Dell Compellent SC200 enclosure?

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HWGeek

Member
Sep 30, 2015
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Anyone knows anything about the Sc200? Is it a regular SAS2 backplane DAS or can it only be used with a Dell Compellent controller somehow? How are the noise levels and power usage?

The pricing and looks of these is quite attractive.
 

I_D

Member
Aug 3, 2017
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Necrobump! ;)
I too want to know about these

If anyone has one of these, please let us know:
- how much power it draws
- how much noise it produces
- how the sas2 backplane works
- whether or not this can be used with freenas
- which hba you use
- what your experiences / opinions on it are
 

I_D

Member
Aug 3, 2017
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would love to hear from someone who has a dell sc200:
- do you require interposers to run your sata drives without alarms?
- can you replace the fans? does it really produce 60db or is that just when only 1 controller and/or psu are inserted?
(please insert both controllers and psu's and measure db if you can)
 

Subserver0

New Member
Jun 13, 2018
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Hello,

This will be my first post so go easy on me ;P. Im new to the whole homelab / enterprise hardware world but i came up on this page and have spent sometime looking into the SC200 so i figured id chime in with the little i have learned.

My sc200 is connected to a R710 2.0 using a LSI 9201-16e & cabled per dell specs, everything seems to be functioning as it should leds, fans, etc... the only thing is its quite loud. I have read that the fans can be adjusted i just haven't had the time to tinker with the utilities to see if i can take control of the SC200. I have searched a ton of websites with little to no info in regards to if i can even accomplish this without purchasing a SC8000.

It sounds like a blow dryer with both PSU's & controllers. I did try running with only one PSU switched ON it didn't seem to change anything other than the unit flashing amber/blue status light.

I haven't had any alarms or warnings, I am running all SATA 6/III drives.

Not 100% but i'm pretty sure I read somewhere the fans can be replaced but aftermarket fans would require modification.

-M
 
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CrayXMP

New Member
Jan 9, 2019
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I have SC220 (24x 2.5" chassis, practically identical to SC200) connected to a PowerEdge server via PERC H800 HBA card.. and I have inside SC220 ordinary laptop SATA drives - not even with DELL firmware on them.. and it works, PERC card sees the drives, is able to create RAID arrays etc.. interesting thing will be if DELL Enterprise Compellent Mananger will be willing to work with these drives or report them as unkown / unsupported.. but as long as you rely only on the PERC H800 controller features it works just fine and you will see the drives / RAID arrays as normal drives under your OS.
 

hmofet

New Member
Feb 4, 2019
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I got one of these real cheap, and I think they are excellent value.

-noisy as a jet engine taking off, if you don't have somewhere out of the way to put it, I would recommend looking at a different disk shelf. Mine's in my garage with the rest of my rack equipment, so it works fine for me. This is with and without both controllers and both PSUs installed.
-I'm using it with a Dell H200e. External H200s work like HBAs in IT mode without needing to be flashed (internal H200s need to be flashed), so this setup is fantastic for FreeNAS. SMART and drive temperature data is passed to FreeNAS without issue
-The H200e is installed in an IBM x3550 m2, this combo works well
-the amber warning light on the front blinks constantly, but the individual disk activity lights are fine (i.e. blink green, not amber)
-No alarms when using non Dell SAS drives

I'm currently using a mix of HP and Dell (Seagate) 2TB SAS drives, but I have a bunch of 6TB WD SATA drives on order, once they get in I will report on alarms (don't plan on using it with interposers).


tl;dr: noisy, but works really well if you are on a budget and can deal with the noise

First post, I hope it was a helpful one. :)
 
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jeffsays

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Feb 5, 2019
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Also just registered to add my 2 cents

I have 2 of these connected to an ubuntu box via an LSI 9201-16e HBA and have had zero issuse with them. Mix of drive sizes, from 1TB up to 8TB drives shucked from WD easystores.

I replaced the fans in the power supplies with noctuas and haven't had any issues - they're all running at about the same temps that they were inside my main tower before they moved out (between 85-100* F) and are extremely quiet.
I was able to buy 4-pin PWM to Dell 5-pin adapters (specifically these ones, there are others), disconnect the 5-pin end and swap on the ones from the original Dell fans (I did this rather than swap the ends directly onto the Noctuas as I wanted some flexibility to swap out for other normal PWM fans if they weren't performing as required). The stock fans are, as stated, incredibly noisy and living in a studio apartment pushed me to making these things comfortable to be around.

