24 x 2.5" Chassis + Controller Recommendations

[NashBrydges]

I've recently come into some hardware that I'd like to make use of for a VM host.

Motherboard: Intel S2600CP2J
CPU: 2 x E5-2670
RAM: 128GB PC3-12800R
SSDs: 24 x Intel DC S3700 400GB
NICs: 2 x Intel X520-DA2

What I'm looking for are recommendations for 2U chassis with 24 x 2.5" hot-swap bays. Do I go with built-in sas expander or look to spend huge money on a controller instead? Which controller and chassis would you go with? It would be great if I can also add a decent GPU.

The rig will be mainly used for video rendering (nothing killer), plus your standard lab complement of VMs (likely 15-30 VMs total).

 

[MiniKnight]

If I were you I'd get this:

SuperMicro 2U X9DRW-iF 2x Eight-Core Xeon E5-2650L 26x Hard Drive Bay ASR-72405,

Sell the CPUs and maybe the Intel board (or sell the Supermicro one but the SM one's prob better if it's in OK condition). That Adaptec controller is a good 6.0gbps 24 port SAS RAID controller so the chassis will be non-expander which is really good. The cables will also be 12.0gb SAS3 cables already which will save you $100+.

I'd best offer them $750 + 50 shipping. You'd have to sell gear to make it affordable but that's a steal of a 24 bay deal.

 

[pc-tecky]

MiniKnight's solution posted above is pretty solid. I'm posting this as an option (for roughly $300-$400 + any S&H). If you have all the hardware (including 2x 2U heat sinks) and just need a cheap chassis, then maybe gut this $175 Supermicro system and install your hardware. But you might need to relocate the corner standoff (by PSU and I/O shield) with a dremel, and either tap the new location or use a rubber bumper/plastic standoff. As others have said to me (here on the forums), don't spend over (~$5/port ~= $40) $50 for an 8-port LSI 2008 HBA controller ($45 with shipping for 8-port Dell H200 from ebay seller CloudNinjas is spot on) and $150 or less for 24-/28-port SAS3/6 expanders (I see under $90 typical at the moment - Chenbro, Intel, and HP are the major three). Or look over the FS hardware for sale and/or post a WTB list of hardware over in the FS/WTB section of the forums. Correct me if I'm wrong, but SAS3 should be fine for most spinners (HDD), but SSDs are another story. Please do some more research on your selected SAS expander as some support SATA at lower rates (say 1.5Gbps SATA with 3.0Gbps SAS, or 3.0Gbps SATA with 6.0Gbps SAS), while others can only be updated using specific hardware and controllers (particularly HP). And yet a few select controllers need pins to be taped/blocked in oder to work with your hardware. Post if you have questions or problems. Monoprice is a fairly good source for SAS cables if they are not included. Sell the hardware you don't need that's in the chassis for some extra money.

($175 chassis + $135 for 3x controllers = $310 + any S&H)
($175 chassis + $45 for 1x controller + $145 SAS3 expander = $365 + any S&

Edit: The system above, an AMD based H8DME-2 server motherboard, has photos showing 4-port controller with BBU and a SAS cable going to the front to a SAS expander. Capacity could be a limiting factor as well - more research. So you might not even need the controller or the expander as I originally thought.

So that might even be just $175 + any S&H and the ability to sell the unwanted hardware.

 

[NashBrydges]

Thanks for the recommendations so far. It gives me a good place to start looking. I unfortunately have to find sellers willing to ship to Canada which means a ton more money if they're coming from the US, but I'll keep looking. These chassis are perfect fit and a 24 port card that won't require a SAS expander is also ideal.

 

[msvirtualguy]

Where are you located? I have a spare Supermicro 216A-R900LPB just sitting here collecting dust. I'm in Upstate, NY if you can do pickup.

Super Micro Computer, Inc. - Products | Chassis | 2U | SC216A-R900LPB

 

[NashBrydges]

Hey guys, thanks for the info. I was able to source 2 x Dell Poweredge R620s each with dual 8C/16T CPUs + 96GB RAM + H710P for $1,200 CDN. I jumped at that deal since each had 8 SFF bays and I'll be able to set them up as a redundant set using Starwind vSAN. This changes my intended use to make these my primary lab VM hosts and retire my 11th gen Dells.