for a spinner) enterprise grade storage is pretty cheap now, at around $420:

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-256M..._1_2?keywords=16tb+exos&qid=1576020729&sr=8-2

The bad news is you have to pay $400 for a 2 drive bay that comes with completely uselss 8TB spinner drive for $399. It's evil because these drives are a complete waste for anyone in this segment. It's pure gouging and for a decent number of people, that 8TB spinner will end up in the trash heap:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...2i-8tb-internal-storage-enclosure-for-mac-pro
Click to expand...

I’m a bit of a beginner at this. What speed could I expect from this 16tb drive in terms of data rate? How does the standard 8tb drive included differ speed wise? Thanks for any help
 
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tsialex said:
View attachment 882659
OWC is hiding that it's a x8 card, with a ASMEDIA ASM2824 switch. Seems very overpriced, with a little more you can get a HighPoint SSD7101A-1 with double throughput/lanes from Amazon promos.
Click to expand...
So if I would get the Highpoint, I could put up to four M.2 SSDs on it and would configure them via Mac OS to a software raid, right?

would it be possible to use this at first only with let’s say one or two drives and later expand it? Any additional cables needed or so?
Sorry I’m really new to the whole PCIe business again from the 2013 Trashcan and it’s all a bit overwhelming.

And then again there’s stuff like this:

ASUS Hyper M.2 X16 Card V2 https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07PCKTL1J/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_ZvH9DbEB316BZ

which also offers 4 NVMe ports and cooling. Wouldn’t that work as well at a fraction of the price? What’s the difference?
 
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Highpoint or Sonnet M.2 4x4 (if you’re can live with the blade restrictions) are your best options. Running in RAID via OS would be theoretical maximum speed, but individually might be fast enough.

Sonnet is officially supported for MP7,1 and might be the only product doing that officially at the moment. No reason to think Highpoint will not work, just has not been tested by users yet.
 
bsbeamer said:
Highpoint or Sonnet M.2 4x4 (if you’re can live with the blade restrictions) are your best options. Running in RAID via OS would be theoretical maximum speed, but individually might be fast enough.

Sonnet is officially supported for MP7,1 and might be the only product doing that officially at the moment. No reason to think Highpoint will not work, just has not been tested by users yet.
Click to expand...
Thanks,
Could you let me know what could be the issue with something like that linked asus card Please? What justifies the 10 times higher price in the sonnet?
 
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