Multiple SATA controllers and the LED Activity Light Problem

[BonzaiDuck]

I'm currently in the process of taking all the SSD(s) (2) and HDDs off my server's motherboard SATA controller, and plan on disabling the onboard SATA (nFarce) after adding two PCI-E SATA/RAID controllers (same make and model).

The two PCI-E controllers, of course, have pinouts for an activity-light LED.

Before I do anything stupid, I'm wondering if it's possible to hook up these LED wires in parallel so that activity on either drive flashes the same LED.

The other possibility is some sort of add-in freeware that puts a "drive light" in the system tray. One is recommended last year by PC World, but is available through SourceForge -- known to bundle their downloads with options for free software you don't need.

Of course, the other possibility would be modding my case to install another LED light and cabling the wire separately to the second controller board.

Any thoughts about this? Can LEDs be wired in parallel like fans? Would the wiring proposal risk damage to either of the controller boards? Has anyone ever tried to do that?

And any ideas about the best of the freeware "drive light" softwares?

 

[Elixer]

Sure, you can wire them up like that if you want... here is an example: http://www.instructables.com/id/LEDs-for-Beginners/step8/Wiring-up-multiple-LEDs-in-parallel/

If you have dual monitors, you could leave open task manager, and it shows activity per drive...