Anything better than SM CSE-LA25TQC-R609LP for 2U/8-bay SATA/SAS?

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kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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Ha! The reason I couldn't figure out how to assemble the optical drive mounting kit is because the drive I've got is 'ultra slim' (9.5mm) instead of 'slim' (12.7mm). That's easy to fix :)
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
So, progress report:

* Optical drive situation was resolved by getting a 12.7mm drive that can also read BD discs, which will be useful.

* new PDB arrived from Supermicro, but... the 24-pin ATX cable is just barely long enough to plug into the motherboard, and with everything installed in the chassis the system won't power up. If I set the PDB and power supplies on top of the chassis and plug in all the cables, as unsafe as that situation is, the system will power up and work as it should (but not with the used PDB, so that will be returned). I'm going to get a 24-pin ATX extension cable to relieve the stress on the connectors/wires. Note that this is *not* an 'S8824' or 'L8824', just a regular '8824' PDB.

* the I2C connection from the PDB to the motherboard is working fine; the BMC reports the details of the power supply units and the power consumption.

* the room is still very cold, so the power supply fans are running at 3500-4000RPM, and they are nearly silent at that speed.

* the BMC reports that peak power consumption so far is 98W, and average is around 70W, and that's with five 4TB spinners in the chassis. Even when the CPU is busy that number likely won't go over 120W.

Can't call this one 'done' until I've sorted out the PDB/power-on situation, but it's getting close to done.
 
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kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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A bunch more progress:

* The backplane arrived in its default I2C configuration, instead of SGPIO. Changing all the jumpers to SGPIO mode has cured the weird blinking of the red 'failure' LEDs; they are now dark as they should be.

* The ATX 24-pin extension cable solved the power-up problem.

One item still not done though:

* No matter how I connect the sideband cables to the backplane, the operating system (using 'lsscsi -g') doesn't list the SES-2 processor as a device. All the drives work fine, but there is no data from the 'enclosure'.
 

kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
I'm calling that 'done', as I see a number of posts that indicate if you are using a non-RAID HBA then the SES-2 stuff won't show up in the operating system, and the rest of the system is working fine.

Build is complete, summary of components (all costs as delivered):


Supermicro CSE-825TQ-563LP (chassis, backplane, 563W power supply)$182.73
Supermicro MCP-290-00053-0N (rail kit)$86.10
Supermicro CBL-0288L (miniSAS to SATA staggered cable w/sideband, 2 units)$20.37
Supermicro PWS-501P-1R (500W power supply, 2 units)$71.85
Supermicro MCP-220-00075-0B (additional drive caddies, 3 units)$22.79
Supermicro AOC-S2308L-L8e (HBA)$68.25
HL CA40N (CD/DVD/BD slot-loading drive, new)$65.01
Supermicro PDB-PT825-8824 (power distribution, new)$132.81
StarTech ATX24POWEXT (extension cable, new)$5.54
Total$655.45

The result is the equivalent of an SC825TQ-R500LP plus a spare power supply, optical drive, extra caddies (for backup drives) and HBA. The original chassis I was considering was just under $600, but without rails, optical drive, extra caddies, or HBA.

(Of course as I was doing the final install I noticed the red light on the UPS stating that it wants a new battery...)IMG20220208182320.jpgIMG20220208181028.jpg
 

kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
It's not very loud right now, but as I noted above the room (basement) is quite cold, so the case fans are running at 2500-2600 RPM. When the case fans are at full speed (during powerup or a reboot), the noise is noticeable in the room above the basement, and I would not want to have it that way for more than a minute or two.

I'll revisit the fan situation in the summertime when the basement is warmer, it's possible the BMC will push the fan speeds up then and the noise will be objectionable.
 
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lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
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@kpfleming : From the other thread about drive carrier LED issue... So I noticed you also use a PDB-PT825-8824 and reported that you can see power consumption, etc from the IPMI... I also use the same PDB although I use a H8DCL motherboard.

I connected the I2C cable from the PDB (which has only 3 wires) to the motherboard's JPI2C1 connector (Power I2C Header) which has 5 pins.... I dont see anything about power consumption in IPMI and IPMIview reports nothing regarding PSU or power consumption....

Supermicro recommends, among a few others, chassis SC835TQ which uses the same PDB..... Do you, or someone else, know why am I not seeing anything?
 

kpfleming

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Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
Based on a quick read of the manual for the H8DCL, the Power I2C header can probably support the connection from the PDB, but you'd need to separate the pins to get them arranged in the proper location on that 5-pin header.
 

lpallard

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Aug 17, 2013
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@kpfleming : the motherboard connector has a clear pin-out on the user manual, but where did you see the cable pin assignment from the PDB?
 

kpfleming

Active Member
Dec 28, 2021
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Pelham NY USA
I didn't :) The manual for my motherboard doesn't show the I2C connector at all, even though it is present. You'd need to review the manuals for some other Supermicro motherboards to see if you can find one with the I2C connector pinout.