Question 1

According to the Syba Website, the ports are:

2x Internal SATA 6Gb/s Ports
    2x External SATA 6Gb/s Ports

NOT:
2x External eSATA 6Gb/s Ports

Would this be accurate?

Accepted Answer

The external ports are eSATA.

I have an ICYDOCK eSATA enclosure connected to one of the external eSATA ports and it works fine. I don't have a 2nd eSATA unit to test if both are usable simultaneously (but they should).

I also have 2 Intel SSDs connected to the internal SATA ports and both are recognized and running at 6Gb/s.

Question 2

Hi, does anyone know if the eSATA ports are eSATAp ? Meaning do they have power on them? I eant to power and connect a drive with an eSatap-to-Sata cable? A cable like this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA29716C8573&cm_re=esatap_to_sata-_-9SIA29716C8573-_-Product

Accepted Answer

I tested both of mine and they do not support eSATAP.  I wished they did and I wish they were faster.  I am using this with a HP Z800 workstation and a Samsung 512gig 840 pro.  I should get 500 meg a second read and writes but I am only getting 200 meg a second writes and 250 meg a second reads.

If you are pushing a SSD I would suggest a LSI SATA?SAS HBA.  I know those push 500 meg per second read and write on every port.  I have tested up to 3gig per second with 8 Samsung 840 Pro drives. ;)

Question 3

If one or two Intel SSDs are connected to this card, will they be seen by the Intel SSD Toolbox, so that TRIM could be applied to the SSDs?

Accepted Answer

Not in RAID mode it won't. If in AHCI mode, yes. But as long as you are running Windows 7 or 8, the OS will manage the TRIM function automatically.  You didn't mention the model or specs for your Intel SSD's, most modern SSD's can manage themselves now, so even in RAID mode, you should not have to deal with manual trimming. But to be sure, check with Intel first on your specific drives and their recommendation for RAID vs AHCI modes the drives will work best with. If you want to run them in a RAID, you may have to use an Intel controller to be assured of proper TRIM maintenance. Intel can best answer that.

Question 4

Does this card support TRIM for SSDs?

Accepted Answer

I believe TRIM is a function of the SSD controller on the drive and the OS it is running on, i.e. Windows 7 supports TRIM natively, while XP doesn't. The same applies to Mac OS, Mountain Lion and Mavericks supports TRIM, but I'm not sure about earlier versions, nor do I know how much various Linux distros support it. Wish I could be more thorough about this topic.

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