Hi, anyone could point me at an ELI5 about SAS hardware? I'd like to assemble a NAS using an old HP Z200, I want SAS because I'd get also a tape drive for backups and I cannot find SATA tape drives. For example, is a Dell Perc H310 pci-e card good for me? Can I avoid hardware RAID?
Personally, I recommend the lsi cards. Those things are tanks. The lsi 8i (8 internal) has been my friend for many years without fail. It does support jbod, so no raid, and I hooked a tape drive up to it too.
Tell me more about your tape drive though, I'm unhappy with mine and I'm looking to replace it
Sorry but I haven't got the tape drive yet. I found an HP lto-5 ultrium 3000 on ebay but I'm not sure if it's a good choice
Feel free to ping me if you make the jump, I learned a lot about it. Biggest thing I can recommend is double triple make sure everything supports ltfs, it will make your life 1000% easier.