FCI SAS and SATA Connectors Enable Port Selection in Hard Drive Carriers

ETTERS, PA. (May 3, 2005) — FCI has developed an offering of 29-position Serial-Attached SCSI (SAS) plug and receptacle connectors, and 22-position Serial ATA (SATA) receptacle connectors for port selector assemblies within removable hard disk drive (HDD) carriers used in enterprise servers and storage systems. FCI provides options for either vertical or right angle connector termination allowing engineers to tailor the orientation of the internal PCB to best fit the drive form factor.

Vertical connectors position the port selector PCB assembly perpendicular to the device plug on the HDD, which may be preferred with a 3.5-inch hard drive. Use of right-angle connectors allows the PCB assembly to be positioned in a plane that is parallel to the device plug on the HDD. This orientation may be desirable to enable the use of a larger PCB within the smaller 2.5-inch drive form factor.

“The SAS plug connector on the port selector PCB assembly provides two ports at the interface between the drive carrier module and a SAS backplane receptacle,” said David Sideck, FCI regional market manager. “At the HDD interface within the drive carrier, there are two options. Use of a SAS receptacle provides two ports and capability to accept either SAS or SATA drives. A SATA receptacle supplies a single port and accepts a SATA drive, but the connector is keyed to block the installation of a SAS drive.”

SAS plug and receptacle connectors for port selector assemblies are RoHS-compatible. Typical prices are in the range of $1.00 to $1.50 each for 1,000-piece order quantities, depending on the connector type and configuration. Samples are available for delivery, with production lead times from stock to four weeks.

FCI offers a wide range of SATA and SAS plug and receptacle connectors encompassing both client and enterprise applications. Vertical and right angle connector configurations provide options for motherboard, server blade, HDD carrier, backplane, and cable connections.

# # #