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February 10, 2006
The Ultimate Bootable SATA Host Adapter
A review of the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 Four Port External Serial ATA PCI-X Host Adapter
By Arthur Whalem
FirmTek is shipping the SeriTek/1eVE4 four port external serial ATA PCI-X host adapter for PowerMac computers with an available PCI slot. The SeriTek/1eVE4 is PCI-X 1.0a, 64-bit compliant when operating at 133/100/ 66MHz bus speeds. The card is also backward compatible with standard 32/64-bit PCI slots at 33MHz and 66MHz bus speeds. This allows the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter to support a simple PowerMac 7300 up to a powerful PowerMac G5 Dual with PCI-X slots. The SeriTek/1eVE4 package includes a PCI-X host adapter and a manual on CD. With this card installed your PowerMac has four external eSATA ports ready for connections.
System Requirements
OS 9, OS X10.1.5 or later (works best with 10.2 or later).
Compatible with ALL PowerMac G3, G4 & G5 with PCI-X.
32/64 bit, 33/66MHz PCI
133/100/66MHz PCI-X
Compliant 32-bit PCI bus version 2.2
Compliant with PCI-X bus version 1.0a
Supports up to four external SATA 3.5" drives.
Which PCI Slot Works Best?
The SeriTek/1eVE4 Host Adapter can be placed in any available PCI or PCI-X slot within a PowerMac. There are four external eSATA ports on the card that are used for connecting up to four external SATA drives. If you are installing the SeriTek/1eVE4 Host Adapter in a PowerMac G5 with PCI-X, installing the card in slot #4 (the top slot) which supports 64-bit, 133 MHz will provide the best performance. The image below shows the card being installed in slot #4.
For those using the SeriTek/1eVE4 card in a PowerMac G5, I would suggest you read Apple Tech Q&A 1307 concerning the Power Mac G5 PCI and PCI-X slots. It states," Slots 2 & 3 share a common bus. Slot 4 is on a separate bus. All cards on a common bus can only run as fast as the slowest card". If I only required one 64-bit SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter I would install it in slot four. It will run a little faster than slot 2 or 3 but not by a huge amount. I have used up to three 64-bit FirmTek host adapters in a PowerMac G5 with PCI-X and they all work well together. The key is to stay with 64-bit cards in slot 2 and 3 if you want to maintain full speed. If you install a 16-bit TV or video card in either slot 2 or 3 with a 64-bit SATA host adapter you can reduce the host adapters speed by as much as 75%. The slower card, slows down the bus speed in a PowerMac G5 PCI-X model causing your host adapter and the hard drives attached to it to slow down.
FirmTek has four 64-bit SATA host adapter models available. They include the SeriTek/1eVE4 ($139.95) which has four eSATA (Type I) external ports, the SeriTek/1VE4 ($139.95) which has four SATA (Type L) external ports, the SeriTek/1VE2+2 ($139.95) which has two internal and two external SATA (Type L) ports and the FirmTek SeriTek/1V4 ($119.95) which has four SATA (Type L) internal ports. All of these host adapters work very well. You simply make your choice based on whether you want internal, external or both types of connections. The SeriTek/1eVE4 is identical to the SeriTek/1VE4 with the one exception that the 1eVE4 has external eSATA type "I" connectors. They both use the same exact firmware. Many new external enclosures are appearing with eSATA connections. As such, I find the SeriTek/1eVE4 is more likely to match the cables provided with any new external eSATA enclosure purchase.
The SeriTek/1eVE4 is identical to the SeriTek/1VE4 host adapter except that it has eSATA ports.
Features
AMUG has tested the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 SATA host adapter with a variety of enclosures and hard drives. FirmTek SATA host adapters are made for the Macintosh user. FirmTek SATA host adapters are built for the Macintosh from the ground up. They are not a modified PC card adapted for Macintosh use.
Boot Capability
The FirmTek SATA host adapters provide the ability to boot from any port on the SATA host adapter or to boot from a two to twelve drive external striped RAID set using their cards and up to three PCI slots. You can backup your internal master boot drive with your FirmTek host adapter and test it by booting off of the host adapter. No reloading of hard drives is required. In addition, FirmTek provides a "Turbo Boot" feature that allows your host adapter connected hard drives to boot with the same speed as an Apple internal SATA mounted drive. The flexibility of a bootable host adapter is very nice. Once you have experienced a fast bootable host adapter from FirmTek, it is hard to go back to a card without boot capability. Which by the way, is just about every other currently shipping Macintosh SATA host adapter on the market. If you want the option to be able to boot your PowerMac from a very fast RAID you need a FirmTek card.
