Tricking a dual 1TB dock (3.5" w esata) to dual higher?

Pogoplug 4s have SATA port multiplication (hello Leggo!) and you can buy docks that have multiple bays.

I've been seeing scorchingly low prices on dual bay units with an esata jack and USB (the cheaper ones 2.0). The limits I see is that it's 1TB per drive. They don't go into detail whether every format is the same, and I know Linux does neat tricks and thought to ask you.

Here's one of them:

I like what I see, but a 2 TB hard drive costs so little more than a 1TB, I can't justify so much effort for less result. One bay is simply there to backup the other one. And 2 TB x 2 would really give me some peace of mind. Or any ideas.

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I wonder if a Seagate GoFLEX Home has a support for a SATA port multiplication. If so, I may contemplate to get this enclosure, instead of buying the original Seagate enclosure that is about $10. Can anyone comment on this?

Ah, I don't have an answer to the maximum disk partition sizes, but see if it's formatted "GPT" (GUID Partition) you can go over the otherwise 2TB limit of MBR.

I don't know if Pogoplug deals with GUID in the first place let alone making an MBR that Pogo recognizes and have GUID partitions waiting for some Debian driver to recognize.

@ habibie I couldn't find anything in my travels about GoFlex having port multiplication. I just wish it were easy to design a circuit board and have it 3D printed.

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I thought the GFHome and GFNet have SATA port multiplication. But not 100% sure.

-bodhi
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Yes, all Kirkwood plugs with my new u-boot builds (since 2013) support >2TB and GPT.

-bodhi
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Wow that's awesome. On the v4 Mobile it's possible to add SATA but there's no way I'd survive roughly 10 solders with my tools on hand.
Not that $30 for a SATA -enabled v4 one is fully impossible but..

In theory (not trying to create more work for you Bodhi) the (conspicuously Oxnas) v3 Pro is a u-boot procedure away from the same? I've got two of those right here.
If you need a guinea pig, I could commit one to possible brick age in the name of science.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/2016 06:34PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

Yes, all Kirkwood and Oxnas plug with my new u-boot builds (since 2013) support >2TB and GPT.

-bodhi
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I'd have replied hours ago but a too amazed at your foresight that must have gone into making u-boot, to process Bodhi!

Really great timing to make that clear too, as this year looks to have the best deals on hard drives and cases etc maybe ever, all things considered. Maybe if it's true I've been here 11 months, maybe I can shoot for 1 year anniversary to complete a tough and efficient cloud.

Esata patch cables ought to arrive from the Orient at the last minute if I make haste lol

Wow! Thank you man!

-update- ahh, the before-bed flash. For instance the cheap 2-bay up above that has one eSata plug and two hard drives internally. Does that negate the need for "sata port multiplication" at the Pogoplug end of it because an internal splitter in the 2-bay takes care of it, or does the two SATAs in the box sort of interleave two streams to Pogoplug? I'm not sure I get the terminology, But I get Murphy's Law, and that's why I still wonder that one point.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2016 03:59AM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> -update- ahh, the before-bed flash. For instance
> the cheap 2-bay up above that has one eSata plug
> and two hard drives internally. Does that negate
> the need for "sata port multiplication" at the
> Pogoplug end of it because an internal splitter in
> the 2-bay takes care of it, or does the two SATAs
> in the box sort of interleave two streams to
> Pogoplug? I'm not sure I get the terminology, But
> I get Murphy's Law, and that's why I still wonder
> that one point.

I don't think the 2-bay enclosure will have a built-in SATA port multiplier. However, you can definitely try it with your PogoPlug Pro (which doesn't have a built-in SATA port multiplier) to see if both SATA HDDs will work concurrently. Please do let us know how it will turn out.

habibie Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > -update- ahh, the before-bed flash. For
> instance
> > the cheap 2-bay up above that has one eSata
> plug
> > and two hard drives internally. Does that
> negate
> > the need for "sata port multiplication" at the
> > Pogoplug end of it because an internal splitter
> in
> > the 2-bay takes care of it, or does the two
> SATAs
> > in the box sort of interleave two streams to
> > Pogoplug? I'm not sure I get the terminology,
> But
> > I get Murphy's Law, and that's why I still
> wonder
> > that one point.
>
> I don't think the 2-bay enclosure will have a
> built-in SATA port multiplier. However, you can
> definitely try it with your PogoPlug Pro (which
> doesn't have a built-in SATA port multiplier) to
> see if both SATA HDDs will work concurrently.
> Please do let us know how it will turn out.

