CSE-743TQ-903B-SQ and SAS3 backplane CSE-SAS-743TQ (SAS3 or SAS2?)

[anomaly]

Hi

If you dont mind getting the shipping arranged, you might want to look here.

Supermicro server SuperChassis CSE-743 4C E5-2609v2 Server case joblot x 7 | eBay


I have too many of these already.



Have Fun.




RedX1

I would have bitten that offer if it wasn't for the shipping+customs fees. Politicians as usual screw up the game for everyone else (then again politicians come out of the society that elects them, so that says something about the rest of us).

I have migrated the HW into the new 743AC-1200B-SQ sitting on the table! Superb quality, then again you pay it dearly.

• The fans are quiet, they are hot swappable and can take regular 80mm fans inside the empty cases, but the clips to hold the connector for the 'swap in/out' functionality are NOT provided with the chassis, you have to build the whole fan assembly (found some cheapo units from China, heh).
• The PSU is modular, you can remove the cables you are not using.
• The 2nd gen drive caddys DO NOT support 15mm SAS SSDs! They are tool-less for slim SAS/SATA 7.5mm SSDs... but not for the HGST stuff we love here. Bummer.

I have new questions, if you don't mind me asking:

1. For the caddys (Supermicro (Gen 2) 3.5" to 2.5" Converter Drive Tray (MCP-220-00080-0B)), what can I use to mount SAS3 SSDs that are 15mm in height?
2. Is there a way to mount two slim SATA SSDs INSIDE the chassis? for OS boot drive.
3. Would you recommend the M28SACB-OEM 2x5.25 backplane+drive bay? (nevermind, you mentioned it does NOT fit, I am checking also with the distributor just in case)

 

[Helmut101]

@i386 is correct. "TQ" in the Supermicro models means direct-connect pass-through ports, no SAS Expander chip. They all accept SAS or SATA connectors from all drive types.

So it would come down to the HBA card and rather it supports SAS or just SATA. AFAIK, pretty much all LSI cards, like the LSI 9300i, all support SAS.

For the record, Supermicro's naming convention:

Chassis | Product Naming Conventions | Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Chassis Product Naming Conventions

www.supermicro.com

^- look at the 3rd set

Also note the backplane i386 listed above: BPN-SAS3-743A-N4

"SAS3" is, well, a SAS3 connections. Usually accepts one or two SFF connectors.
"743a" is the chassis it bolts right into.
There are various N4, EL1, EL2, etc designations. For that one, 4x U.2 connectors.

Sorry for another highjacking of this post. I just got the same Chassis as a JBOD. LSI 9201-16e connected via 2x 8088 (external) and 4x 8087->4SATA Cables to the Backplanes 8 Ports (SAS743TQ) + 8 SSDs directly connected in the bays (MCP-220-00044-0N).

My question is cable length. I can see all drives, those on the Backplane and the individual SSDs, but I am wondering whether my Cable lenth limit imposes a penalty on speed. My external 8088 Cable (Supermicro), is 1m, the internal 8087->4SATA Cables are 40 cm. So I have 1,40m - which is 40 cm beyond the SATA length limit. Is the SATA signal "channeled" through SAS, from the backplane? Or does the HBA use SATA to communicate with the drives?
I have found some posts (1, 2), but they do not fully answer this particular question.

 

[i386]

Is the SATA signal "channeled" through SAS, from the backplane? Or does the HBA use SATA to communicate with the drives?

743 backplanes are all passive, the signals are not modified.
My guess is that you will run into problems...

 

[Helmut101]

I have already the shorter 50cm SFF-8088 cables here, so this should get me exactly to the 100cm limit.

I will test with fio before and afterwards and report back. Next time I will be at the server is in 2 weeks though.

I don't have any issues so far - did a full scrub of the 6x8TB Raidz2 and it finished after 3 days with 30mb/s.
I don't have a big need for speed, only reliability, since I need to access all these files through a slow 5000kbit wan uplink anyway.

There're also two mirrored zpools of faster SSDs, I will see if shorter length cables will increase the speeds there, too.

Just a note that I understand the caveats connected to Sata drives and Raidz2. Since I was migrating from Raid1, I already had 4x 8TB Sata drives and only needed to buy 2 new ones (and did not want to get 6x SAS drives, whose speed I cannot use for the waste of additional power draw).

Many thanks!