Product ID: MPEXSATA22I
The MPEXSATA22I 2-Port Mini PCIe to SATA Controller Card lets you add 2 SATA 3Gbps connectors to a small form factor or embedded system, through a Mini PCI Express (Mini Card) expansion slot.
Perfect for upgrading the capabilities of a system that would typically have a very limited number of internal ports, the Mini PCIe to SATA controller card is compatible with all types of Serial ATA devices, including hard drives (HDDs), Solid State Drives (SSD), and optical drives (CD/DVD/BD).
A versatile solution for internal storage applications, this PCI Express to SATA controller card features built-in RAID support (JBOD, BIG, RAID 0, RAID 1), and is backed by a StarTech.com 2-year warranty and free lifetime technical support.
Warranty Information | Warranty | 2 Years |
---|---|---|
Connector(s) | 1 - Connector Type(s) | Mini PCI Express x1 (52 pin) |
2 - Internal Ports | SATA (7 pin, Data) | |
Environmental | Operating Temperature | 0°C to 70°C (32°F to 158°F) |
Storage Temperature | -65°C to 150°C (-85°F to 302°F) | |
Hardware | Ports | 2 |
Interface | SATA | |
Bus Type | Mini PCI Express | |
Card Type | Embedded | |
Chipset ID | Silicon Image - SiI3132 | |
Packaging Information | Package Length | 8.3 in [21 cm] |
Package Width | 5.7 in [14.5 cm] | |
Package Height | 1.6 in [40 mm] | |
Shipping (Package) Weight | 4.6 oz [131.0 g] | |
Performance | Maximum Data Transfer Rate | 3.0 Gbps |
Type and Rate | SATA II (3 Gbps) | |
Port Multiplier | No | |
LBA support | 48-bit | |
Hardware Raid Supported | Yes | |
Supported RAID Modes | RAID 0 (Striped Disks) | |
JBOD - (Just a Bunch of Disks) | ||
BIG (Spanning or Concatenation) | ||
RAID 1 (Mirrored Disks) | ||
Physical Characteristics | Product Length | 2.0 in [50 mm] |
Product Width | 1.2 in [30 mm] | |
Product Height | 0.2 in [4 mm] | |
Weight of Product | 0.3 oz [7.8 g] | |
Software | OS Compatibility | Windows® 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10 Windows Server® 2003, 2008 R2, 2012 Mac OS X® 10.6 to 10.11 Linux 3.5.x to 4.4.x LTS Versions only Note: The MPEXSATA22I does not support RAID when used in a Linux operating system |
Special Notes / Requirements | System and Cable Requirements | Full length Mini PCI Express slot |
Note | The MPEXSATA22I does not support RAID when used in a Linux operating system | |
What's in the Box | 1 - Included in Package | Mini PCIe SATA Card |
2 - Included in Package | SATA cable - 50 cm | |
1 - Included in Package | Driver CD | |
Instruction Manual |
This high quality SATA cable is designed for connecting SATA drives even in tight spaces.
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This high quality SATA cable is designed for connecting SATA drives even in tight spaces.
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Latching SATA connectors, for securely fastened hard drive installations.
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Make a left-angled connection to your SATA drive, for installation in tight spaces
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We are always ready to assist you with any questions you may have.
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Live Chat (opens in new window)When Windows asks, “Where do you want to install Windows?” choose “Load Driver.” Then connect a USB drive (or insert a CD) with the controller’s RAID driver and load the correct one for the OS you will be installing.
Before you install the device, make sure that your operating system is current (for example, the most recent service pack is installed).
Note: Windows usually saves the files to the Downloads folder that is associated with your user account (for example, C:\Users\your_name\Downloads).
Note: The Select your device’s type from the list below screen does not appear on all systems. If you do not see this screen, skip this step.
Note: To view your system type, click Start. Right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
When you troubleshoot issues with a hard drive controller card, there are some quick tests that you can complete to rule out potential problems. You can test to make sure that the following components are working correctly and are not the source of the issue:
IDE, SATA, and eSATA cables
Hard drives
Hard drive controller card
To test your setup components, try the following:
Use the IDE, SATA, or eSATA cable, hard drive, and hard drive controller card in another setup to see if the problem is with the components or the setup.
Use a different IDE, SATA, or eSATA cable, hard drive, and hard drive controller card in your setup to see if the problem persists. Ideally, you should test a component that you know works in another setup.
When you test your cables, it is recommended that you do the following:
Test each cable individually.
Use short cables when you are testing.
When you test the hard drive and hard drive controller card, it is recommended that you do the following:
To open the Device Manager, press the Windows key + R, type devmgmt.msc, and press Enter. Check the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (for IDE) section, or the Storage controllers (for SATA) section.
Do one of the following:
If you do not see the hard drive controller card in Device Manager, refer to the following FAQ: https://www.startech.com/support/faqs/technical-support?topic=expansion-cards#pci-pcie-cannot-boot-os-or-detect-windows.
If the device is listed with an error, reinstall the drivers by completing the instructions on the website.
If the hard drive is listed with unallocated space, the hard drive needs to be formatted. Right-click unallocated and click New Simple Volume. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the reformatting.
Note: Formatting a hard drive erases all of the data on it. Make sure that you back up all of your data before you reformat the hard drive.
