Greetings.
I am working on putting together a Windows Storage Spaces server with an initial target of 8 4TB HDDs (yet to be purchased but leaning towards the HGST NAS) and 4 480GB SSDs (just picked up 4 Samsung 845DC EVOs today thank to a deal listing on these forums).
I am leaning towards the Supermicro X10SDV-LN4F motherboard as it should have plenty of horse power to run the storage and a couple of VMs, and I will put the main OS on m.2
storage leaving the disks for Storage Spaces: http://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-x10sdv-tln4f-review-platform/
I am planning on getting a 4 x 4 internal SAS port controller card, one certified to work with Windows Server 2012 R2. I haven't made up my mind which one yet. I also plan to use the motherboard's internal SATA ports for the 4 SSDs and use the controller card for the 3.5" drives.
While I'm hoping the prices of those motherboards come down a little as they are just hitting the channels now, I am turning my attention to a server case. I was originally going down the route of using a regular tower case (such as the Zalman MS800) with 2 x 3in4/3in5 3.5" drive enclosures and a 4in1 2.5" drive enclosure, but pricing that out I started hitting ~$400, and I know there are other cases out there with hard drive enclosures built in for that price.
I thought about my requirements and came up with that I wanted 12 drives (4 at 2.5") initially, but the ability to add 8 more 3.5" drives in the future w/o having to use an external case. That lead me to a case with 16 x 3.5" slots and 4 x 2.5" for my future expansion
Looking around on the forums here I started leaning towards the Norco RPC 4220 as it seemed to fit the bill. However I found threads where the 4220 doesn't fit in some racks and then I found this one where the enclosures limit the performance of SSDs: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ons-and-mods-on-the-new-norco-4220-case.4111/
So my question to the community is what case would you recommend for someone who wanted to populate 8 x 3.5" and 4 x 2.5" drives initially, and add 8 x 3.5" drives in the future (and why), but they didn't want to sacrifice SSD performance? I don't care either way about rack mounts because I would like to stay away from racks if I can help it, and I can lay a rack mount case on a table.
If push comes to shove I will go back to my original plan and get a generic tower case with 2 x Supermicro 5in3 3.5" enclosures and a 4in1 2.5" enclosure, and loop 2 of the 4 internal SAS controller ports external to another case when I need it in the future.
Sorry if I was rambling there, that was a bit of a brain dump. I am mostly focused on the case a the moment which is why I put this in the Chassis and Enclosures forum.
I am working on putting together a Windows Storage Spaces server with an initial target of 8 4TB HDDs (yet to be purchased but leaning towards the HGST NAS) and 4 480GB SSDs (just picked up 4 Samsung 845DC EVOs today thank to a deal listing on these forums).
I am leaning towards the Supermicro X10SDV-LN4F motherboard as it should have plenty of horse power to run the storage and a couple of VMs, and I will put the main OS on m.2
storage leaving the disks for Storage Spaces: http://www.servethehome.com/supermicro-x10sdv-tln4f-review-platform/
I am planning on getting a 4 x 4 internal SAS port controller card, one certified to work with Windows Server 2012 R2. I haven't made up my mind which one yet. I also plan to use the motherboard's internal SATA ports for the 4 SSDs and use the controller card for the 3.5" drives.
While I'm hoping the prices of those motherboards come down a little as they are just hitting the channels now, I am turning my attention to a server case. I was originally going down the route of using a regular tower case (such as the Zalman MS800) with 2 x 3in4/3in5 3.5" drive enclosures and a 4in1 2.5" drive enclosure, but pricing that out I started hitting ~$400, and I know there are other cases out there with hard drive enclosures built in for that price.
I thought about my requirements and came up with that I wanted 12 drives (4 at 2.5") initially, but the ability to add 8 more 3.5" drives in the future w/o having to use an external case. That lead me to a case with 16 x 3.5" slots and 4 x 2.5" for my future expansion
Looking around on the forums here I started leaning towards the Norco RPC 4220 as it seemed to fit the bill. However I found threads where the 4220 doesn't fit in some racks and then I found this one where the enclosures limit the performance of SSDs: https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ons-and-mods-on-the-new-norco-4220-case.4111/
So my question to the community is what case would you recommend for someone who wanted to populate 8 x 3.5" and 4 x 2.5" drives initially, and add 8 x 3.5" drives in the future (and why), but they didn't want to sacrifice SSD performance? I don't care either way about rack mounts because I would like to stay away from racks if I can help it, and I can lay a rack mount case on a table.
If push comes to shove I will go back to my original plan and get a generic tower case with 2 x Supermicro 5in3 3.5" enclosures and a 4in1 2.5" enclosure, and loop 2 of the 4 internal SAS controller ports external to another case when I need it in the future.
Sorry if I was rambling there, that was a bit of a brain dump. I am mostly focused on the case a the moment which is why I put this in the Chassis and Enclosures forum.