36 bay 4U Server Storage Chassis

[Catalyze]

I just bought one of these and I think its a pretty good deal. He has another version that has the board as well. I decided not to go with that because I have some nice spare hardware lying around that is a lot more power efficient. Also he lists it as super micro, but I have my doubts from the looks of it.

Supermicro 36 bay 4U Server Storage Chassis Extended ATX Ethernet Freenas | eBay

Supermicro 36 bay 4U Server x8dt6-a-is018 2x E5603 24Gb Ram Ethernet Freenas | eBay

 

[ari2asem]

i see only 24 tray's. no 36

 

[Catalyze]

i see only 24 tray's. no 36

There are 12 on the back. You only get 2Us for hardware. The other two are for drives.

 

[Wolfstar]

i see only 24 tray's. no 36

Yeah, for some reason they've got a weird grate over the rear bays, but it looks like it just pops out.

Things to note about this - if you get this intending to install your own board, you're going to have to do case surgery; it looks to me like it's a dedicated rear window explicitly for the motherboard Isilon was using.

Note, you CAN purchase replacement 2U rear windows from Supermicro's RMA department and they ARE swappable. They're usually cheap-ish, but occasionally the shipping is really high for some reason.

 

[nthu9280]

It looks like a variation of 847. Does not look like the rails are included with this listing. Hopefully compatible with regular SM rails. The power supplies look different too.

 

[Catalyze]

Yeah, for some reason they've got a weird grate over the rear bays, but it looks like it just pops out.

Things to note about this - if you get this intending to install your own board, you're going to have to do case surgery; it looks to me like it's a dedicated rear window explicitly for the motherboard Isilon was using.

Note, you CAN purchase replacement 2U rear windows from Supermicro's RMA department and they ARE swappable. They're usually cheap-ish, but occasionally the shipping is really high for some reason.

I was planning to just use a dremel or an angle grinder.

 

[Wolfstar]

I was planning to just use a dremel or an angle grinder.

Oh sure, there's no reason not to. Just something I noticed and wanted to point out in case people weren't aware. For that matter, a bit of patience and some tin snips would probably do the job too.

I'm wondering what the open spaces next to the PSUs are though. They're definitely not for a standard PSU - even SM's stick-type square PSUs are bigger than those - but I can't think of anything else it might be.

 

[Lambdariver]

They have some chunky electrolytic capacitors used to flush their RAM when they lose power. The Isilon file system is all software defined so there’s no traditional controller card.

 

[Wolfstar]

Okay, that makes sense. They reminded me of the StackPower cables that you can find on some Cisco switches but I couldn't figure out why you'd do that with a storage server.

 

[BlueFox]

The reason it's listed as "Supermicro" is not the chassis, but the motherboard (which is an OEM Supermicro one). The chassis isn't a modified 847.

 

[Fritz]

The reason it's listed as "Supermicro" is not the chassis, but the motherboard (which is an OEM Supermicro one). The chassis isn't a modified 847.

Yea, doesn't look like any SM chassis I've ever seen.

 

[Catalyze]

Oh sure, there's no reason not to. Just something I noticed and wanted to point out in case people weren't aware. For that matter, a bit of patience and some tin snips would probably do the job too.

I'm wondering what the open spaces next to the PSUs are though. They're definitely not for a standard PSU - even SM's stick-type square PSUs are bigger than those - but I can't think of anything else it might be.

Well it came today and he messed up and sent one with a motherboard and processors. No ram, but I have some I am about to order. I might need a third server case, but that is going to have to wait for another paycheck. Either way I still dont know what those are next to the psu. They have a 6 pin power cable going to each of them and nothing else. Maybe someone can tell us what they are.

 

[Catalyze]

Yeah, for some reason they've got a weird grate over the rear bays, but it looks like it just pops out.

Things to note about this - if you get this intending to install your own board, you're going to have to do case surgery; it looks to me like it's a dedicated rear window explicitly for the motherboard Isilon was using.

Note, you CAN purchase replacement 2U rear windows from Supermicro's RMA department and they ARE swappable. They're usually cheap-ish, but occasionally the shipping is really high for some reason.

I got it today and it says on that grate that it is there to comply with international electromagnetic standards.

 

[BlueFox]

Well it came today and he messed up and sent one with a motherboard and processors. No ram, but I have some I am about to order. I might need a third server case, but that is going to have to wait for another paycheck. Either way I still dont know what those are next to the psu. They have a 6 pin power cable going to each of them and nothing else. Maybe someone can tell us what they are.

The slots are for the BBUs for the cache module. Unlikely to be of much use to anyone here.

 

[NYCone]

What is the backplane like? Expander? Passthrough?

 

[BlueFox]

It uses SAS expanders.

 

[Arvind]

Hi folks - based on the above discussion it should be possible to drop-in a more current-gen board (with the physical I/O plate issue that was also discussed above). Assuming the board has no inbuilt SAS capabilities, I was wondering what kind of a SAS PCI card and associated cabling would be needed to interface with the backplane? Thanks in advance for your replies.

 

[bbqdt]

What’s the noise level on these?

 

[BlueFox]

If noise is a concern, then probably too loud for you.

 

[Catalyze]

What’s the noise level on these?

There is some level of fan curve, but it is loud enough that I can hear it almost everywhere in my 10,000 ft house. That being said its quiet enough that for most of the house its just white noise that is unnoticeable unless it is totally quiet. I sleep in the room right next to it and it does not stop me from sleeping too much. I could try to get some idea of db if you care enough. Its not terrible on the lowest fan settings. I have heard much worse, but its not great.