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HP Recommended
z420

Hello. Can someone please fill me in on  the HP z420's "SAS" hard drive support? I'm aware that the z420  supports "SAS" hard drives via a PCIE add-on card,  but can the z420 motherboard also support SAS drives natively? Could  some of the SATA ports potentially be able to be turned into "SAS" ports, or is support for "SAS" only added via a PCIe card? 

 

I happened to notice a "SAS" header on the right side of HP z420's motherboard (It's depicted as board component "#18" the "HP Z-x20 series Workstations Maintenance and Service Guide") but can someone tell me  exactly what this does? On their "s30" workstation Lenovo sells a  "SAS enablement module", which converts the motherboards "blue" SATA ports (which are  connected to the "SCU") into SAS ports.

 

Does anyone know if anything similar be done with the HP z420? Any help on this would be appreciated, thanks.

 

HP Z-x20 series Workstations Maintenance and Service Guide (c03678225)1.pnglocationpic.pngdesc.png

 

 

HP z420 "SAS" HeaderHP z420 "SAS" HeaderHP z420 Board Block DiagramHP z420 Board Block DiagramS30 "SAS" Enablement ModuleS30 "SAS" Enablement Module

 

 

 

 

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HP Recommended

there is very little to fill you in on as you allready know the z420 sas status

 

the z420 does not and will not support SAS unless you install a add in card that has sas support

 

the other systems you mention that do have onboard sas support have a onboard sas chip that is embedded on the motherboard that the z420 lacks

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3 REPLIES 3
HP Recommended

there is very little to fill you in on as you allready know the z420 sas status

 

the z420 does not and will not support SAS unless you install a add in card that has sas support

 

the other systems you mention that do have onboard sas support have a onboard sas chip that is embedded on the motherboard that the z420 lacks

HP Recommended

@DGroves wrote:

the z420 does not and will not support SAS unless you install a add in card that has sas support


Ah, ok. 

I didn't know for certain that was the case, and so you've already  helped me out.

The last thing I was curious about then is just what that  SAS header does.

🤔

 

HP Recommended

i don't own a z420, but based on other hp models i suspect the header you mention is for the HD activity light for any drives connected to the add in sas card

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