Per Char Jackson:
There's a decently informative video at the Norco site, the middle video at
the bottom of the page. As the guy shows, the 4224's backplane uses SFF-8087
SAS connectors for data connections, (and dual Molex for redundant power).
You can get the data cables with SAS connectors on each end, or you can get
them with a SAS connector on one end and 4 SATA connectors on the other end,
in a spider or breakout configuration. So the backplane situation is cut and
dried - it has SFF-8087 SAS connectors, 6 of them since each one can handle
4 drives. The other end will be determined by the controller or motherboard
that you choose. Here's a link to the page with the video(s).
http://www.norcotek.com/product-category/storage-enclosure/hot-swap-storage-case/

Norco has a lot to choose from, with cases sporting a wide range of hot swap
bays: 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, and 24.

It's starting to soak in.... Get the right cables and anything goes
mobo-wise.

Had not considered the noise issue.... but that's a non-issue for me. In
fact, it could be spun as an advantage: insurance that I will not forget
to turn it off when the backup is done.


At the risk of turning into a tarbaby on you....

Is there any reason that Norco case could not be run standing on it's
side instead of in the proper rack-mount orientation. i.e. same air
flow just everything tilted 90 degrees...

Where I'm going is that this thing will live in a closet that does not
have a rack.

In the most rudimentary implementation I would add some feet on one side
so it will stand upright on that side and attach a suitcase handle
directly to the metal on the other side. I guess if I wanted to get
cute, I could build a plywood case... but the basic requirement is that
the thing can be stored in a rack-less closet and be picked up and moved
easily.
--
Pete Cresswell