Dialog Box Connection Feedback
The FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 is a very smart card. It notifies you with a dialog box when your drive configuration changes on the host adapter. This feature is very nice for letting you know what new drives are mounting and when they dismount. With this information available on the computer screen you are kept informed of the status of your host adapter and the hard drives that are connected to it.
Controller & Hard Drives
The FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 SATA host adapter utilizes the Intel 31244 PCI-X to Serial ATA Controller chip. It provides a dedicated DMA channel for each SATA port, supports hot-plug SATA drives and is compliant with both SATA 1.0 and SATA II including Native Command Queuing (NCQ). In addition, the Intel 31244 PCI Expansion ROM enables boot-up capability in the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter. The one issue with the Intel 31244 chip is that it does not support Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC). This means that SATA hard drives which have SSC turned on will need to be configured to turn SSC off in order to work with the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter. Most SATA hard drives currently in production have SSC turned off by default. However, those models that have SSC turned on usually have a method to turn SSC off so that they will work properly with the FirmTek host adapter. I have used Seagate 300GB 7200.8, all models of Maxtor hard drives, Hitachi drives with SSC turned off, and Western Digital 250GB SATA hard drives with the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter with great success. In fact, I do not find the SSC issue to be a limitation for me. My favorite SATA hard drive for use with the SeriTek/1eVE4 is the new MaxLine III 7V300F0 300GB 3.0Gb/s SATA hard drive. It performs better than any other 300GB SATA hard drive that I have tested with the SeriTek/1eVE4. You can see the results of a DiskTester run area test below from a single Maxtor MaxLine III 7V300F0 300GB 3.0Gb/s SATA hard drive.
Maxtor MaxLine III 7V300F0
These results are awesome. Reaching 70MB per second is very unusual for a 7200 RPM hard drive. A PowerMac G5 2.0Ghz dual was used for this test with a SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter installed in slot 4. If I were buying a new hard drive today for a SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter, it would be the Maxtor MaxLine III 7V300F0 300GB model. Most new 7200 RPM SATA hard drives will top out at 60-64 MB per second performance, while the Maxtor blows right through that limitation.
Enclosures
As the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter is an external eSATA solution you will need an enclosure for your external SATA hard drives. AMUG has tested several external SATA hard drive enclosures that work well with the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter. A table of some of our favorite compatible enclosures is provided below with links to their individual reviews. The new two bay FirmTek SeriTek/2EN2 enclosure was included in the list instead of the two bay SeriTek/1EN2 model as all of the enclosures in this list have eSATA ports. Features listed require the use of the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter with each specific enclosure.
