express54 esata card compatibility.

Looking for those who have done this and what issues you may have run into. I dont want to just buy a card and not have drivers for the hardware. I want an expresscard to esata for my t400 linux server to connect to my 2TB external drive. Thanks!

 

PCIe hotplug can be a little finicky (pciehp module) as in crashing hard. I'm sure it boils down to BIOS implementation though.

I have two 34mm esata expresscards, one of them does RAID and the other is only a single port. If you can find out what controller the card you want to buy has, search for it and see if you find any bugs. Pretty much every SATA controller is going to be supported out of the box. I haven't tried a 54mm card to recommend a specific one. I got my cards off ebay for under ten dollars.

 

I dont need hot swappable as the t400 will sit on a desk as a server. The drive will never be removed as it will be the only server storage. I just need it to be stable and work with my server. If this is possible then great if not, well I guess Ill have to reconsider windows as USB storage is a no go for me.

 

Suggest have a browse of http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/513653-esata-vpc-z-s-y-series-esata-expresscard-review.html .

 

Does not help with linux compatibility. I dont need a lesson on esata, rather need to know the stability of esata expresscards in linux. I dont need any features other then a stable storage interface.

 

Hotplug isn't a showstopper, I was throwing a warning out so that you know about it being a potential annoyance. If you don't need it, then it's not a topic or an issue.

Just find a card and try to find out what chipset it uses. Search for kernel bugs.

That's all really.

 

Will do thanks!