SAS panel mount connector cable assembly with LEDs and a system including the same

1. A SAS cable assembly for providing access of target hard-drive resources to an initiator-host, the SAS cable assembly comprising:

an initiator-side connector;

two target-side connectors each comprising:

a power-link portion;

a signal-link portion;

an interface separating the power-link portion and the signal-link portion; and

a plurality of LEDs for indicating activity and fault-detection;

a wire-harness;

a plurality of power-wires electrically connecting the wire-harness to the power-link portions of the two target-side connectors; and

two signal-link cables connecting the initiator-side connector to the signal-link portions of the two target-side connectors.

2. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the assembly further comprises two flat cables connecting the initiator-side connector to the plurality of LEDs on each of the two target-side connectors.

3. The SAS cable assembly of claim 2 , wherein the assembly comprises two shielded parallel pairs.

4. The SAS cable assembly of claim 3 , wherein a differential impedance of the parallel pairs is 100±10 ohms.

5. The SAS cable assembly of claim 4 , wherein a size of the parallel pairs is one of 26 , 28 and 30 according to American Wire Gauge (AWG) standard.

6. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the initiator-side connector is a mini-SAS connector.

7. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the signal-link portion of the target-side connector comprises seven pins.

8. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the initiator-side connector has at least a number of pins corresponding to four target hard-drives.

9. The SAS cable assembly of claim 2 , wherein a plurality of pins on the initiator-side connector is used for a sideband signal LED control.

10. The SAS cable assembly of claim 2 , wherein each of the target-side connectors comprises three LEDs.

11. The SAS cable assembly of claim 2 , wherein a target-side connector is configured to connect to a SAS hard-drive.

12. The SAS cable assembly of claim 2 , wherein a target-side connector is configured to connect to a SATA hard-drive.

13. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the initiator-side connector is configured to connect to a host-bus adapter (HBA).

14. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein a target-side connector is configured to connect to a backplane of a hard-drive.

15. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the target-side connector comprises a cap to cover the power-link, signal-link, and the interface portions for protection purposes in a state of non-connection.

16. The SAS cable assembly of claim 1 , wherein the cable assembly is part of a panel mounting.

17. An information transfer system for providing access to target hard-drive resources comprising:

at least one host computer system comprising a host-bus adapter (HBA);

at least two target hard-drives comprising data to be accessed by the at least one host computer system; and

at least one SAS cable assembly to provide access of target hard-drive resources to the at least one host computer system, the cable assembly comprising:

a host-side connector configured to connect to the HBA of the at least one host computer system;

two target-side connectors each configured to connect to one target hard-drive, each target-side connector comprising:

a power-link portion;

a signal-link portion;

an interface separating the power-link portion and the signal-link portion; and

a plurality of LEDs for indicating activity and fault-detection;

a wire-harness;

a plurality of power-wires electrically connecting the wire-harness to the power-link portions of the two target-side connectors; and

two signal-link cables connecting the host-side connector to the signal-link portions of the two target-side connectors.

18. The information transfer system of claim 17 , wherein a target hard-drive is a SAS drive.

19. The information transfer system of claim 17 , wherein a target hard-drive is a SATA drive.