Mixing two diffrent SAS disk shelves in same stack

sahan_ml — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 15:31:21 GMT

Hi All,

I have a FAS8020 9.0 cDOT dual controller (HA) in same chassis. Only two onboard SAS ports (0a and 0b) available.

I want to connect following disk shelves within only one stack since I don't have additional SAS cards available.

- One DS4246 IOM6 24x SATA 2TB

- Four DS2246 IOM6 24x SAS 600 GB 10k

Can I mix above different disk shelves in same stack? Is it a valid configuration?

If yes, Is there performance impact or any issue in the future?

Thank you.

Re: Mixing two diffrent SAS disk shelves in same stack

Darkstar — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 08:57:48 GMT

Hi,

yes, this is definitely a supported configuration.

The only shelves which cannot be mixed are 4486 shelves (they can only be on a stack with other 4486 shelves) and the new IOM12 shelves (they cannot mix with either IOM3 and/or IOM6)

For details see the Storage Subsystem Technical FAQ and TR3437 and TR3838

NetApp recommends having as few transitions from SAS<->SATA as possible, for historical reasons, but experience has shown that there is no performance impact for spinning disks, no matter how many transitions you have. Still, I wouldn't put the single SATA shelf in the middle of the stack but rather at one end...

Regards

-Michael

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Mixing two diffrent SAS disk shelves in same stack

Re: Mixing two diffrent SAS disk shelves in same stack