The 12Gb/s Microchip Adaptec 82885T SAS expander card offers a scalable connectivity / fan-out option for additional drives when used in conjunction with a SAS RAID adapter or SAS HBA. The 82885T SAS Expander Card offers 36 ports in a low-profile MD2 form factor with up to 20 internal ports for direct attach drive connectivity, 4 or 8, internal ports for connectivity to a RAID adapter or HBA, and 8 external ports for external storage expansion.
Flexibility of Configuration
The 82885T mounts internally to any available PCIe slot, away from the backplane, and features mini-SAS HD connectors out the top for added cabling flexibility in dense server environments. The 82885T enables a low cost drive expansion solution when mated with a RAID adapter or HBA. The expander draws power from the PCIe slot (requires 4 or more lanes), but there is no data transfer to the slot. Alternatively, power can also be supplied to the expander card through a standard 4-pin auxiliary power connector.
Enclosure Management Support
The 82885T supports SGPIO and SES2 enclosure management, allowing enclosure information to be routed from all daisy-chained 82885T cards to the HBA or RAID adapter. All device and slot mapping information is provided to the HBA or RAID adapter by the last 82885T card in the chain.
Universal Compatibility with Existing Storage Infrastructure
The 82885T is fully compatible with Microchip Adaptec Series 8, Series 7 and Series 6 12Gb/s and 6Gb/s RAID adapters and HBAs, allowing for a seamless integration and management within an end-to-end Microchip Adaptec solution. The 82885T is also compatible with 3rd party adapters and HBAs and has also been tested for interoperability with a wide variety of SAS and SATA HDDs and SSDs.