PSA: Want to mount 2.5" drives in your chassis? Got a 3D Printer?

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eduncan911

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Eh, kind of double-posting below - as I necro-posted to a 2-year old thread recently. But, I thought this information was too valuable to hide down deep in a page two somewhere.

For those of you with 3D printers that want to mount 2.5" drives into your chassis, even non-Supermicro chassis, here are a few options.

This one below is much the only option if you have the big 15mm height SAS drives, like the STEC s840:


1624314838142.png

This one lets you use the older SC trays without the 2.5" mounting holes (especially if you use a few dabs of hot-glue or thin double-sided tape). Mainly because it has such a large shelf for the SSD to rest on (the pic is upside down, remember).


1624314848912.png

And this one doesn't use any screws to mount it into a sled because it has little nubs that normally go where the 3.5" screws go (to save you 4 screws!). You can try just 2 normal generic screws might work fine with the older SC trays that do not have the 2.5" holes:


1624314873391.png


I suggest printing in PETG for the higher-temps, just in case the SSD gets too warm (PETG can handle up to 80C, whereas PLA can only go to 55C). But PLA could work fine, just might get brittle if you run high-ish temps in your workhorse.

Also, if you're interested, I have more chassis/server-related 3D models I've printed/bookmarked (most are not SC specific):


There are a few more variants of SC 2.5" drive adapters there, including one if you wanted more airflow.

There's also a dual-2.5" adapter you can print and place next to your PSUs.
 
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eduncan911

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If you don't have a 3D Printer (and let's face it, that's another huge time suck of a project for DIYers), then there are online services that you can "order" prints from.

I would harzard a guess that the large ones above would be about $5 each if printed online, and gets a lot cheaper if you order like 10x. Especially now with these new belt-3D Printers that are a set-and-forget mass printing machine, it may have gotten cheaper.

If people are interested in ordering online, let me know and I'll gather resources.
 
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eduncan911

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Seems like a lot of work for something that can be bought off the shelf.

And buying 24x of them... $240.

EDIT: Also, that isn't for SAS drives (you can tell by the connector).

Whereas the largest of the above uses about $0.78 in PETG filament. So, that's 24x $0.78 for $18.
 
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elvisimprsntr

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eduncan911

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0.15 each at Alibaba.com

Uh, that's not for hot-swap caddys as it positions the SSD in the wrong location/would not plug in.

And the other one you linked to was not for SAS drives either.

Also, I calculated how much it in filament material it would cost to print the first one I list above - the only one that would fit the 15mm tall Enterprise SAS SSDs: $0.12 and 21 minutes. You could also fit about 12 at a time for a single print on a single bed.
 

cesmith9999

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And the other one you linked to was not for SAS drives either.
SAS drives do connect and work with that sled. I know. I have that sled and 2 * 3.84 TB SAS NetApp SSD's connected to my supermicro with a TQ backplane.

you get the faster SAS speed. just not the dual channels.

Chris
 
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eduncan911

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I was looking for such solution just past week and I've stumbled upon this post which was utmost helpful.
Here are a few pictures of my Supermicro sleds with basic adapter:



View attachment 19572
View attachment 19574
Yeah, the only downside I am finding now is that my other spinning rust starts getting starved for air - since these adapters open the slot up to a lot more free-floating air over the SSDs.

I put painters tape over the 12 sleds I have running SSDs with these 3d printer adapters in, and my HDDs temp dropped from 49C down to a much more reasonable 38C.

I'm going to print a bunch of one of the other variants, to help block some (not all!) of that air flow. Doh!

I've also been bitten by 3d CAD and printing a few of my own functional designs for things around the house. I may take a stab at remixing one of those to block 90% of air or something.

FYI, Supermicro chassis do come with plastic "block out" spacers you put in empty slots to restrict the airflow. They do not block 100%, as they are designed to flow just a little air. Much like the 3.5" HDDs have just a little air space under them
 

PigLover

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Some versions of the Supermicro sleds (really old one) actually have a sliding damper on the air inlets so that you can adjust how much air flows through - really nice when sleds are empty or when using 2.5in drives.

Also - instead of printing the big sleds why not just print something to block some/most/all of the inlets on the sled? You'd use a lot less filament doing that.
 

eduncan911

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lAso - instead of printing the big sleds why not just print something to block some/most/all of the inlets on the sled? You'd use a lot less filament doing that.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking since I have so many. And, anyone could use it - with 2.5" drives or with none.