Went with the Promise SATA 300 TX4 per this thread after my "bargain" silicon image card failed to be recognized:
http://www.serverelements.com/phpBB2/vi ... d764b71ac4
Worked perfectly immediately without any futzing.
Still hoping someone can recommend a more cost effective solution as this card's cost is higher than the cost of the whole server:( Would also like to know of a card offering 4 internal SATA + a first rate ESATA port for future expansion.
Prototype was a success .... but with an extreme cost overrun.