| Dual Disk Array 3SA | TrayDock eSATA | SeriTek/2EN4 | SeriTek/2EN2 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 6 Bay eSATA | 4 Bay eSATA | 4 Bay eSATA | 2 Bay eSATA |
| The six bay Addonics Dual 3SA is created by using two Disk Array 3SA cages mounted inside of a Storage Tower. | The WiebeTech TrayDock eSATA is a four bay enclosure which requires no assembly other than adding SATA hard drives. | The FirmTek SeriTek/2EN4 is a four bay enclosure which requires no assembly other than adding SATA hard drives. | The FirmTek SeriTek/2EN2 is a two bay enclosure which requires no assembly other than adding SATA hard drives. |
| Hot Swap Supported | Hot Swap Supported | Hot Swap Supported | Hot Swap Supported |
| Bootable | Bootable | Bootable | Bootable |
| Backplane mounting. Uses 11" SATA cable to connect each drive to rear eSATA ports. | Backplane mounting. Uses 6" SATA cable to connect each drive to rear eSATA ports. | Direct Backplane mounting. No additional cable is required to connect drives to rear eSATA ports. | Direct Backplane mounting. No additional cable is required to connect drives to rear eSATA ports. |
| Six eSATA ports | Four eSATA ports | Four eSATA ports | Two eSATA ports |
| 105-118 degrees | 93-101 degrees | 116-127 degrees | Varies, 3 speed fan |
| Supports Sleep Mode | Supports Sleep Mode | Supports Sleep Mode | Supports Sleep Mode |
| Louder than PowerMac | Louder than PowerMac | Very Quiet | Quiet to Very Quiet |
| Advantage: 6 bays in a single enclosure, can add a quiet fan upgrade, easy to modify rear jacks or drive cages. Drive trays protect hard drives, are easy to mount drives in and dissipate heat well. Temperature alarm. Works well with the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter. | Advantage: Keeps your SATA hard drives cooler than any other SATA four bay enclosure AMUG has tested. Drive trays protect the bottom of hard drives and are easy to mount drives in. Works well with the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter. | Advantage: This is the quietest four bay enclosure that AMUG has tested. Unit is a solid industrial design that is very well built. Provides activity and power lights along with a Temperature alarm. Designed to work with all external hot-swap hot adapters, but works best with 1eVE4. | Advantage: This is a quiet two bay enclosure that provides a 3 way user selectable switch to select a fan speed that meets your needs. Provides activity and power lights. Designed to work with all external hot-swap hot adaptors, but works best with 1eVE4. |
| Cons: Is not quiet with standard fan configuration. Requires assembly. No hard drive activity lights. | Cons: Is not quiet. No hard drive activity lights. No easy way to modify power supply fan noise. | Cons: While hard drives operate within the manufacturers specifications, hard drives ran the warmest in this enclosure. | Cons: Requires two of these enclosures to use all four ports on the host adapter. External power supply required. |
| $445 | $449.95 | $499.95 | $199.95 |
RAID PerformanceA SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter using firmware version 5.1.3 was installed in slot 4 of a PowerMac G5 2.0 Dual, running Mac OS X 10.4.4. A 300GB four drive Maxtor striped RAID set was attached to the SATA host adapter. DiskTester 1GB read and write tests were performed using a run area test so that this article could display how the RAID performs. DiskTester is a Terminal application that measures the combined performance of a volume and the Mac OS X operating system. Using the command: ./disktester run-area-test --transfer-size 131072 --iterations 3 --test-size 1024 --delta-percent 10 DriveName, puts DiskTester to work testing how the RAID will perform when empty, 10% full 20% full and so on. The same tests were also run using a Sonnet Tempo-X eSATA 4+4 eight port SATA PCI-X host adapter using firmware 1.2 for comparison.
Maxtor 4 Drive 1.1TB Striped RAID - DiskTester 1GB Test
| FirmTek | SeriTek/1eVE4 | Sonnet | Tempo-X 4+4 | |
| Area Full | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 260.1 | 242.8 | 255.6 | 240.7 |
| 10% | 256.7 | 235 | 238.5 | 239.3 |
| 20% | 250.7 | 232.9 | 238.8 | 234.9 |
| 30% | 244.3 | 226.8 | 225.3 | 228.3 |
| 40% | 231.9 | 214.3 | 220.5 | 216.7 |
| 50% | 223.4 | 208.9 | 205.5 | 209.6 |
| 60% | 207.7 | 193.4 | 198.3 | 196.5 |
| 70% | 199.1 | 186.6 | 185.8 | 188.1 |
| 80% | 180.7 | 168.5 | 180.7 | 167.2 |
| 90% | 159.7 | 148.9 | 152.5 | 148.9 |
| Average | 221.43 | 205.81 | 210.15 | 207.02 |
used with a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 in PCI-X slot 4 with four Maxtor 300GB SATA hard drives.
The FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter was able to write a little faster in these tests while the read test was very close. The Sonnet Tempo-X 4+4 had difficultly mounting the Maxtor 300GB RAID set. Several tries were required to get the 4+4 to mount the four drive Maxtor RAID set, while the SeriTek/1eVE4 mounted the Maxtor RAID each time without complaints. Monitoring the connectivity lights on the 4+4 card, re-inserting drives several times and a restart got the Tempo-X 4+4 host adapter to mount the Maxtor striped RAID set.
