I have been tasked to see if there can be substantial savings to be gained from using a normal CPU/mobo/PSU/case loaded with as many HDs as possible (7-10, like Antec Titan/Atlas with 5.25 to 3.5 adaptors) versus using a real NAS box (the one in question is the Synology 7xx model with expansion, total of 7 drive bays, for about $1,400, units only, no harddisks).
The limitation encountered is the number of SATA ports on a mobo, which is usually just 4, 5, or 6. If the case is tall enough, this won't be enough to fill up all possile HD slots on the case. I believe this is easily remedied by using a PCIe Sata card (are there any other alternatives?).
Questions:
1.) Is there a performance penalty for filling up all SATA ports on the motherboard?
2.) If there is, is it negligible, or at least the same even when using multi-bay (5 and above) NAS boxes?
3.) Is there a performance penalty in using PCIe SATA cards? I'm assuming there isn't, as the existence of PCIe SSD drives mean this is probably just as fast, if not faster, than SATA II.
Thanks.
The limitation encountered is the number of SATA ports on a mobo, which is usually just 4, 5, or 6. If the case is tall enough, this won't be enough to fill up all possile HD slots on the case. I believe this is easily remedied by using a PCIe Sata card (are there any other alternatives?).
Questions:
1.) Is there a performance penalty for filling up all SATA ports on the motherboard?
2.) If there is, is it negligible, or at least the same even when using multi-bay (5 and above) NAS boxes?
3.) Is there a performance penalty in using PCIe SATA cards? I'm assuming there isn't, as the existence of PCIe SSD drives mean this is probably just as fast, if not faster, than SATA II.
Thanks.