Supermicro 4U 45 bay JBOD chassis - $300

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briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
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28
42
My 9200-8e and 8088 cables arrived as well. Now I just need a place to put it!!! Oh, and some hard drives? :)
 

SycoPath

Active Member
Oct 8, 2014
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Mine arrived yesterday but didn't survive FedEx well. Packaging was not geat, double layer of bubble wrap and a splash of packing peanuts. Wasn't even enough peanuts in the box to keep it from shifting around. Case has a decent bend in the corner and it did not have rails in the box. I specifically asked if rails were included before bidding and someone named Sarah stated they were. Back side drive tray below the power supplies won't come out. Sent the seller a message throught ebay Thursday night, no contact all day today. So far not thrilled with this ebay seller. I definitely don't want to spend $70 mailing this thing back either.

On a side note, holy hell is this thing loud. It's in the basement and I can hear it from the 1st floor in the room above it (you have to listen for it, but is easy to tell when it's powered on or off). It has the Nidec 0.6A fans and the CSE-PTJBOD-CB2. Also has the single expander sas2 backplanes and dual 1400w 80+ gold PSU's PWS-1K41P-1R which are fairly quiet. All the fans are wired into the backplane, would using the CB2 board slow them down some?
 

sfbayzfs

Active Member
May 6, 2015
259
143
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SF Bay area
Case has a decent bend in the corner
How is it bent / can you post a pic? The left handle with the power button is the most commonly/easily damaged part, next is the power supply area and bays below it, but generally, any corners can get banged up easily if a 4U like this is not packed sufficiently. If it is just the drive bay edges, you can probably unbend it with heavy pliers or a hammer depending on how badly bent it is.

Honestly, at this price, you could flip just the front SAS2 expander backplane and recoup most of your money right there if it is undamaged, which is probably is.

I passed a double expander version of this SC847 JBOD to another forum member rather than take the refund when it got damaged in shipping, since UPS was just going to repo it and auction it, and the remaining good parts were worth more than the refund was going to be.
 

SycoPath

Active Member
Oct 8, 2014
139
41
28
How is it bent / can you post a pic? The left handle with the power button is the most commonly/easily damaged part, next is the power supply area and bays below it, but generally, any corners can get banged up easily if a 4U like this is not packed sufficiently. If it is just the drive bay edges, you can probably unbend it with heavy pliers or a hammer depending on how badly bent it is.

Honestly, at this price, you could flip just the front SAS2 expander backplane and recoup most of your money right there if it is undamaged, which is probably is.

I passed a double expander version of this SC847 JBOD to another forum member rather than take the refund when it got damaged in shipping, since UPS was just going to repo it and auction it, and the remaining good parts were worth more than the refund was going to be.
It's not a super bad bend, I'm waiting to hear back from the seller before I do anything. It did trash the plastic drive tray, but I can repair the case. They did have the sense to remove the handle and power supplies before boxing thankfully. I'm sure it's repairable, mostly irritated that it didn't include rails like they said it did. Even more irritated at the half attempt at bubble wrap with maybe a shoebox worth of packing peanuts. This thing had no chance to survive.
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
68
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I spoke too soon. Once I got it out of the bubble wrap, there is definitely a huge problem. Here's the packaging:
Box.jpg
And the peanuts (definitely not enough):
Box02.jpg
And the problem:
Box03.jpg
Another angle:
Box04.jpg
The other handle is fully intact as they took it off for shipping. They don't appear to have included the screws to re-attach it of course. I haven't fired it up yet, but needless to say, I'm disappointed. I don't believe it is fixable, but it does appear to be cosmetic, so there's that. Boo for bad packaging...
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
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So I powered it on and it looks like everything is functional from what I can tell with no drives and nothing plugged in really. I have no idea how the backplanes are wired together as I see like 8 8087 cables connecting to both backplanes and the rear 8088 external ports. I'll just have to assume it is configured right and give it a shot with my 9200-8e. Some additional pics:
2016-10-01 13.34.59.png 2016-10-01 13.34.53.png 2016-10-01 13.34.47.png
 

