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Lemon tree LSI 9300-8i IT Mode 8-Port SAS HBA Card — main product image
Lemon tree LSI 9300-8i IT Mode 8-Port SAS HBA Card
Lemon tree LSI 9300-8i IT Mode 8-Port SAS HBA Card
Lemon tree LSI 9300-8i IT Mode 8-Port SAS HBA Card
Lemon tree

Lemon tree LSI 9300-8i IT Mode 8-Port SAS HBA Card

An LSI 9300-8i-compatible 8-port SAS HBA pre-flashed to IT mode, moving data at 12Gb/s over PCIe 3.0 x8 for ZFS, TrueNAS, unRAID, and home-lab storage

$76.99*
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*Price sourced from Amazon.com. Last updated:Jul 22, 2026.Price and availability are subject to change.

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Overview

The Lemon tree HBA card targets a specific and knowledgeable audience: home-lab tinkerers and NAS builders who want direct drive access rather than a hardware RAID controller. Compatible with the LSI 9300-8i and driven by the SAS3008 chip, it arrives in HBA IT mode — the non-RAID firmware that ZFS, FreeNAS/TrueNAS, unRAID, Proxmox, and ESXi setups rely on. Drives appear to the operating system individually, which is precisely what software-defined storage wants. For anyone standing up a disk pool on that kind of stack, IT mode out of the box removes a common setup hurdle.

The hardware picture is straightforward. A PCIe 3.0 x8 slot feeds the card, and two internal SFF-8643 connectors direct-attach up to eight drives, with a compatible SAS expander available to push beyond that. Data rates reach 12Gb/s for SAS or 6Gb/s for SATA. The box includes two SFF-8643 to SATA breakout cables, which is convenient — but they are strictly for SATA drives. SAS disks need SFF-8643 to SFF-8482 cables purchased separately, or a matched HBA-and-cable kit, so plan the wiring around the drive type you actually intend to run.

Key Features

Compatible with: LSI 9300-8i; Controller: SAS3008.

Firmware (FW): HBA IT Mode (Non-RAID); Data Transfer Rate: 12Gb/s SAS or SATA 6Gb/s.

Host Interface: PCIe 3.0 x8; Internal Connectors: 2x SFF-8643. Direct attach up to 8 drives, expandable via compatible SAS expander.

PERFECT FOR: ZFS, FreeNAS/TrueNAS, unRAID, Proxmox, ESXi home-lab & NAS storage.

Packing List: HBA Card: 1; SFF-8643 to SATA Cables: 2. Cables in box are for SATA drives. They are not compatible with SAS drives. To connect SAS drives, use SFF-8643 to SFF-8482 SAS cables (sold separately) or our matched HBA + cable kit.

Specifications

Brand
Lemon tree
Compatible With
LSI 9300-8i
Controller
SAS3008
Firmware
HBA IT Mode (Non-RAID)
Data Transfer Rate
12Gb/s SAS / 6Gb/s SATA
Host Interface
PCIe 3.0 x8
Internal Connectors
2x SFF-8643
Drive Support
Up to 8 direct-attach, expandable via SAS expander
In the Box
1 HBA card, 2 SFF-8643 to SATA cables

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. It ships in HBA IT mode, the non-RAID firmware that ZFS, TrueNAS, unRAID, Proxmox, and ESXi expect, so drives pass through directly to the operating system.
No. The two bundled SFF-8643 to SATA cables are for SATA drives only. SAS drives require SFF-8643 to SFF-8482 cables sold separately, or a matched HBA-plus-cable kit.
It direct-attaches up to eight drives through its two internal SFF-8643 connectors, and you can go beyond eight by adding a compatible SAS expander.
It uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 host interface, so your system needs a free PCIe 3.0 x8 (or larger) slot to install it.
No. Because it runs IT-mode firmware, there is no onboard RAID; redundancy and pooling are handled in software on the host, which is the intended use for these builds.
The SAS3008 controller supports 12Gb/s for SAS drives and 6Gb/s for SATA drives, leaving headroom for both spinning disks and SATA SSDs.

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