Adaptec RAID 2405 SAS / SATA Controller

 

With Adaptec products being squarely aimed at professionals and enterprises more than home users and enthusiasts, it’s no surprise that  the 2405 controller is presented in a pale blue box with minimalistic appearance. This is quite a refreshing change from some of the overdressed products we often receive, that would more than likely have a camouflage background with fighter jets spelling out the SAS name.

 

 

 

Contained within the box is a 4-way SAS/SATA cable, low profile blanking plate, driver disk, software disk (containing Adaptec’s Windows based configuration utility) and a worryingly large printed user manual. The controller card itself is kept separate from the rest of the accessories by means of a moulded clear blister style packet that should ensure safe delivery of the card, even at the hands of the most brutal couriers.

 

 

Going in for a closer look at the card, we can see that passive cooling is required to keep the 800MHz processor cool during operation. As previously mentioned, the 2405 is a low-profile card and thus the two 64MB memory IC’s that make up the cards 128MB of on-board ram have been located on the rear of the PCB to make way for the rest of the components.