As the Sonnet Tempo-X 4+4 had difficulty mounting the Maxtor hard drives, I wanted to see if perhaps this was a compatibility issue between Maxtor hard drives and the 4+4 host adapter. In order to see how the same test would compare using different hard drives, I created a four drive Hitachi 160GB (model HDT722516DLA380) striped RAID set using the same testing methods. The Disktester performance results are below.
Hitachi 4 Drive 609GB Striped RAID - DiskTester 1GB Test
| FirmTek | SeriTek/1eVE4 | Sonnet | Tempo-X 4+4 | |
| Area Full | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 239.4 | 243 | 231.4 | 242.6 |
| 10% | 229.4 | 232.8 | 227.3 | 231.3 |
| 20% | 221.4 | 225.3 | 216.6 | 224.8 |
| 30% | 218.4 | 221.8 | 202.7 | 221.7 |
| 40% | 211.2 | 211.7 | 193.3 | 212.3 |
| 50% | 203.5 | 202 | 194.3 | 201.9 |
| 60% | 195.4 | 194.5 | 182 | 192.8 |
| 70% | 178.3 | 176.2 | 167.6 | 170.1 |
| 80% | 154.2 | 158.5 | 157.3 | 155.3 |
| 90% | 133.9 | 140.4 | 134.5 | 138 |
| Average | 198.51 | 200.62 | 190.70 | 199.08 |
used with a PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 in PCI-X slot 4 with four Hitachi 160GB SATA hard drives.
The FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 SATA host adapter once again mounted the Hitachi RAID without complaints. However, the Tempo-X 4+4 card did not. After monitoring the connection lights on the 4+4 card, while re-inserting each drive until all of the lights were green and then restarting the PowerMac G5, the Hitachi RAID set mounted. Once the RAID was mounted on the 4+4, it was able to hot swap drives and worked correctly in sleep mode just like the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4. The Hitachi drives mounted much easier than the Maxtor hard drives on the Tempo-X 4+4 SATA host adapter even with the minor mounting issues mentioned. As you can see in the results above the two host adapters had very similar performance with less than 4% difference in their average speeds.
What About an 8 Drive Striped RAID Set?
As the Tempo-X 4+4 has four internal and four external SATA ports, I wanted to see how an eight drive RAID would compare between two FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port host adapters and when using all eight ports on the Sonnet Tempo-X host adapter. Eight Hitachi 160GB SATA hard drives (model HDT722516DLA380) were mounted on a single Tempo-X 4+4 card in slot 4. Two FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port SATA host adapters were mounted in slots 4 and 3 using the same eight drive striped RAID set. The performance differences are displayed below.
Hitachi 8 Drive 1.2TB Striped RAID - DiskTester 1GB Test
| Two FirmTek | SeriTek/1eVE4 | Sonnet | Tempo-X 4+4 | |
| Area Full | write | read | write | read |
| empty | 466.7 | 474.8 | 457.2 | 476 |
| 10% | 452.2 | 455.4 | 458 | 454.8 |
| 20% | 427.5 | 444.4 | 418.1 | 445.8 |
| 30% | 418.1 | 436.7 | 424.1 | 421.5 |
| 40% | 385.9 | 416.8 | 397.4 | 417.9 |
| 50% | 381 | 397.7 | 369.6 | 396.2 |
| 60% | 356.8 | 380.2 | 343.9 | 382.6 |
| 70% | 325.2 | 340.2 | 329.1 | 346.1 |
| 80% | 315.5 | 310.6 | 306.8 | 312.7 |
| 90% | 278.7 | 275.3 | 263.1 | 275.5 |
| Average | 380.76 | 393.21 | 376.73 | 392.91 |
PowerMac G5 Dual 2.0 in PCI-X slot 4/3 with eight Hitachi 160GB SATA hard drives. A single
Tempo-X 4+4 was used in slot 4 with the same eight Hitachi 160GB SATA hard drives.
While the FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port SATA host adapter solution provided a tiny bit faster average speed in these tests, both cards perform very closely. Based on speed alone most users will not notice any difference between the 1eVE4 and the 4+4. The SeriTek/1eVE4 requires two cards when used with an eight drive striped RAID set, while the Tempo-X 4+4 can do the job with a single card. This makes the SeriTek/1eVE4 solution a little more expensive when using an eight drive striped RAID set than the Tempo-X 4+4. However, the dual SeriTek/1eVE4 combination provides access to all eight SATA ports externally which is a more convenient hot swap solution. The simplicity and ease of use of the SeriTek/1eVE4 four port SATA host adapter makes it wonderful to work with. During these tests with both Maxtor and Hitach hard drives, each striped RAID set mounted the first time it was connected to the SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter without any problems.
