Slimline SAS on Asus Pro WS W680-ACE motherboard

[renako]

I consider purchasing Asus Pro WS W680-ACE motherboard, but I'd like to know how its slimSAS slot works. The manuals and Tech Specs state:

" 1 x SlimSAS Slot Support SlimSAS NVMe device (supports PCIe 4.0 x4 mode and up to 4 SATA devices)*** "

" *** SlimSAS slot can support up to 4 SATA devices via a transfer cable. The cable is purchased separately. "

Does it mean that SlimSAS slot support only NVMe drives (e.g., Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB, Internal SSD PCIe Gen 3x4 NVMe M.2 2280)? Does it mean that this SlimSAS slot does not support other SATA drives such as 3.5" HDDs, 2.5" HDDs, or SSDs?

What type of a transfer cable is needed to connect SATA drive(s) to the SlimSAS slot on the motherboard?

If four (4) SATA devices are connected through a transfer cable to a SlimSAS slot, will all four SATA drives automatically appear in the system (just like JBOD)? Or do I need a port  multiplier or a PCIe card for all four SATA drives to appear separately?

[Jiaszzz_ASUS · Accepted solution]

Hello @renako 

Thank you for reaching out to us.
The SlimSAS slot connects via a splitter cable: one end features a SlimSAS NVMe connector (which must support PCIe 4.0), and the other end has up to four SATA connectors.
This setup allows you to connect up to four SATA devices (either SSDs or HDDs), which will then be recognized.

Thank you.