Powering a PCI-E SAS Extender with a cheap solution

[Plato]

As far as I knew other than PICMG ( which is not available in my country ) there was only one other option, and it was to connect the extender to an old mainboard without CPU/RAM etc.

But recently I found this gadget:

http://www.gearbest.com/network-cards/pp_519336.html?wid=27

I don't really understand how the hell this works or what really its' purpose, but it looks like it takes power from 4 pin power connector.

I'm guessing, but it looks like the small part with USB should be connected to PCI-E x1 and when connecting it to the Extender module it allows PCI-E x1 to be used as PCI-E x16. Although bandwidth would be still x1, so it's not an all powerful magical device to multiply bandwidth with 16.

So, what will it do if I only plug power connector and put it in a case with my extender and not use USB parts at all.. I know I have to switch on ATX PSU with connecting ground and power-on pins but putting a switch for that would be no problem for me.

The same device is also available on eBay about the same price as I see..

Is there any other way to power up an extender without too much hassle with cheap tricks?

 

[Ericloewe]

extender

Expander.

I don't really understand how the hell this works or what really its purpose, but it looks like it takes power from 4 pin power connector.

PCIe x1 uses three differential pairs, plus a few more signals. Conveniently, a USB 3.0 Type A cable just happens to have three differential pairs. Actually, I'm not quite sure what they're doing with some of the extra stuff, since USB 3.0 type A only has three additional pins, two of them power and thus not very good for anything but low-frequency busses (SMBus might work).

Power is provided from the molex connector, with +3.3V regulated on the little board.

Its purpose? These are generally used by coin miners running a crapload of graphics cards, to better manage heat and not overload the motherboard's PCIe power delivery.

If you only want to power an expander, just connect power and you're done.

Is there any other way to power up an extender without too much hassle with cheap tricks?

Some expanders provide both a molex plug and a PCIe edge connector.

 

[Plato]

So in short, we could really use this to power a PCI-E x8 SAS expander, right? Sure we have to use a switch to power on ATX PSU but this is not a problem.

I know about the popular Intel RES2SV240 expander. But I have HP Sas Expander so I need a PCI-E slot for this.

 

[Ericloewe]

So in short, we could really use this to power a PCI-E x8 SAS expander, right?

Yes.

 

[Plato]

So I was using to power on ATX psu with a switch, then I found this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Top-Multi-P...785885?hash=item4d53b3fadd:g:Z78AAOSw-CpX~35Z

I already have an adapter in my nos that exposes one of molex pins outside the case.

So then it means I could use this adapter to turn on the second PSU without worrying about switch right?..

I think I need a molex to SATA cable to connect to this one, and use the molex to molex to power the expander and connect second case's PSU to the connector on this adapter.

I think these two parts are perfect for expanding the NAS further but I didn't hear any mention of this combo anywhere. Why? Is it not feasible?