I'm about to add a 2nd controller to each sc200 and some interposer boards on the sata drives (there's a sas drive running in there as well) so I can hopefully access all of the drives from another box (also to be connected via an LSI 9201-16e HBA), will report back results.
 

hmofet

New Member
Feb 4, 2019
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I'm currently using a mix of HP and Dell (Seagate) 2TB SAS drives, but I have a bunch of 6TB WD SATA drives on order, once they get in I will report on alarms (don't plan on using it with interposers).
I can confirm that 4TB+ drives work. I know that some people were inquiring about that on Reddit. I have 12x 6TB WD drives (6 Enterprise RE and 6 NAS Red) , all of them SATA. No alarm noise or anything. Didn't have to use any interposers. Works 100% just as well as with SAS drives.

Will definitely try replacing the fans. That's my #1 issue with this box, and if I could get it quiet, I would totally be in love.
 

gregsachs

Active Member
Aug 14, 2018
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Be careful trying to dual host the box. I think you need a sas module on the sc200 that supports dual domain or a SAS switch/fabric unit.
 

neb50

Member
Aug 28, 2018
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Also just registered to add my 2 cents

I replaced the fans in the power supplies with noctuas and haven't had any issues - they're all running at about the same temps that they were inside my main tower before they moved out (between 85-100* F) and are extremely quiet.
I was able to buy 4-pin PWM to Dell 5-pin adapters (specifically these ones, there are others), disconnect the 5-pin end and swap on the ones from the original Dell fans (I did this rather than swap the ends directly onto the Noctuas as I wanted some flexibility to swap out for other normal PWM fans if they weren't performing as required). The stock fans are, as stated, incredibly noisy and living in a studio apartment pushed me to making these things comfortable to be around.

I'm about to add a 2nd controller to each sc200 and some interposer boards on the sata drives (there's a sas drive running in there as well) so I can hopefully access all of the drives from another box (also to be connected via an LSI 9201-16e HBA), will report back results.
Which noctua fans did you use and does the chassis show an error? Also, what did you use to space out the fans to connect them to the support brackets in the housing?
 

scoots51

New Member
Jul 4, 2019
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Also just registered to add my 2 cents

I have 2 of these connected to an ubuntu box via an LSI 9201-16e HBA and have had zero issuse with them. Mix of drive sizes, from 1TB up to 8TB drives shucked from WD easystores.

I replaced the fans in the power supplies with noctuas and haven't had any issues - they're all running at about the same temps that they were inside my main tower before they moved out (between 85-100* F) and are extremely quiet.
I was able to buy 4-pin PWM to Dell 5-pin adapters (specifically these ones, there are others), disconnect the 5-pin end and swap on the ones from the original Dell fans (I did this rather than swap the ends directly onto the Noctuas as I wanted some flexibility to swap out for other normal PWM fans if they weren't performing as required). The stock fans are, as stated, incredibly noisy and living in a studio apartment pushed me to making these things comfortable to be around.

I'm about to add a 2nd controller to each sc200 and some interposer boards on the sata drives (there's a sas drive running in there as well) so I can hopefully access all of the drives from another box (also to be connected via an LSI 9201-16e HBA), will report back results.
Which interposer boards did you use and where can I find them? My Dell H800 sees the 4TB sata drives but I do not get lights on the drives. I'm going to try pulling one of the controllers to see if I then get drive connection and activity lights.

Update: Pulling one of the controllers had no effect. I also discovered, that the SC200 reports the drives in a strange orders - slot 1 came up as 13, slot 0 reports as 14, slot 3 reports as 21, slot 4 as 22.... and least then report in up from there. Anyone else seen this?
 
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hmofet

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Feb 4, 2019
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Which noctua fans did you use and does the chassis show an error? Also, what did you use to space out the fans to connect them to the support brackets in the housing?
I'd be really interested in this too. Really want to do that fan mod.
 

jeffsays

New Member
Feb 5, 2019
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wow just seeing these questions - sorry i missed them!

just NF-A8 PWM fans. for sandwiching the pair together, i just removed the rubber stoppers from the inside faces where the two meet and used twist ties in two corners and some plastic fan rivet thingies in the others to keep them flat & married together

as far as mounting them, i pulled out the little blue rubber mounting things from the original fans and put them in the noctuas and slid them in to place. as far as i'm concerned, the fans aren't going to move at all.

my photos won't upload, so here they are on imgur:
https://imgur.com/jcimJoj.png
https://imgur.com/txfHQWZ.png
https://imgur.com/0JGzwKq.png
https://imgur.com/xiOmL6Q.png

no errors showing.

