Intel PCH or LSI 3008?

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

As subject, which is better and why?
The server i'm buying has 10 SATA ports (6 on Intel PCH and 4 on Intel SCU)

Do you suggest to add and use an hardware HBA like the LSI 3008 ?

 

[Ericloewe]

Only if you need SAS or run out of ports.

 

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

Perfect. So ports connected to Intel PCH are good.

 

[Arwen]

Perfect. So ports connected to Intel PCH are good.

Yes.

2 caveats. One is that if you intend to run a SSD you want to put it on a SATA 3 port, (6Gbps). Next,
SAS ports allow the use of SAS expanders, which allow multiple disk data over the same cables. (SATA
port multipliers are NOT recommended.)

 

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

Ok, i've received the server (SuperMicro SuperServer 1028U-TR4T+)
Now I have to choose if using the integrated SATA ports (this is a full-SSD server) or adding an HBA like the LSI SAS 3008.

Any pro and cons about the two option?
Two cons about adding the SAS controller are:

1) i'll loose two ports. The controller only support 8 disks. The server has 10 slots.
2) i'll add an additional hardware component that could break

Pro: i'll be able to support both SATA and SAS disks.

I'm really unsure about the hotplug stability of the integrated SATA ports.

Another question: the motherboard BIOS allow me to configure each SATA port for SSD or HDD. Any advantage by setting SSD? I can't set SSD to all ports but only on the ones with a disk connected. As i'm adding disks in the future, I'll be unable to set SSD as port-type for the newly added disk without rebooting the server (totally nonsense, as this is hotplug)

 

[Arwen]

You can mix and match. Meaning if you don't have enough 6Gbps SATA ports, you can
use 6Gbps SAS ports. A single pool can be made from both SAS or SATA disks, (or SSDs).
Or SATA SSDs on both SATA and SAS ports.

In higher performance situations, it may be best to balance the I/O load carefully. But, in
most cases, when using server class hardware, (like Supermicro), you can trust that the I/O
ports can perform at maximum speed. (Not the case for laptop or normal destop hardware.)

I don't know what the SSD or HDD BIOS setting actually does.

 

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

So are you suggesting to use the integrated Intel PCH ports or should I add an HBA and loose 2 ports?

 

[Arwen]

@Gandalf Corvotempesta
Do you have enough Intel PCH SATA 6Gbps ports?
If so, you should be okay.
If not, you can add an HBA to and use ports from BOTH HBA and Intel PCH.

 

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

I have 10 ports. 6 connected to Intel PCH C612 and 4 connected to Intel SCU

 

[ccssid]

attach your 10 drives and see if everything works O.K.

 

[Gandalf Corvotempesta]

Sorry for the stupid question but which is the difference between Intel PCH and Intel SCU ?
Are the same controller ?