3ware 9690SA-8I SAS RAID Controller Review

The 3ware 9690SA is the only series of RAID controllers from 3ware that supports hard disk drives with SAS interface. Other 3ware controllers support SATA and the 7506 series even supports PATA. The 9690SA series offers four models differing in what connectors they have. The 8I model we have got features two internal SFF-8087 connectors each of which provides up to four SAS ports. The -8E model has two external SFF-8088 connectors, and the -4I4E has one internal and one external connector. And finally, the -4I model is equipped with only one internal port.