Home Server with SAS Controller, 2 drives, and no RAID...Is there any point in running the SAS controller?

[ukiltmybrutha]

I have a running home media/file/storage server/backup server (DELL SC440).

The server was originally configured for RAID but I have no interest in keeping the RAID. I have an external backup drive and don't want to get into talk about why I don't want to keep the RAID so lets not get into that here.

I have 2 drives in the server. One is for the OS and the other one is for my DATA.

Does the fact that my 2 drives are connected to the SAS controller slow anything down?

I'd like the server to be as energy efficient and simple as possible as well.

Should I just connect the 2 drives directly to the motherboard?

Thanks

 

[gbb0330]

the SAS controller may slow down the boot process. sounds like you can get rid of it, especially if you are using SATA drives.

 

[ukiltmybrutha]

Thank you.

 

[01111111]

SAS controller vary widely. If you are running a Perc 5/i with battery backup I would recommend keeping it for the cache, which will speed up everything except boot times. The Perc BIOS takes maybe 20 seconds to initialize and read the drives. If its something like a rocketraid, throw it away and go Sata for sure.

You will use slightly more energy but it's hard to say without a power meter how much exactly you will use, plus it also gives you the ability to go to raid should you ever want to.

Basically it's up in the air. It adds 1 more layer of complexity for probably a slight increase in speed when writing to the drives. I would say that the server itself is probably likely to die before the raid card as they are very reliable and probably built better than the SC models themselves.