12G SAS cables, JBOD enclosures with SAS expander, RAID controller cards, HBAs and 12G SAS adapters can be found on this page. Check back often for updates to this ever growing list.
The next generation SAS standard SAS 3.0 is here, offering 12Gb/s per lane, doubling the previous standard transfer speed. A standard 4-lane SAS cable/connector now has 4800MB/sec bandwidth as opposed to 2400MB/sec with SAS 2.0 (6G). This can give you better performance in enclosures with a large number of disks if you are using 6Gb/s drives. It also lets you daisy-chain more enclosures before the connection bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. Sequential transfer rates will see the most benefit from increased bandwidth. SSDs will see the most benefit from 12G SAS.
12Gb/s SAS is also compatible with 6Gb/s SAS and SATA, as well as 3Gb/s SAS and SATA.
Q: What is 12G SAS and why do I need it?
A: It's the latest SAS standard and will slowly replace the previous generation 6G standard. 12G SAS controllers and expanders support both SAS and SATA drives, and is one of the best solutions for direct attached storage.
Q: Will I get any performance benefit by upgrading to a 12G SAS JBOD and 12G controller if my drives are still 6G?
A: Yes, there could be up to a 30% performance increase from using a 12G expander chassis and 12G card, while using the same 6G drives.
Q: Will SSDs see much performance gain with a 12G Expander JBOD and 12G Controller?
A: Yes SSDs will see significant performance gains because of their very fast data transfer rates. Use two external cables from the controller card to the expander for maximum performance gain.