DiLinKer MiniSAS HD to MiniSAS HD, SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 Cable 75cm

A straight, four-lane link between two MiniSAS HD ports. The DiLinKer 75 cm cable connects SFF-8643 (36-pin) to SFF-8643 and is specified for SAS 3.0 at 12 Gb/s per lane, with full backward compatibility to SAS 2.0 at 6 Gb/s. It remains the workhorse cable for the enormous installed base of 12G HBAs, RAID controllers and backplanes.

Why this cable

• SAS 3.0, 12 Gb/s per lane. Four lanes of 12G SAS — the standard for 9300 and 9400-series HBAs and 12G backplanes.
• Straight 4x to 4x. All four lanes pass 1:1 from host to device, the correct wiring for a single 4-lane port.
• High-density connector. SFF-8643 packs a 4-lane link into a 36-pin housing, which is why dense controllers use it.
• 75 cm for tight layouts. Short enough for 1U chassis, long enough for most 2U routing.
• Passive and inexpensive. No power, no firmware — the simplest way to complete a 12G link.

Specifications

Compatibility

Works with

• SAS 3.0 HBAs and RAID controllers with SFF-8643 ports (for example 9300 and 9400 series 4i/8i cards).
• 12G SAS and SATA backplanes with SFF-8643 inputs.
• PCIe Gen3 NVMe designs where both the host port and the device side speak PCIe over SFF-8643.

Does not work with

• SAS 4.0 (24 Gb/s) links. For 24G, move to a SlimSAS (SFF-8654) cable.
• SlimSAS or MCIO ports — different connector standards.
• Drives connected directly. The SFF-8643 end must meet a backplane, cage or adapter port.

Typical deployments

• Classic 12G storage build. HBA or RAID card to a 12G SAS/SATA backplane.
• Controller swap. Replace a failed 12G controller without touching the backplane cabling.
• PCIe Gen3 NVMe on older cages. Feed an SFF-8643 NVMe backplane from a Gen3 x4 host port.

Frequently asked questions

Is this cable usable for NVMe?

Yes — the SFF-8643 connector carries PCIe as well as SAS. The protocol is decided by the host port and the device: a PCIe host with an NVMe backplane works; an SAS-only controller with SAS drives works; mixing the two does not.

Will it run at 24 Gb/s like SlimSAS?

No. SFF-8643 is a 12 Gb/s generation interface. For SAS 4.0 links use a SlimSAS cable — see our SlimSAS range.

Does it matter which end goes to the controller?

No. This is a straight plug-to-plug assembly with no direction-sensitive electronics.

Why is the drive count four per cable?

SFF-8643 carries four lanes, and a 12G backplane typically maps one lane to one drive. An 8-bay backplane needs two of these cables, or one SlimSAS 8x cable.

In the box

• 1 × MiniSAS HD to MiniSAS HD cable, 75 cm (SKU B07JLS9TXL)

Backed by a 24-month warranty. If a link trains at reduced width or does not appear, contact us with your controller and device models and we will help you isolate the cause.

Related

• All MiniSAS HD (SFF-8643) cables
• All SlimSAS (SFF-8654) cables