SycoPath

Active Member
Oct 8, 2014
139
41
28
I spoke too soon. Once I got it out of the bubble wrap, there is definitely a huge problem. Here's the packaging:
View attachment 3508
And the peanuts (definitely not enough):
View attachment 3509
And the problem:
View attachment 3510
Another angle:
View attachment 3511
The other handle is fully intact as they took it off for shipping. They don't appear to have included the screws to re-attach it of course. I haven't fired it up yet, but needless to say, I'm disappointed. I don't believe it is fixable, but it does appear to be cosmetic, so there's that. Boo for bad packaging...
Ouch, yours is definitely worse than mine, sorry. :( I still have not been contacted back since I sent a message to the seller through eBay Thursday night either. I don't expect to hear back until at least Monday at this point. I can't even find a phone number or email address for these guys. You had the same box as me but probably double the peanuts mine had. My box was in worse shape too. A lot of the drive trays are bent too, not unusably so, but several are bananna shaped. Condition is definitely worse than I expected. Lots of scratches and drag marks, but all cosmetic except the back corner.
 

whitey

Moderator
Jun 30, 2014
2,766
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BUMMED for you guys, this could have been me for sure and I'd be IRRITATED. Hope you can get a 'partial' refund and talk some sense into them packing server chassis properly. Good hell, BOOO!
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
68
28
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I'll be contacting them Monday to discuss options. I'm disappointed but not ready to throw in the towel yet.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
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Just a heads up... I've gotten many chassis from them and a # of them were dented and required refunds and re-sends, and other shipping screw ups on their end. They have now blocked me from bidding / buying their items on ebay.

#1 problem is rack ear as pictured by @briandm81 not just from liq8 but from other sellers too! I don't understand why everyone does not REMOVE (unscrew) them and set them beside the chassis, even the power-switch side can do this easily!


And, in my opinion supermicro should try to use more threads on the chassis or make it (somehow) so a tiny nut can be used on the backside... really it's probably easier to 'laminate' another thin piece of metal to give more threads, and more strength to those tiny screws (i've seen heads pop-off too)... they already use a threaded insert, just make it BETTER :D
 

Patrick

Administrator
Staff member
Dec 21, 2010
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I have bought a few chassis and many drives from them. Usually very good. But I have had one chassis messed up. It will be interesting to see what I get this time.
 

SycoPath

Active Member
Oct 8, 2014
139
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28
So, sent this to the email address the shipping notification came from (ebay -at- liquid8technology.com). I'll let you all know how it turns out. Very annoyed with the lack of communication from this seller.

" I sent a message through ebay Thursday night but I haven't received a response yet. I noticed this email had a different email address and hoped it might be another point of contact. I could not find any contact information on your eBay store's page.

My item arrived damaged. The rear corner under the power supply is buckled in far enough it destroyed the drive tray. I have not yet started testing drive bays to ensure they all still work, but the unit does power on still and appears to work. Normally I would assign all blame on FedEx for mishandling the package, but in this case a half hearted layer of bubble wrap with a shoebox full of packing peanuts was hopelessly inadequate. There was so little packing material that it was shifting around inside the box before I even opened it. There was no chance for an item this heavy to survive packed the way it was. I also know that at least 1 more of the 3 sold was received damaged due to poor packaging by another buyer as we frequent the same forum online. His is in much worse shape than mine, the handle on the power button side is ripped halfway off the case.

The package also did not have the rails in the box. I specifically asked if they were included prior to bidding and was told rails were included.

I am very disappointed with the accuracy of description and quality of packaging. I am however stuck between needing the item to finish a project on time and not wanting to keep it either. I am also not willing to throw $70 in the trash can on return shipping. I also require the rack rails for my install as I do not have shelf space for it.

I see 3 possible directions this can go that hopefully leaves everyone as happy as possible in a bad situation and positive feedback for both of us.

1. Ask you to ship me for free the MCP-290-00058-0N rails that I was told would be included, 1 replacement drive tray, and give me a $25.00 credit for my time, try to hammer the sheet metal flat and hope for the best.