I dont think it will regcognize both SATAs.

-bodhi
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bodhi's corner (buy bodhi a beer)

i concur with bodhi - you need sata multiplication support to see more than one sata device using the above method

Believe me I'd rather learn this the easy way now than futile troubleshooting later.

There's still time to Pro and Con the most suitable home cloud.

I know Sergeanter (the v4 overclock ninja) runs a 4-bay SATA RAID box off a v4 Pogoplug and that's half the reason I'm barking up that tree.

It's taken almost two decades for me to fill a 1TB, spread out over the course of six still-living hard drives and backed-up to a 1 TB External, I'm satisfied to go with 2 TB as an acceptable main storage and one more to back that up, and aim for a service life somewhere between 3-7 years.

And since this project is the final large safety repository it isn't unreasonable to store 2TB hard drives on a re-purposed desktop computer and make backups weekly or monthly. If data were food, this is the Deep Freezer.

Part 2 is to configure Pogos and other boxes with quick little hard drives built for transfer speed (the OS's can run on USB sticks though) for quick data access..

My real dilemma is whether to keep saving pennies for 2.5" or 3.5" 2TB hard drives. As of this morning BestBuy hasn't lowered prices on external HDDs this season yet. 'Tis a good time to save those pennies lol

So uncertainties aside, my course of action is practice the bodhi methods of mounting a power
ed 3.5" SATA drive on the Pogo 3 and focus there for a while. Save the pennies, hope a clever most-beneficial method manifests itself.

I still haven't bricked that v4 to add SATA you know! I could do it, just need a better iron and those capacitors.

Cant' thank you all enough and I'm always open for brainstorming or reiterate good points you made I forgot :-)

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2016 02:21PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

if powersaving and cost is an issue....

how about 2 usb hubs each with 7 @ 128Gb thumb drives in a raid 1 + 0... should give plenty of space and be cheap too and relatively quick access times - at least it the limit of usb2 speed anyways

I suspect you're having a mild chuckle saying that*, but yes, the top of USB 2.0s specs for file transfer across LAN is perfectly fine in my world. The top of Gigabit routing is even finer LOL

A plan is formulating...

Off topic, but have you ever physically looked on a calcuator, double a penny tomorrow and double every day for a month, it ends up millions of dolars, depending on the length of month?

Well my cloud is at the 2-cent stage LOL All of these good decisions will make a mind blowing home cloud that increases the quality of life for myself and anyone lucky enough to enter this sphere of goodness.

Sounded good :-D

*Lexar USB sticks would be perfect, as the lack of even one air traffic control-intense strobe LED would quickly indicate, it's time to replace that stick (heh)

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2016 03:25PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

The thing about Pogo v3, there's still that mpcie slot for those of use who don't need wireless. I even bought an mPCIe extender while back to run the ribbon out of the Pogoplug if need be.

I see out there adapters that have built-in port multiplication but so far I'm only seeing SATA 3 such as this:

I don't for one second think the bus is fast enough to support 6Gbps in case you're wondering. But if the least-specified speed of PCIE is 250 MB/sec that's way over SATA I and approaching SATA II.

That's not saying Pogoplug's hardware infrastructure would support it, same with any drivers or configuration.

Hey if anyone spies cheap (1-month delivery cheap!) parts dealing with SATA and mPCIe and is realistic in SATA I or II speeds, I might try it! Probably M.2 specification.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/2016 06:54PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

sata 3 interface can support sata 1 and 2 devices

Wish i could find a supplier for that part linked above then. I notice most everything else that seller has is three times the price I'm used to seeing, yet that particular part is the lowest price of four I can find at all.