also not currently using interposers - they were a hair too big for the drive caddies and i haven't dremeled them down to fit yet.
 

hmofet

New Member
Feb 4, 2019
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Thanks for that, that was immensely helpful. Especially this photo, which shows how to wire it up:
Imgur

I jumped straight to the fan mod without looking at your photos too carefully, so I wired it incorrectly and the fans wouldn't turn on. Had to do it all over, this time the right time. :rolleyes:

I ordered the NF-A8 initially, not realizing there's a PWM version. I also ordered two of those Pocaton 4pin to 5pin adapters, and already spliced one when I realized I didn't need it because NF-A8 PWMs come with 5pin extension cables that you can splice the Dell fan plug on to. I didn't put the cables from the extension cable directly into the correct pins on the Dell stock fan plug: I cut the stock fan cable a couple centimetres from the plug and then did a pigtail splice. I'll return the NF-A8 (non PWM) and one of the Pocaton adapters back to Amazon.

I used the rubber grommets that the stock fans came with (the Noctuas come with them too) to keep the posterior fan connected to the chassis, and then used electrical tape to secure the anterior fan to the first one. I would have used the plastic rivets the stock fans came with like jeffsays to bind the fans together, but I broke one of them when taking the stock fans out. Tip: just press hard with something like a pen right on the middle of the rivet so it pushes backwards ( towards the opposite side of where the "barbs" splays out). I didn't realize this at first, so I broke the first rivet by trying to cut off one of the splayed barbs. The Noctuas have nice rubber guards on the corners, so should be fairly protected against vibration. I don't suspect the two fans will come apart.

I don't know what I did wrong but the warning light on the PSU I did the mod on came on and it blows full blast. But since it's a Noctua, it's still less noisy than the next noisiest thing on my rack. I'll just leave the other PSU ejected because it also goes full blast. But I didn't mod that one, so it's super noisy (as we all know). I'm not too worried because I'm using ZFS, so in the case of a failure on my single PSU, my data should be fairly resilient. Might try to sell the spare so I can fund some additional upgrades to my rack. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯


Huuuge improvement over the stock fans. Thanks for the photos, it really helped a lot, and now this disk shelf is much more usable.
 
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neb50

Member
Aug 28, 2018
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I just got the A8 PWM redux fans and replaced all 4 fans in a SC220.

The disk shelf starts up in an fault state, but goes away after boot for a while. It will then go back into a fault state, but I may just ignore it since the fans are so much quieter.

I ran some sas commands on the disk shelf and the fault appears to be from the fans and is probably from them spinning too slow. They are listed as running between 1875-2250 rpm, so they should be connected correctly. The temps that are reported from the disk shelf are between 28-40C so that should be good too.

I haven't used this much since it was so loud before, but will probably start using it now for some SSD's and see if it has any issues with the lower airflow from the new fans.
 

Mishka

Active Member
Apr 30, 2017
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London, UK
Just wondering but can any interposers be used with it or does it need to be specific dell ones? if its the dell one can I have a PN?
 

neb50

Member
Aug 28, 2018
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Just wondering but can any interposers be used with it or does it need to be specific dell ones? if its the dell one can I have a PN?
I just cut off the connector from the SC220 fan and used it on the new fan.

If you are referring to drive interposers, I am not using any with the SATA SSD's that I am using.
 

KalusOne

New Member
Nov 4, 2019
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I just got the A8 PWM redux fans and replaced all 4 fans in a SC220.

The disk shelf starts up in an fault state, but goes away after boot for a while. It will then go back into a fault state, but I may just ignore it since the fans are so much quieter.

I ran some sas commands on the disk shelf and the fault appears to be from the fans and is probably from them spinning too slow. They are listed as running between 1875-2250 rpm, so they should be connected correctly. The temps that are reported from the disk shelf are between 28-40C so that should be good too.

I haven't used this much since it was so loud before, but will probably start using it now for some SSD's and see if it has any issues with the lower airflow from the new fans.
Mine does the exact same thing after the fan replacement.

I'm not familiar with the sas commands you mentioned, but my shelf is running hot.... really hot. The drives in the center of the shelf get so hot you can't touch them. I've turned everything off until I work out what the problem is.
 

jeffsays

New Member
Feb 5, 2019
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Mine does the exact same thing after the fan replacement.

I'm not familiar with the sas commands you mentioned, but my shelf is running hot.... really hot. The drives in the center of the shelf get so hot you can't touch them. I've turned everything off until I work out what the problem is.
what drives & how many drives do you have in there?
can you get the drive temps from smart data or anything?