4x M.2 SSDs in a 3.5" Drive bay

[Patrick]

I was looking at the mSATA to SFF-8087 thread and came upon this: Mini SAS SFF 8087 to M 2 x 4 with 3 5 inch Frame | eBay

Likely only SATA speeds but it is certainly an interesting way to use a 3.5" drive bay. If only you could re-configure the Dell C6100 48 SSDs in a chassis!

edit: here is a pic

 

[Chuntzu]

That would be a whole lot of ssds!

 

[Hank C]

wonder if there is one that make for Samsung XP941 ssd...

 

[JSchuricht]

This may just be the perfect solution for using the last 4 channels in the Supermicro 5018A-AR12L. Tentatively thinking 2 Intel 530's for boot, 2 530's for cache and 12 6 or 8 TB spinners for bulk if they hurry up with the 8TB drive releases. Thanks for sharing.

 

[PigLover]

Anybody seen something like this that sits in a PCIe slot? 4x mSata (or M.2) on the card, power only from PCIe bus, and an 8087 connector on the end of the card? Would only need PCIe x1 to take power.

Just looking for cleaner ways to mount SSDs for Raid Log/Cache drives. Lets you use smaller parts but still connect to a higher performance HBA.

Something like this but without the crappy Marvel sata controller - just exposing the drives on an SFF connector.

 

[Patrick]

Anybody seen something like this that sits in a PCIe slot? 4x mSata (or M.2) on the card, power only from PCIe bus, and an 8087 connector on the end of the card? Would only need PCIe x1 to take power.

Just looking for cleaner ways to mount SSDs for Raid Log/Cache drives. Lets you use smaller parts but still connect to a higher performance HBA.

Something like this but without the crappy Marvel sata controller - just exposing the drives on an SFF connector.

You know, I wish I knew what was involved in designing PCB for this type of idea.

 

[PigLover]

Seems perfect for those SuperMicro chassis many of us will be receiving soon. Hoping that the dual 2.5" frames really are installed (2x Raid1 boot disks). Then 4x mSATA for Zil (if you love ZFS) or Cache/Log (if you use SS) connected to the second SFF port on the HBA.

Would be very clean. Much better than the ghetto SSD packs I use in my current FS.

Late thought: you might even be able to arrange a small rechargeable battery or SuperCap on the board to give the mSATA drives just enough time to maintain reliable writes on power loss. This part is probably a stretch and makes the board much more complex - goes from completely passive to a bit of design work.

 

[Patrick]

I just got my Supermicro SC847A. I put a X9DRH-7TF in there (which is a perfect fit including cables/ connector sizes) and then had the realization: there is no space for a boot drive and no power connectors. Oh well!

That is the box I hope to use for future SSD/ HD testing though.

 

[Hank C]

what do you mean by no power connectors?

 

[yu130960]

PigLover: You mean mean this with a PC bracket and power coming from the PCIe slot?

Mini SAS SFF 8087 to mSATA SSD X4 Adapter on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

Edit: Sorry notice it is the same item without 3.5" bracket. Really cool though

 

[Patrick]

what do you mean by no power connectors?

There are no 4-pin or SATA style power connectors in the box.

I just started a build thread here.

 

[ColdCanuck]

There are no 4-pin or SATA style power connectors in the box.

.

Patrick something like this would help..

MP3S (mSATA to SATA Adapter for PCIe Slot)

Understand it would be nice if it were 4 up and 8087 type connector...maybe you could suggest it to them

 

[Patrick]

@ColdCanuck I was thinking about a similar solution, but I am a bit worried regarding the number of PCIe lanes I will need. 36 drives / 4 drives per SFF-8087 = 9 / 2 per controller - 1 onboard means I need a total of 3.5 (so 4) extra controllers in the chassis at a minimum. 1-2 spots for SFP+/ QSFP+ networking and that means I only get 1-2 extra slots for PCIe SSDs. Tough decisions!

 

[Entz]

There are no 4-pin or SATA style power connectors in the box.

I just started a build thread here.

The power connectors for the backplanes are molex, so you should be able to put a splitter on one of those and use it for your boot drives. Where to put them is another issue

 

[PigLover]

The power connectors for the backplanes are molex, so you should be able to put a splitter on one of those and use it for your boot drives.

Its probably even simpler than that. I tried to look for specs but can't find them easily. As I recall from the last one I worked with, the Supermicro 1400 watt power distributor has 6 4-pin Molex connectors. The backplanes should only require 3 (two font, one rear). That means there are probably 3 molex connecters hidden in the bundle of wires stuffed in front of the power distributor. Even if not, however, @Entz is correct that a splitter would be quite simple.

Where to put them is another issue

That one is simple (though access would be a PITA): put them in the lower part of the chassis, under the MB tray, between the front backplane and the rear one.

 

[Patrick]

Yea the case is very compact. I have to say, I looked at it while installing the motherboard and balked at having to take the entire chassis apart.

 

[DolphinsDan]

@PigLover M 2 NGFF PCIe 4 Lane SSD to PCIe 3 0 x4 Adapter for Samsung XP941 Lite on It M6E | eBay

Or the mSATA:
PCI E x4 Slot Controller Card Up to 4 SATA III Devices 4 Port mSATA SSD Slots | eBay

I think the second one is what you are looking for almost exactly.

 

[dba]

@PigLover M 2 NGFF PCIe 4 Lane SSD to PCIe 3 0 x4 Adapter for Samsung XP941 Lite on It M6E | eBay

Or the mSATA:
PCI E x4 Slot Controller Card Up to 4 SATA III Devices 4 Port mSATA SSD Slots | eBay

I think the second one is what you are looking for almost exactly.

That NGFF converter card is very interesting. How about eight of those with eight XP941s for about 8GB/s read speed and 4TB of space for $4K.

 

[ChrisRam]

It will not work with XP941 since XP941 is PCIe only. This is only for SATA based M.2 products.