[PLUG] Motherboard too long for PCIE cards?

[PaulNM <plug@paulscrap.com>]

Hi Folks,

	Casey's recent question about PCIE card specs gave me a good push to
investigate a PCIE-related question of my own.  Unfortunately neither
the pdf Casey found nor my own Google searches came up with any answers.

	A while ago I helped a a non-profit in the area build a couple of
massive storage servers.  The server has a PCIE raid card that we're
only using to connect a bunch of drives too. (We're using mdadm/software
raid.)

	The problem is the external bracket on the card doesn't reach the back
of the server case, the card is too short.  As a result, only the pcie
slot itself and the card's heatsink (resting on another heatsink) are
supporting the card, I can't screw it into the case.

	While I've come across low-profile, half-height, short card, and long
card related stuff, nothing fits my situation.  All of them have the
slot and back bracket at the same distance from each other, the slot is
right next to the back of the case.

	Is this normal for server cases, are there any adapters or "bracket
extensions" I can get somewhere?

More info:


	The motherboard in question is a SUPERMICRO X8DTU-F.

http://www.esaitech.com/supermicro-intel-xeon-5600-dual-lga-1366-ddr3-server-mother-board-x8dtu-f-o.html

(click on picture for larger view)

	As you can see, the PCIE X16 slot is midway down the board.  We have a
riser turning the port 90 degrees, but the bracket for the card barely
makes it halfway to the back of the case.

	The case is a Supermicro SC847 A-R1400UB.

http://amadisystems.com/supermicro-4u-36x3-5-hot-swap-1400w-redundant-rackmount-server-chassis-847e16-r1400lpb.html

	For the curious, the card is a HIGHPOINT RocketRAID 2760A SAS/SATA 6
Gb/s RAID Controller.  I don't really recommend it, though it's working
ok-ish for us after giving us a bunch of issues to workaround.

It looks like this:
http://www.amazon.com/HighPoint-RocketRAID-2782-PCI-Controller/dp/B0058TLB38
only without the two external Mini-SAS ports.  The bracket is one solid
piece.

- PaulNM


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