Can C6100 take SD card to setup FreeNAS

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

uberguru

Member
Jun 7, 2013
319
18
18
I am thinking of setting up a FreeNAS storage and was wondering if the C6100 can take SD card to install FreeNAS onto or what is everyone using for their FreeNAS setup? I am definitely not using usb flash drive because it just looks stupid having something pointed out of the server.
 

uberguru

Member
Jun 7, 2013
319
18
18

NetWise

Active Member
Jun 29, 2012
596
133
43
Edmonton, AB, Canada

dba

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
1,477
184
63
San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
I am thinking of setting up a FreeNAS storage and was wondering if the C6100 can take SD card to install FreeNAS onto or what is everyone using for their FreeNAS setup? I am definitely not using usb flash drive because it just looks stupid having something pointed out of the server.
If you are using a SAS mezzanine card, or if you have a 12-bay c6100, then you have unused SATA ports on the motherboard. It is then possible to wire the internal motherboard USB header to provide power to a 2.5" SATA SSD drive. The drive can be mounted either in the PCI slot area or in the mezzanine card area.
 

dba

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
1,477
184
63
San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
I am thinking of setting up a FreeNAS storage and was wondering if the C6100 can take SD card to install FreeNAS onto or what is everyone using for their FreeNAS setup? I am definitely not using usb flash drive because it just looks stupid having something pointed out of the server.
I made a mount for an SSD drive that attaches to the chassis in the space where a mezzanine card would go. I then created a custom cable that routed power from the internal USB header to a SATA power cable. It worked perfectly and looked quite nice, but was WAY too much effort. In the end, I just went with 8GB and larger USB keys as my boot devices. For lab use I have 12 of them on a ring that I can use to boot just about any OS.
 
Last edited:

tiporaro

New Member
Jul 7, 2013
6
0
1
Np. Came across them a while ago for mITX projects but have never used them yet. They do seem to have quite a few 'hard to find' adapters though.

RB
Am I reading it wrong, or isn't the mSATA pcie adapter there full height? I remember looking for these a while back and being disappointed, but if they come in a low profile that'll fit the 6100s that'd be awesome.
 

dba

Moderator
Feb 20, 2012
1,477
184
63
San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA
I have a MP3S. Look at the pictures and remember a msata drive is only 30 mm wide. I have mine in a full height slot, but it came with both LP and full height brackets.

In the US you can order from Amazon; international buy from Mfactors. MP3S (mSATA to SATA adapter for PCIe Slot) - M-FACTORS Storage. The pictures are with the LP bracket
ColdCanuck, that's a great find - a PCIe card that provides power to an mSATA drive and converts its output to standard SATA! That's a great way to add another drive to a Dell c6100.
 
Last edited:

ColdCanuck

Member
Jul 23, 2013
38
3
8
Halifax NS
Better yet it uses the on board sata ports. No driver madness with funky bridge chips for WHATEVER OS you are using. Of course the downside is if your MB only has SATA 3Gb, then that's how fast you go. Not a huge issue for me, 200+ MB/s is plenty fast for my OS drive. I'm using mine in a C1100.

A point to note: the card comes with Kapton tape over the gold edge connectors; it's easy to miss because it's gold colored. ( I know I did ). It works much better if you remove it first!