New installation on physical server

Hi there,
I receive my new physical server a HPE Proliant ML110 gen10 :blush:
I installed 2 SSD to install the OS TrueNas Core in raid 1 for redundancy.
I haven’t bought the other disks for data yet : need to wait the budget :grimacing:
In my server I have a HPE Smart Array P408i-p SR Gen10.
After reading some topics, this controller is not recommended for TrueNas ZFS.
So I removed it and plugged the backplane directly into the motherboard.
I changed in the bios the SATA Raid mode controller to AHCI mode.
I installed OS TrueNas Core on my 2 SSD.
Do you think it is enough ?
No need a LSI controller HBA IT mode ?
Because everyting is perfect on the dashboad and I would like to use hardware compatibility with my HPE server and I am not sure it is reccommanded to install a LSI controller inside.
Thanks

If the mainboard has enough SATA ports for all your drives you do not need an HBA.

It is not SATA ports but it is mini SAS ports.

On my mainboard I have 2 mini SAS ports (SFF-8087).
Each mini SAS port is connected to the backplane and each backplane contains 4 disks (8 disks in total)

I think they are SATA ports on the MB. Quickspec document is showing SATA at #6 & #7 on page 3 in the image.

I think you should be fine but you should review all the documentation for that server

https://support.hpe.com/connect/s/product?language=en_US&kmpmoid=1010192782&tab=manuals

True they are SATA ports but I cannot use SATA ports with my backplane.
My backplane contains my 4 disks with only one mini SAS port in the back.

Are the two ports on the MB the ones I pointed out on the HP documentation? If HP says they are SATA, I don’t think it matters that they use mini SAS ports. The backplane could be SATA or SAS. I think it falls to the least common denominator of SATA in this case.

If the backplane requires a SAS connection, I think you would need to add a HBA card. You have to verify it all through the HP documentation. You might be able to figure it out with an HP configuration tool for that server model. If your setup is a ‘supported’ version, I am guessing you are okay.

If there is a mini SAS port with an AHCI SATA controller on the mainboard and a mini SAS port on the backplane, and the drives are showing up, why would you need an HBA.

I rather wonder why you pick such a small system and then waste 2 drives just for booting when the system can hold only 4 in total.

But you do you - 2 spinning drives in a mirror for data and you are good to go :slightly_smiling_face:

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The HP documentation looks like it supports 10 SATA ports.

https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=a00021851enw&docLocale=en_US

Yes I saw on quickspec document is showing SATA at #6 & #7 on page 3 in the image but it is mini SAS ports.
I don’t know why HPE says it is SATA port.

I use 2 disks for the OS to redundancy because my TrueNas will be in production.
For data I will have 6 disks.

I don’t see where the server supports 10 SATA ports.
If you see on page 3 it is only the item with number #10.

I saw two (6,7) mini SAS to sata breakout ports in the motherboard image. Since there are optional drive bays available, this leads me to believe you run the mini SAS cable from there to the drive bay, one cable per bay, and the bays handle 4 drives each. Exactly like an lsi hba setup, only onboard. They have two pictures. One picture shows 8 3.5" drives populating both bays, another picture shows all 8 sas drives eating an entire bay. So, total of 8 storage drives at least, maybe one or two connections for your boot drives.

I just don’t know where all this stuff lives. Seems like a double stack with computing and all that in one box and all the storage in another box. Not familiar with this stuff beyond the pictures here. The suggestion from HP if you choose sas that an 800w power supply plus fan module is recommended, makes me think it is a two piece setup.