>>107054626
I believe it's just using the SAS connectors because of the limited space on the itx motherboard and to limit overall cable clutter, as the Mobo comes with two "SAS-to-SATA" cables.
My case, the N3, has a backplane that can take both SATA and SAS drives. I unfortunately don't have any SAS drives to test, So I don't know if they'll be noticed by the mobo.