Re: external drive enclosures / esata / port multipliers?

[Monte Milanuk <memilanuk@gmail.com>]

Okay... since this is not something I can go to the local office supply 
store (around here its either that or mail order) and pick up and look 
at it and see that tab A goes in slot B (i.e. how things physically 
fit/work together)... how exactly would I set this up, and what would I 
need?

Lets say that I want to go with a four-bay enclosure as mentioned 
before.  Something like this is what I had been looking at:


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816132029
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145298

4-bay enclosure w/ eSATA card + cable:	$130
Hitachi 2TB SATA HDD ($120x4):		$480

Grand total:				$610

vs...

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_enclosures/sas4bay.asp

Then I would need a SAS HBA card like this:

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_hba/arc-1300-4x.asp


Plus a cable like this:

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sas_cables_adapters/8888-1M.asp

Which if I get it all 'bundled' from that place, prices out like this:

4-bay enclosure:			$279
Areca 1300x4 card + cable:		$197
Hitachi 2TB SATAII HDD ($130x4):	$520

Grand total: 				$996




Is it really 50% mo betta?  If so, is the SAS setup I listed a good, 
basic choice?  I'd rather this stuff last a long, long time if possible.

TIA,

Monte