How to choose an HBA card for your NAS or Server
I needed an HBA for my NAS. Did some research twice (did this a year or two ago already) and forgot everything.
HBA stands for Host Bus Adapter and is used to connect SATA or SAS drives via the HBA to the motherboard via the PCIe slot.
Here is what I learned in a summary and the source as well. I hope this may save you some time.
First-generation SAS-2
LSI SAS2008, SAS2004, SAS2116
- PCIe 2.0 bandwidth: x8 lanes = 4GB/s
- SATA-III/SAS-2 bandwidth: 6 GB/s = 750 MB/s on each SAS lane
- 2 SFF-8067 Ports = 2 x 4 SAS lanes = 8 SAS lanes
- Total theoretical bandwidth: 8 SAS lanes x 750 MB/s = 6Gbit/s
In theory, your controller bandwidth is higher than your PCIe bandwidth. This will not be a big bottleneck because your HDD will anyway max out at 250 MB/s.
That means your PCIe 2.0 with 4GB/s bandwidth will handle the 8 HDDs (8 x 250 MB/s = 2GB/s) just fine.
Benefits and drawbacks:
- great for hard drives
- less power usage
- less heat
Second-generation SAS-2
LSI SAS2308
- PCIe 3.0 (x8 lanes = 7.8 GB/s)
- SATA-III/SAS-2 bandwidth: 6 GB/s = 750 MB/s on each SAS lane
- 2 SFF-8067 Ports = 2 x 4 SAS lanes = 8 SAS lanes
- Total theoretical bandwidth: 8 SAS lanes x 750 MB/s = 6Gbit/s
Witdh this controller you will not be able to saturate the PCIe 3.0 connection (7.8 GB/s) width your controller bandwidth of GB/s. Great for a lot of SSDs.
Benefits and drawbacks:
- great for SAS2 or SATA3 SSDs
- overkill for HDDs
- upgraded SAS2008 chipset
- PCIe 3.0 (most will support with x8 lanes = 7.8GB/s)
SAS-3
LSI SAS3008
- PCIe 3.0 (x8 lanes = 7.8 GB/s)
- SAS-3 bandwidth: 12 GB/s = 1.5 GB/s on each SAS lane
- 2 SFF-8643 Ports = 2 x 4 SAS lanes = 8 SAS lanes
- Total theoretical bandwidth: 8 SAS lanes x 1.5 GB/s = 12 GB/s
Good for SAS3 SSDs. Can get bottlenecked by the PCIe 3.0 bus.
Benefits and drawbacks:
- for SAS3 SSDs
- more expensive
SAS-3 + Tri-Mode with NVMe support
LSI SAS3408
- PCIe 3.0 (x8 lanes = 7.8 GB/s)
- SAS-3 bandwidth: 12 GB/s = 1.5 GB/s on each SAS lane
- 2 SFF-8643 Ports = 2 x 4 SAS lanes = 8 SAS lanes
- Total theoretical bandwidth: 8 SAS lanes x 1.5 GB/s = 12 GB/s
Benefits:
- almost identical to LSI SAS3008
- difference to LSI SAS3008: when Tri-Mode is there it supports NVME
- PCIe 3.0 might be the bottleneck for aggregated bandwidth of NVME drives
Here is the video source I got this information from on how to choose an HBA card. It is worth a watch. I also can recommend his eBay shop and his website https://artofserver.com/
