I mentioned, not terribly long ago, a way to get 24 SATA ports relatively cheaply using M.key modules in a carrier board, as long as your motherboard has a spare x16 slot that supports bifurcation.

While searching for something else altogether, I noticed someone has put it together as a package (except for the cabling) to make life easy, at a reasonable price:

• BTER PCIE X16 Expansion Card, 4 x 32Gbps Full Speed Signal SATA 3.0 DC Power Chip Stable Operation JMB585 Chip PCIE to SATA 6G Adapter Card, Stable Operation Thicker PCB 4 Disk Expansion Card : Amazon.ca: Electronics
• ( https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09PNMFQNB )

I say “reasonable price” because the cheapest 24-port SATA single-slot HBA I’ve seen that isn’t severely limited by a PCIe x1 interface(!), is this GLOTRENDS thing for $350, and the name-brand cards with tech support mostly start around $750!

-Adam