That system has 4 sata ports so you will only be able to have 4 sata devices hooked up.  As far as expanding the array, you would only be able to expand it if you have a RAID 0.

Hey, thanks for the reply.
Not sure I understand completely...
My boot drive(s) is SATA RAID0 (500GB = 250GB x2), secondary drive is straight SATA (500GB)... Is this what you are refering to... or are you saying I can add a SATA controller card, but only if I configur it to RAID0... confused what you might mean... sorry.

I believe I understand what you are saying... and I understand that aspect of RAID and SATA. But that information is not exactly what I am seeking.
I guess what I need to find out is if the current SATA can be expanded. Not nessesarily the RAID. I am not seeking to expand the two HD's which are RAID 0. Currently I have three hard drives on a single SATA ribbon cable; 2 250GB HD's tied together in a RAID 0 configuration to make 500GB, and a 500GB HD simply by itself in the SATA line.

Let me put it this way... you know how Firewire lets you daisy-chain something like 64 devices? SATA does not do that, right?

My question(s) is this;
1) Given my systems' current SATA controller, can another HD be added to the 3 (for a total of four. The original 2 configured for RAID 0, and two others running solo) that are currently on the ribbon cable (probably nessesitating a different ribbon cable)?
2) If the answer to question 1 is NO, then can I add another SATA controller, and how many HD's to that controller?

Does that make sense?

~A

hi A..

 Yes you may add a 4th SATA drive to the existing controller, it sounds like you have the basic grasp of the configuration. If you need even more storage for your artwork applications, after you fill the 4th drive up, you're going to need to go outside the box to add more hard drives. Limitations like mounting points, power drops and cooling capacity make cramming more than 4 hard drives into this system doubtful.

 It sounds like you're using this machine for business, you may need to concider Dell's storage options, perhaps even network attached storage systems, give a salesman a call and see what Dell can offer.

I hang out in the poweredge SCSI/RAID forum, and have a maxxed out XPS Gen 4 at home (30% discount for buying end of life when Gen 5 came out :-)  )

warwizard

LOL... yeah. External Storage. Been there, do-ing that. I have around 7 terbytes of external firewire 800 drives...! yeah. Business is dealing with large images, 3D rendering in CAD and MAX environments as well as boo-koo video editing and mixing projects. It's near impossible (or at least as time-consuming as it took to create the content) to back up anything. With files as large 100-200GB EACH. Gotta find a better way. Anyway, don't get me going...

So, how do I add this forth SATA HD...? I probably need to get a different ribbon cable that facilitates a fourth in-line device, right?

I think, for now, I am going to stick to external firewire 800 drives for expandability (beyond adding the one additional SATA HD we spoke about.)

So, you sure you can add a fourth device to this group? I'm just asking, because, generally, if a fourth were a logical option Dell usually supplies a ribbon cable already with a fourth SATA connector. BTW, what is a SATA connector called? i.e. a PATA/IDE is a 40 pin, right? What is the industry-name for the SATA connector at the hard drive/device called?

Anyway, thanks for the helpful input.

~A

Message Edited by aartdesigns on 09-28-2005 12:18 PM

Hi A...

Well you would buy P/N C6355 18" cable, dell spare parts should be able to set you up, or if you buy the drive from Dell, the salesman should be able to add the cable. Note that the 500 GB SATA II drive customer kit: SKU# 341-2089 500GB SATA II,7200RPM,DIM84/XPS3/4,CUST .

Contains a SATA cable intended for the XPS Gen 3 or XPS Gen 4 systems, not the same part as what you need.

I think the industry calls them SATA, at least that's what the Bill of materials calls the connector type.

The network attached storage is essentially a computer with a lot of hard drive space, and a ROM version of a reduced operating system, that provides the drive letters thru your network connection (hub), with gigabit nics, the backup problem could be resolved, just have two systems one backing up the other. It really sounds like you need terabytes of backup, and tape systems are not going to be cost effective or timely.

warwizard

Warwizard-

I have a somewhat older XPS Gen 2 system that I purchased with two 120 GB SATA drives. I've just purchased two new 500 GB SATA drives. Is my system's SATA controller (i.e. Intel 82801ER) able to support my two new drives in "plug and play" like fashion, or am I forced to buy another controller, etc.? I, too, am fairly new to the ins-and-outs of SATA.

-C

Hi Crandal,

  Now understand I've only seen the Gen 4 machine, so for a definitive answer, go to support.dell.com and look up the installation and troubleshooting guide, and the user's manual. They'll get you pointed in the right direction.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dimxpsg2/

Overview

Your computer supports one floppy drive and a combination of up to four of the following:

• Either two IDE hard drives or two Serial ATA hard drives
  
  
• Two CD or DVD drives
  
  

Your computer also supports this drive combination:

• Two Serial ATA drives in either a RAID level 0 configuration or a RAID level 1 configuration
  
  
• One IDE hard drive
  
  
• Two CD or DVD drives

looks like you can replace your 120's with the 500's (update BIOS), or get a SATA controller to run em all.

warwizard

Thx. Yes, I researched this more myself late yesterday and come to the same conclusion. So, I have a Promise card on order that will give me four more SATA connections.

Given your role at Dell, perhaps you can help me in a related way... I opened the clam shell case to discover that the drive bay area housing my 2 120 SATAs has room for my 2 500 SATAs, but unfortunately only came with a third (and not also a fourth) "drive connection" in terms of the bay itself (i.e. the green plastic slides that attach to the bay housing and provide screw based connections to the side of a hard disk drive). How to I go about ordering/receiving the missing fourth "drive connection" (i.e. pair of green-plastic-plus-screws inserts)?

Thanks again