since adopted the SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 connector

The SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 connectors are commonly found on older-generation SAS/ SATA controllers as the industry has moved to the SFF-8087 standard for internal four lane connections. Two examples of common RAID controllers with the SFF-8484 connectors are the Dell PERC 5/i and PERC 6i. Common cable configurations are SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 (plus a four pin Molex connector) or SFF-8484 to four 7-pin SATA style connectors.The SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 connector is a very widely used connector type that is commonly used today on SAS cards. It carries the equivalent of four SATA/ SAS 7-pin connections through a SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cable providing 12gbps of throughput using SAS or SATA II 3.0gbps devices. In fact, many makes SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 look like four 7-pin cables were sheathed together and terminated at each end by SFF-8087 endpoints. SFF-8087 connectors tend to have locking mechanisms that snap into place when a cable  is inserted. This generally keep the connections secure over time even if there is minor chassis movement and vibration I do prefer SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 backplane connections because, while the cables are less flexible, the cabling generally comes out cleaner with four 7-pin connectors effectively sheathed together. On the positive side, 7-pin data connectors and cables are very easy to route since they are thin and flexible.