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There's only one SAS, right? Serial attached SCSI?

The female connectors:

SATA2 looks like: ------------| |-------

And SAS looks : ------------+-+-------

For me, the SATA2 male connector looks like it has little corners in the middle that would prevent it from sliding into SAS, which doesn't have the little gap to allow the corners in. Is this correct?

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You can push a USB-A plug into an RJ45 socket.. Not a lot will happen, though. – Tom O'Connor Dec 15 '11 at 23:28
Now I've got it: If your (SATA) female connector has what works like a bumper in the middle, you can push in a two parted connector (SATA), but not SAS, which is a un-gapped thing. Thanks everyone! – isync Dec 15 '11 at 23:28
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up vote 6 down vote accepted

It works. SATA discs are compatible with SAS. I have tons of them in SAS backplanes. Work like a charm.

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Yeah, SATA is pretty much a subset of SAS protocol, as well as those connectors are. You cannot use advanced SAS features with SATA drives, but as long as your only concern is connecting SATA drives to SAS controller and/or backplane, you're just fine. – Fox Dec 15 '11 at 23:29
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up vote 4 down vote

Yes, difference: SATA devices contain a gap between the power and the data connectors, while the SAS devices do not. Meaning: You can connect a SATA device to an enclosure that supports SAS and SATA, but (hopefully;) not the way around.

SATA/SAS connectors explained

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You should install an interposer board between HDD and the backplane in case you have problems. See: http://www.knowledgetransfer.net/dictionary/Storage/en/SATA_interposer_board.htm

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