To check Disk Management, press the Windows key + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter. Check to see if your hard drive is listed.
If the hard drive is listed as healthy but does not have a drive letter, for example, C:, right-click healthy and click Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click Add, assign a drive letter, and click OK.
Note: A formatted hard drive does not show up in Computer or My Computer until it has a drive letter assigned to it.
In order to rebuild a RAID array, you need to replace a physical drive with an identical drive on the same RAID controller. Although standard RAID levels are generally agreed upon throughout the industry, the implementation varies between manufacturers. RAID arrays are typically not accessible when they are moved to another controller, and data may be unrecoverable if the drives are out of order or have been formatted or accessed by another RAID controller.
If a RAID controller has failed, you should get the exact same model of RAID controller.
Note: If a drive or drives were damaged, it is possible that the RAID array may be permanently unrecoverable.
RAID should not be considered a replacement for backing up your data. If critical data is going onto a RAID array, you should back up the data on another physical drive or logical set of drives.
With the following RAID modes, recovery is possible using the same StarTech.com product. Refer to the following table for the appropriate method to use to recover your RAID array.
RAID mode | Max # of failed drives | Procedure |
RAID 1 | Only one drive is needed for recovery. |
The array will rebuild and is accessible during the rebuilding process. |
RAID 3 | Single drive failure will rebuild. |
Note: Do not change the order of the drives.
|
RAID 5 | Single drive failure will rebuild. |
Note: Do not change the order of the drives.
|
RAID 10 | Only one drive in a mirrored set can fail. |
Note: Do not change the order of the drives.
|
To confirm that Windows detects your expansion card, complete the following:
Your expansion card is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your expansion card, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.
To confirm that the Mac OS detects your expansion card, complete the following:
Your expansion card is listed according to the name of the chipset. To determine the name of the chipset of your expansion card, navigate to www.StarTech.com and look on the Technical Specifications tab for your product.
In order to use a hard drive plugged into a hard drive controller card as your operating system, you need to install the operating system onto the hard drive while it is plugged into the expansion card. To do this, complete the following:
Note: Not all hard drive controller cards have drivers that allow you to install the operating system onto the hard drive. All of the hard drive controllers that display this FAQ include this capability.
Before you begin, consult the documentation that came with the motherboard to make sure that the motherboard or BIOS supports booting from an expansion card.
Although you can adapt a Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) drive to connect to a standard SATA controller card, the card must support SAS commands in order to communicate with SAS drives. SAS drives have a different command set that is not present on SATA controllers.
This SATA controller card only supports standard SATA drives.
This device does not support the ATA Packet Interface (ATAPI) protocol. ATAPI is required for optical drives, including CD-ROM drives, DVD-ROM drives, and Blu-ray players. Because this device does not support ATAPI, optical drives are also not supported over any IDE, SATA, or eSATA connections.
For a list of products that do support ATAPI, refer to the following FAQ: https://www.startech.com/faq/hard_drive_controllers_atapi_support.
Note: Not all StarTech.com devices support each of the RAID modes described below. For more information on the RAID modes that your device supports, refer to the manual or the StarTech.com product page.
Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) is a virtual disk technology that combines multiple physical drives into one unit. RAID can create redundancy, improve performance, or do both.
RAID should not be considered a replacement for backing up your data. If critical data is going onto a RAID array, it should be backed up to another physical drive or logical set of drives.
The following are terms that are normally used in connection with RAID:
Different RAID levels exist for different application requirements.
Refer to the following table for the list of RAID modes offered by some StarTech.com products:
RAID mode | Description | Operation | Advantages | Disadvantages | Recovery |
RAID 0 | Striped disks | Data is split evenly between two or more disks. | Large size and the fastest speed. | No redundancy. | If one or more drives fails, this results in array failure. |
RAID 1 | Mirrored disks | Two or more drives have identical data on them. | A single drive failure will not result in data loss. | Speed and size is limited by the slowest and smallest disk. | Only one drive is needed for recovery. |
RAID 3 | Striped set with dedicated parity | Data is split evenly between two or more disks, plus a dedicated drive for parity storage. | High speeds for sequential read/write operations. | Poor performance for multiple simultaneous instructions. | A single drive failure will rebuild. |
RAID 5 | Striped disks with distributed parity | Data is split evenly between three or more disks. Parity is split between disks. | Large size, fast speed, and redundancy. | The total array size is reduced by parity. | A single drive failure will rebuild. |
RAID 10 | 1+0; Striped set of Mirrored Subset | Four or more drives are made into two mirrors that are striped. | Larger size and higher speed than RAID-1, and more redundancy than RAID-0. | No parity. | Only one drive in a mirrored set can fail. |
JBOD | Just a Bunch Of Disks | Any number of drives are accessed independently by the operating system. | Software RAID modes can be used. | Hardware RAID may have better performance. | N/A |
Big | Spanning or Concatenation | Data is written on one drive until it is full, and then the next drive(s) until it or they are full. | Creates a very large and simple array. |
No redundancy. |
N/A |
Clone | RAID 1 + Spare |
Two drives have identical data, plus one drive is used for rebuilding in case of a primary array failure. |
Seamless operation when one drive fails in a RAID-1 array. | Spare drive is not accessible to the user. | Only one drive is needed for recovery. |
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