Discussion
The FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port external SATA host adapter is my first choice for use with a Macintosh PowerMac with an available PCI or PCI-X slot. It works very well with every external SATA enclosure that I have tested, which supports the "single cable per drive method" for mounting SATA hard drives. The ability to boot from the SeriTek/1eVE4 allows it to be used for creating a super fast boot drive using its "Turbo Boot" feature. No other SATA host adapter for the Mac has this function. In addition, the SeriTek/1eVE4 easily mounts SATA hard drives or a RAID without problems. I want my RAID to mount the first time I attach it to the host adapter without hesitation. The SeriTek/1eVE4 provides that kind of reliability. Once you have used a SeriTek/1eVE4 host adapter for a while and then try another brand you will
understand the beauty of "simplicity" built into every SeriTek SATA host adapter. On the other hand, the SeriTek/1eVE4 does have some limitations. It does not work with PCI Express slots. It does not support SATA hard drives with Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC) turned on. It does not support the new "Port Multiplier" standard also known as SATA PM, which is used in several new five bay single cable SATA enclosures, like the WiebeTech SilverSATA V. However, the fastest SATA striped RAID set performance is still achieved by using the "single cable per drive method". When I want external SATA hard drive connections with fast performance, ease of use and boot capability, I will choose a FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 four port external SATA host adapter.Pros
Mounts up to four external SATA drives.
Supports Mac OS 9, and OS X version 10.1.5 or later.
Performs better than FireWire 800 in most situations.
Can be used with boot drives.
Provides fast transfer rates.
Allows data transfer to all four drives simultaneously.
Multitasks disk transfers which increases CPU efficiency.
Supports Power Mac G5 PCI-X bus.
No Bus contention issues on a PowerMac G5 when used with 64-bit cards.
Backward compatible with standard 32/64-bit PCI.
User-upgradeable firmware.
48-bit LBA support for drive sizes larger than 137GB.
Easily mounts single drives or a RAID configuration.
No additional Mac drivers needed.
Works on all PowerMacs with a PCI slot.
Supports deep sleep.
Well designed, easy to use and easy to install.
Cons
Does not support Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC).
Does not support port multiplier connections.
Does not work with WiebeTech SilverSATA II.
Does not work with Oct. 2005 PowerMac G5 Dual Core PCI Express models.
FirmTek SeriTek/1eVE4 gets 5 AMUGs out of 5!
The SeriTek/1eVE4 is a wonderful four port external SATA PCI-X host adapter solution for Macintosh users. If you want the ability to boot from your external SATA hard drives, you will need a FirmTek SATA host adapter. With fast performance, easy hard drive mounting and dialog box user feedback on any host adapter drive changes the SeriTek/1eVE4 is a clear winner for Macintosh users with empty PCI and PCI-X slots. You can see more details about this product at http://www.store.yahoo.com/firmtek/sata1eve4.html.
Contact Information:
FirmTek, LLC
sales@firmtek.com
http://www.firmtek.com
FirmTek Special Offer - (Requires AMUG Membership)
AMUG Members can save $10 on the SeriTek/1eVE4, $40 on the SeriTek/2eEN4 ($499.95 retail), or $59 on the SeriTek/2eVEN4 External eSATA Bundle that includes one external 4-Bay eSATA enclosure & one 4-Port eSATA Host Adapter ($629.95 retail). You can place orders at http://www.store.yahoo.com/firmtek/ and enter the code found in the AMUG members only area, into the comments section of the FirmTek order page. This promotional code will expire May 30, 2006. FirmTek will adjust the price of the SeriTek/1eVE4 from $139.95 to $129.95, the SeriTek/2eEN4 from $499.95 to $459.95, or the SeriTek/2eVEN4 External eSATA Bundle from $629.95 to $570.95 when the order is processed. AMUG membership is required for these discounts to apply.
Copyright 2006
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