External HBA cheaper then internal HBA

[azop]

I have an older dual E5405 server with an internal 9211-8i that is running out of storage space. It runs FreeNAS (I'll probably move FreeNAS to a VM and pass-through the 9211-8i at some point).

I'm torn between a Supermicro JBOD with an external HBA card or a Supermicro CSE-846 with 2 x E5-2600v3...but I don't think there's much to gain going to the E5's.

Am I missing something or is this the card (LSI SAS9200-16e 16-Port External HBA Full-Height PCIe P20 IT Mode ZFS FreeNAS 4052777238366 | eBay) what I would need to connect 24 x JBOD? - 2U Supermicro 12 Bay LFF JBOD Storage CSE-826E26-RJBOD1 SAS2 Dual Expander Rail | eBay

Would I need 2 x external HBA cards since the HBA card I linked is only 16 ports?

I noticed the External HBA cards are alot cheaper then the internal ones...is there a reason?

 

[gregsachs]

You actually only need a single cable from the HBA to the JBOD, it has internal SAS expander backplanes. Sff-8088-SFF-8088

 

[azop]

Thank you!

Would I “gain” anything by upgrading to a dual E5 v3 over the dual E5405? This server will mainly sit and host large video files on an internal lan with nothing every maxing out the 1GB port.

 

[cesmith9999]

not really at all

Chris