This is a perfect example of waiting for a killer deal 
Last year I was able to acquire an Intel NVME Kit for one of their 1U chassis. The problem... I didn't have the chassis and wasn't going to spend $1200+ on a barebones chassis!
I held onto that NVME kit! The kit includes a backplane with 4x nVME and 4x SAS3 ports, cabling to connect the NVME AND a PCIE 3.0 x16 4-PORT NVME card!! This kit is SOLID in terms of turning this 1U into an awesome machine.
Last week I spotted a server on ebay (used) that just so happened to MATCH the NVME kit!! Wohooo
I don't really NEED more chassis, ram, and cpu -- yep the systems on ebay each had 1 cpu and 4x 4GB RDIMMs, so I put in a super low-ball offer of $250 for each server. After some back and forth I was able to land both servers to my door for around 800 bucks, I couldn't complain about that!
Once the servers arrived I tested them out and they both booted up and worked fine! Lots of motherboard expansion options!! Both servers have the LSI 2008 IO module already, and both came with a SAS3 cable which could be used with onboard controllers or a LSI 3008 IO module. The motherboard also supports 24X DIMMS and can handle 1.5TB of RAM, and a network module while leaving the PCIE slots available for the nVME card and maybe another network card in the future.
Currently pending some other deals to add-on to these servers:
- 10G Intel X540 networking module (auto declined at anything inthe $1xx range, stupid expensive)
-- Purchased 10G Intel network module (not x540 but ofr <$100 we'll see if ESXI, Proxmox or Linux can detect/use the ports)
- SAS3/LSI3008 IO HBA Module
- LITE4 #2 management module (trying to find where it goes in this mobo so I can check for one already, anyone know?)
Server 1 Build Plan:
- 2x E5-2620 V3 Retail CPUs (combining both that came with each server)
- 8x 16GB DDR4 ECC RDIMM (may throw in the 8x 4GB too since I have them)
- 2x 10Gig Intel Networking
- SAS3 HBA
- Intel NVME HBA / Backplane / Kit
- 4X SAS3 400GB
- 4x NVME
Still playing around with proxmox to decide if I want to use that vs. esxi.
Needed:
Server #2 Build Plan
- Test some none-retail QS CPU to see if any work in this intel mobo
- Look for another screaming deal on a backplane/nvme
If neither of the above are looking good after a couple weeks of searching, and testing I'll likely stash this 1U away as a backup for the other 1U, and build out the SM 216 with NVME/SAS3 more SAS3 ports can't hurt anyway
In related to migrating biz all in one I'm also separating my storage like I'm doing for my home.
Last year I was able to acquire an Intel NVME Kit for one of their 1U chassis. The problem... I didn't have the chassis and wasn't going to spend $1200+ on a barebones chassis!I held onto that NVME kit! The kit includes a backplane with 4x nVME and 4x SAS3 ports, cabling to connect the NVME AND a PCIE 3.0 x16 4-PORT NVME card!! This kit is SOLID in terms of turning this 1U into an awesome machine.
Last week I spotted a server on ebay (used) that just so happened to MATCH the NVME kit!! Wohooo
I don't really NEED more chassis, ram, and cpu -- yep the systems on ebay each had 1 cpu and 4x 4GB RDIMMs, so I put in a super low-ball offer of $250 for each server. After some back and forth I was able to land both servers to my door for around 800 bucks, I couldn't complain about that!
Once the servers arrived I tested them out and they both booted up and worked fine! Lots of motherboard expansion options!! Both servers have the LSI 2008 IO module already, and both came with a SAS3 cable which could be used with onboard controllers or a LSI 3008 IO module. The motherboard also supports 24X DIMMS and can handle 1.5TB of RAM, and a network module while leaving the PCIE slots available for the nVME card and maybe another network card in the future.
Currently pending some other deals to add-on to these servers:
- 10G Intel X540 networking module (auto declined at anything inthe $1xx range, stupid expensive)
-- Purchased 10G Intel network module (not x540 but ofr <$100 we'll see if ESXI, Proxmox or Linux can detect/use the ports)
- SAS3/LSI3008 IO HBA Module
- LITE4 #2 management module (trying to find where it goes in this mobo so I can check for one already, anyone know?)
Server 1 Build Plan:
- 2x E5-2620 V3 Retail CPUs (combining both that came with each server)
- 8x 16GB DDR4 ECC RDIMM (may throw in the 8x 4GB too since I have them)
- 2x 10Gig Intel Networking
- SAS3 HBA
- Intel NVME HBA / Backplane / Kit
- 4X SAS3 400GB
- 4x NVME
Still playing around with proxmox to decide if I want to use that vs. esxi.
Needed:
- 2x RAIL Kits (inner and outer) for both chassis
- 4x 2.5" drive trays, some of them don't stay clicked shut, hopefully I have enough after using the NVME labeled tray, but on my radar.
Server #2 Build Plan
- Test some none-retail QS CPU to see if any work in this intel mobo
- Look for another screaming deal on a backplane/nvme
If neither of the above are looking good after a couple weeks of searching, and testing I'll likely stash this 1U away as a backup for the other 1U, and build out the SM 216 with NVME/SAS3 more SAS3 ports can't hurt anyway
In related to migrating biz all in one I'm also separating my storage like I'm doing for my home.