Upgrading server, trying to decide where to spend my money.
Posted by Riash@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 3 comments
My old server needs upgrading due to Windows 10 support ending next month.
I’ve got 4 sata drives in it right now, and I will probably add one or two more within the next year. I’d also like a couple extra sata ports for future expansion.
An LGA1700 8-sata motherboard costs almost $100 more than a 6-sata motherboard. $229 vs $135. However, I see cheap pcie to sata expansion cards for sale online.
Would it be safe to get the cheap 6-sata motherboard and buy a sata expansion card when I need it, or would I be better off spending the extra money now for a motherboard with 8 sata ports built in?
Money is not a big issue, but I do want to spend my money wisely.
DZCreeper@reddit
Paying extra for SATA ports is a bad idea, just add an HBA card. An LSI 9300-16i is $65, and a miniSAS to 4x SATA cable is $10. Meaning you can have 16 SATA drives for $105 total.
If Windows 10 is the only reason you are upgrading just move to Linux or bypass the artificial Windows 11 requirements.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2121461/install-windows-11-without-secure-boot-on-an-unsup
Riash@reddit (OP)
Server hardware is 10 years old. I’m upgrading it for that reason as well. I’m not comfortable with Linux, so I’ll stick with Windows 11. Thanks for the tip about the HBA card though, I’ll look into it.
noodlekrebs@reddit
depending on your needs, you could use HDDs and RAID and then have a few SSDs for more frequently used files/applications