Hardware HBA IT Mode / SAS Pass-Through Performance Comparison Comparison notes for LSI SAS generations and pass-through capability. LSI SAS1068E 1 2 3 4 5 6 PCIe 1.0 x8 = 2 GB/s, x4 = 1 GB/s SFF-8087 = 4x SAS lanes SFF-8484 = 4x SAS lanes SAS1/SATA2 = 3 Gbps = 375 MB/s 8 lanes theoretical = 3 GB/s (24 Gbps) Legacy platform, limited value today. LSI SAS2008 / SAS2004 / SAS2116 1 2 3 4 5 PCIe 2.0 x8 = 4 GB/s, x4 = 2 GB/s SFF-8087 internal / SFF-8088 external / SFF-8644 external SAS2/SATA3 = 6 Gbps = 750 MB/s 8 lanes theoretical = 6 GB/s (48 Gbps) Good fit for HDD pass-through with balanced cost/performance. LSI SAS2308 1 2 3 4 5 PCIe 3.0 x8 = 7.8 GB/s SFF-8087 / SFF-8088 / SFF-8644 SAS2/SATA3 = 6 Gbps = 750 MB/s 8 lanes theoretical = 6 GB/s (48 Gbps) Higher performance and often preferred for mixed SATA SSD/HDD workloads. LSI SAS3008 1 2 3 4 5 PCIe 3.0 x8 = 7.8 GB/s SFF-8643 internal / SFF-8644 external SAS3 = 12 Gbps = 1.5 GB/s 8 lanes theoretical = 12 GB/s (96 Gbps) Supports 12 Gbps SAS3 devices. LSI SAS3408 1 2 3 4 5 PCIe 3.0 x8 = 7.8 GB/s SFF-8643 internal / SFF-8644 external SAS3 = 12 Gbps = 1.5 GB/s Tri-Mode support for NVMe 8 lanes theoretical = 12 GB/s (96 Gbps)