There's some related industry I used to contact the chip makers and ask them to send me a sample for evaluation, and was always politely accommodated. D/A converters chips and everything. If any of you work in a business that sounds even remotely computer, you might try it. Because face it, if yours works, I'm buying two for sure (maybe 3) and I'm only one person.

And that's so enticing to see the mSATA adapters for 99 cents (no control chip and functionally null)...

But yeah I have a DV6500 laptop too, and that mPCIe slot for wireless would be fantastic as a dual SATA port. I long tossed the wireless card.

-update- wait a shake - that laptop ought to have a SATA controller upstream in the PCI bus, so that 99-cent adapter would probably work. Cool! One down, two to go.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/2016 09:02PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

@joey

i have been looking at that device link you gave earlier up. i think the only reason it quotes a 2TB limit is that it was originally aimed at Windows variants upto XP, which had a drive limit visibility of 2TB.

So 2TB hdd's is a raid setup should work for you on the PogoPro, as this doesnt need port multiplication.

Understanding Windows 2TB limit
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2010/02/18/understanding-the-2-tb-limit-in-windows-storage.aspx

Device quoted Review
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/simpletech-lacie-drive,1809-7.html

Understanding Port Multipliers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_multiplier

Excellent resources. I'm having a fundraiser to get one of those dual cases, a 2TB HDD and some desktop RAM, cables from the orient. The education of it, seeing if there's firmware in that case to noodle around in, and potential convenience should be worth the effort. 60% funded so far.

Remember I was saying the regional hospital donates their ThinClients and other mid-life-cycle stuff to Goodwill? Last summer I bought an HP expansion base for my laptop. Unbeknownst to me, there's a hidden hard drive bay, and a month later I discover it contains the stuff of the current CEO of a regional hospital health system! And he's a hard guy to reach if you're not on the board of directors. So finally yesterday I spilled the beans to his secretary - while I'm happy enough to get his stuff back to him, I also wouldn't turn down an atta boy if he were to offer. Fingers crossed, they're supposed to contact me today. That put me in a weird position because if I were to say anything the public might lose confidence in Hospital security, and all sorts of other ramifications and I fear even vilifications.

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JoeyPogoPlugE02 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That put me in a weird position because if
> I were to say anything the public might lose
> confidence in Hospital security, and all sorts of
> other ramifications and I fear even vilifications.

You just have said something.... nothing is private on the intertubes

Yeah and no contents were secure because the HP xb3000 Notebook Expansion Base was directly (I assume) hooked to the laptop.

And still, the hidden hard drive doesn't register on the laptop unless a separate power supply is plugged in, and I've got a box of 12v power supplies and and none with that exact pin. I had to pull the hard drive out and plug it in elsewhere to see what was what.

-update- also I see what you mean about my mentioning it "publicly" it's now somewhat out there, at least for conversation. But ethically I had to go with gut instinct when choosing whom this information belongs to. The former employer whose donated box this was on? Me because I bought it?
So I just got back from dropping the CD off with brief documentation. The receptionist was expecting me and said "thank you".

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/2016 05:44PM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.

I've done basic research half the day today, and remember the cheap SimpleTech-2TB esata RAID box? There's some hilarious reviews at Amazon.

What I'm seeing is, a lot of these controllers with a hard drive attached still have painfully low transfer speeds regardless if it's eSATA or USB.
I'm hard pressed to identify what that is. Could be they are forced to format it NTFS, transfer speed is based on CPU processing depending on controller chips... I give up. So, some thoughts out loud just to see what they look like:

-1. I've got spare processors and think it might be super cheap, to build the faster branch of a home NAS using a new or NOS, micro ATX motherboard and use old parts such as processor etc. I'm still calculating all of this. But based on all you've taught us about Pogos, I wouldn't even need a graphics card is that right?
+1 And whilst checking for motherboards, seems there are some fantastic SOC at double Pi budget with removable RAM and at least two SATA II ports.

You're probably sick of me saying thank you, but those Pogoplugs and their headless ways are so efficient I'm still blown away by it all.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/24/2016 01:48AM by JoeyPogoPlugE02.