NAS/server, whats better, on-board sata ports or a SAS HBA card?

[Zohan2000]

hi all, back to asking questions about settings up a server/nas box for myself, what is better to use? on-board sata ports or get a sas hba card like a lsi sas hba 9200-8i IT mode? mainly deciding whether to go SFF and use iTX with the sas hba card or go mATX with 6 on board sata ports or go for a full sized ATX motherboard

[LIGISTX]

10 minutes ago, Zohan2000 said:

hi all, back to asking questions about settings up a server/nas box for myself, what is better to use? on-board sata ports or get a sas hba card like a lsi sas hba 9200-8i IT mode? mainly deciding whether to go SFF and use iTX with the sas hba card or go mATX with 6 on board sata ports or go for a full sized ATX motherboard

If you will be running truenas bare metal (not virtualized), it makes no difference at all. An HBA is just a way to either add more drives then your mobo can support, or can be used to pass through a hypervisor if you want to run truenas virtually. But assuming you are not doing either of those things, don't waste the money on an HBA, it provides no benefit over the mobo's SATA ports.

[Cavalry Canuck]

Even in the event you do need more ports than your Mobo provides, often it is better to go with a Sata expansion card rather than an HBA. They are cheaper, usually take up way less volume, and have less software headaches to deal with. Only downside is having several Sata cables instead of one SAS cable.

[Needfuldoer]

2 hours ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Even in the event you do need more ports than your Mobo provides, often it is better to go with a Sata expansion card rather than an HBA. They are cheaper, usually take up way less volume, and have less software headaches to deal with. Only downside is having several Sata cables instead of one SAS cable.

I disagree, SAS HBAs can be a great option. As long as the HBA is in IT mode (initiator target) instead of RAID mode, it's just going to appear as a bunch of drive ports. Mini SAS fanout cables also make cable management easier, and you get the option of using a SAS expander or backplane so you can add drives without burning more of your precious PCIe lanes.

[LIGISTX]

2 hours ago, Cavalry Canuck said:

Even in the event you do need more ports than your Mobo provides, often it is better to go with a Sata expansion card rather than an HBA. They are cheaper, usually take up way less volume, and have less software headaches to deal with. Only downside is having several Sata cables instead of one SAS cable.

I totally disagree. A used HBA will cost roughly the same, is enterprise grade, and is more or less guaranteed to work on any platform. It’s much easier to go from a single SAS to 4x SATA, the cables are smaller, and just generally cleaner. Also, you can then use a SAS expander if you need even more ports. A single 2 port SAS HBA and a 5 port expander can be used to attach 20 drives, add a second expander and now you have 32. And only the HBA needs a PCIe lane, the expanders simply need power.