I am in the process of converting my server from a tower to a Supermicro 846 chassis. This particular model comes with the PDB-PT216-2824 power distributor. The connections available on it are as follows: 1x 24-pin ATX, 2x 8-pin +12v, 6x legacy 4-pin (molex), and 1x I2C (no idea what this is for). My chassis has the optional hot-swap 2x 2.5" SSD drive enclosure in the rear. I also added the bracket on the inside to add 2x 2.5" SSD behind the hot-swap bays. So at this moment, the 24-pin and one of the 8-pin connectors are going to the MOBO, 4 of the molex go to the front backplane for the 24x HDD, 1 of the molex is going to the rear backplane for the hot-swap SSD's, and I have the last molex being used on a molex to 2x Sata splitter feeding power to the 2x SSD's in the bracket. This only leaves me with 1x 8-pin and 1x I2C connectors left. I don't know what the I2C connector is for, but the wires are definitely too skinny to power anything substantial. Which left me with the 8-pin. As far as I can see, there are no 8-pin to 2x Sata connectors made, so I am assuming this is not possible.
Exhausting all those possibilities, that leaves me with 2 options. Either I can tap into the molex somewhere else or I am not able to do it with the power connectors I have available. I am fairly confident that if 4 molex can power 24x 3.5" spinners, I should be able to use the remaining 2 to power a total of 6 2.5" SSD's. I just can't figure out the best and safest way to do this. 2 of the SSD's will run off a single molex due to the backplane for the hot-swap. So I am thinking my best bet is to set up as follows:
Molex 1 to 2x molex splitter (A & B)
Molex A to backplane for 2x SSD's
Molex B to Single Sata direct to SSD
Molex 2 to 2x molex splitter (C & D)
Molex C to Single Sata direct to SSD
Molex D to 2x Sata splitter then to 2x SSD's
I will attach a quick paintbrush mock to illustrate this better.
This way, there is only 3 drives on any single molex from the PDU.
The other, much simpler option is to just run molex1 to the backplane, then use molex 2 with a 2x molex splitter. Then go from those splitters with a molex to 2x sata splitter in each. This would put 4 drives on one molex, with only 2 on the other.
Am I over thinking this? Is adding all these connectors safe? Is there a better way to do this?
Thanks!
Exhausting all those possibilities, that leaves me with 2 options. Either I can tap into the molex somewhere else or I am not able to do it with the power connectors I have available. I am fairly confident that if 4 molex can power 24x 3.5" spinners, I should be able to use the remaining 2 to power a total of 6 2.5" SSD's. I just can't figure out the best and safest way to do this. 2 of the SSD's will run off a single molex due to the backplane for the hot-swap. So I am thinking my best bet is to set up as follows:
Molex 1 to 2x molex splitter (A & B)
Molex A to backplane for 2x SSD's
Molex B to Single Sata direct to SSD
Molex 2 to 2x molex splitter (C & D)
Molex C to Single Sata direct to SSD
Molex D to 2x Sata splitter then to 2x SSD's
I will attach a quick paintbrush mock to illustrate this better.
This way, there is only 3 drives on any single molex from the PDU.
The other, much simpler option is to just run molex1 to the backplane, then use molex 2 with a 2x molex splitter. Then go from those splitters with a molex to 2x sata splitter in each. This would put 4 drives on one molex, with only 2 on the other.
Am I over thinking this? Is adding all these connectors safe? Is there a better way to do this?
Thanks!
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