2. Ask for a credit of $135.00 and order replacement parts myself.

3. Ask for a full refund for the item+shipping, and you send me a pre-paid return shipping label.

Failing one of these options I call my credit card company, dispute the charge, open a claim with ebay, and we both waste a ton of time squabbling and both end up with a bad experience and likely negative feedback.

I do expect a reply back before your office's listed closing time Monday October 3rd."
 
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MiniKnight

Well-Known Member
Mar 30, 2012
3,072
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NYC
@SycoPath I've had good experiences with liquid8 and used ssds.

My tip - I wouldn't expect them to respond between late Friday afternoon and Monday AM. They're in NY IIRC so Friday afternoon people leave and don't look at stuff over the weekend. It's us enthusiasts building servers on weekends.
 

sfbayzfs

Active Member
May 6, 2015
259
143
43
SF Bay area
So I powered it on and it looks like everything is functional from what I can tell with no drives and nothing plugged in really. I have no idea how the backplanes are wired together as I see like 8 8087 cables connecting to both backplanes and the rear 8088 external ports. I'll just have to assume it is configured right and give it a shot with my 9200-8e. Some additional pics:
Yours is a double expander -EL2 model - only useful for double ported SAS drives otherwise it's a few extra W per backplane of power draw. There are several ways to wire them, but the common way for the double expander is to have one cable to each expander in each backplane to each of the 4 rear ports, since you only get 4 externals. You can ignore the second expander (the one ports to the left as you look at the cable side of the backplane) if you want to dual link for more bandwidth. A common way to cable for the single expander or primary expander only is either dual link to the front backplane and single daisy-chain to the rear backplane, optionally with another external port to the rear backplane for daisy-chaining to other units.

#1 problem is rack ear as pictured by @briandm81 not just from liq8 but from other sellers too! I don't understand why everyone does not REMOVE (unscrew) them and set them beside the chassis, even the power-switch side can do this easily!
For me as well, in general with many sellers - I ask them to take their time and pack well, but they usually seem to ignore it. It makes me REALLY sad when someone could have just taken a little more care packing and not ruined an expensive item like this.

The handles, especially the left one with the power button and other controls, are very vulnerable - either pack in heavy duty closed cell or self expanding foam at least 3" thick, or remove the handles and use thick styrofoam sheets, or as a last resort extra heavy duty bubble wrap, and lots of it. Peanuts are a joke for heavy items like this - the chassis shifts in the box, punches a hole, and most of the peanuts escape the box and make a mess.

I will say that Ocean-Tech does a stellar job of packing with the self expanding foam stuff, MrRackables does a good job usually with makeshift heavy duty foam and sometimes self expanding foam, and a few others use the self expanding foam to good effect, but I don't remember which ones off the top of my head.

Every time I get a good shipping box, I try to hang on to it in case I need to ship something. At least now that I've 90% settled on a final configuration for the tack, I am getting rid of more than I am acquiring, so hopefully I will be able to get rid of more boxes soon.

(I will be doing a major update to my FS post tonight or tomorrow)
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Nothing worse than excitedly waiting a new chassis to have it arrive with a rack ear bent, and out of the box :eek:
 

Blinky 42

Active Member
Aug 6, 2015
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Packing peanuts need to be banned from the universe.. just not sturdy enough for anything over a few ounces. I still would like to find a source of high-density foam like you get in the original SM boxes that you can cut up as needed and use for packing heavy items like servers w/o spending a fortune.

I will be curious to see how they handle your folks problems, they had some other things I was looking at getting but will hold off until they get you sorted. I have bought smaller stuff from them in the past w/o issues (ConnectX 3 cards and DAC's etc).
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
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I Sent a message as well. We'll see how it goes...

In the meantime I need to pop some drive in and test it out. I had planned to fill it over time...so thoughts on the best way to test? Just rotate one drive around to each bad testing it in FreeNAS?
 

briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
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Ugh...they offered to do a full refund. I really feel like there should be something in between.