A 12Gbps IT mode controller typically refers to a RAID or Host Bus Adapter (HBA) card that operates in IT (Initiator Target) mode and supports a data transfer rate of 12 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
Here's what each part of that term means:
12Gbps: This indicates the data transfer speed of the controller, which is 12 Gigabits per second. This speed is common in modern SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) and SATA (Serial ATA) storage devices, offering faster data transfer rates compared to older standards like 6Gbps (SAS/SATA-III) or 3Gbps (SAS/SATA-II).
IT Mode: IT mode is a specific operating mode for RAID or HBA cards. IT mode, also known as Initiator Target mode or Initiator-only mode, allows the controller to function primarily as a Host Bus Adapter, exposing the connected drives directly to the operating system. In IT mode, the controller does not perform any RAID functionality and allows the OS to handle the RAID configuration or use individual drives independently.
A controller operating in IT mode is often preferred for certain use cases, like when setting up software RAID (e.g., ZFS) or when using storage technologies that handle data redundancy at the software level.
Overall, a 12Gbps IT mode controller would be suitable for connecting high-speed SAS or SATA drives to a server or workstation, and it allows the operating system to manage the drives without any hardware-level RAID configuration.
