Free BackBlaze Storage Pods?!

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BeTeP

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Mar 23, 2019
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Those are pods v2.0 and v3.0. They use multiple 5-port backplanes with SATA port multipliers (SIL 3726 in 2.0 and SIL 3826 in 3.0).
I'm guessing that custom 4U project box and 2x 760W PSUs have some value but everything else is pretty worthless. I would stay away.

Also v3.0 comes with Supermicro MBD-X9SCL-F and i3-2100. Another $20 right there.
 

Spartacus

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May 27, 2019
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Austin, TX
I would love to buy one of those MBD-X9SCL-F boards cheap if the ipmi works.

Maybe a bunch will pop-up on ebay soon.
 

aij

Active Member
May 7, 2017
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How many are they giving away?

Note to self: Check Ebay on June 29. :)
 

Samir

Post Liker and Deal Hunter Extraordinaire!
Jul 21, 2017
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Yep, just a 2hr drive north from home...but I'm not home. A lot of people are interested in these for shipping, so I'm almost 100% sure some will end up on ebay. It's nice that they allow regular consumers come get them versus give them to an asset liquidator who will just sell them for profit. :)
 

techtoys

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Feb 25, 2016
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I'm in the South Bay so it's 2.5-3 hours based on traffic. Not sure if its worth it to spend a day driving. I'd take the SUV and I'm sure it's at least a tank of gas + the entire day. Let's see what a CSE-847 goes for. I heard they come on sale from time to time much lower.
 

William

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May 7, 2015
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Looks like RSVP's have taken just about all of them. BTW, they wanted people to RSVP, but now that's on hold. Don't drive up there unless you can get a RSVP which might be hard now.

UPDATE (06/11/2019 – 8:22am): We have paused the RSVP because we’re nearing the limit of how many of these are available. Please keep an eye on this blog for more updates and we’ll coordinate with people who have RSVP’d to send additional questions and confirmation. If people drop-off from the RSVP list, we may open it up again closer towards the day. Apologies if not everyone was able to sign up at the moment. Hopefully we will be able to accommodate everyone and try to do this again in the future. The logistics are tricky though.

Also according to this reddit thread there is a limit on two person.
BackBlaze giving away free storage pods. : homelab


Yev here -> HELLO FOLKS! We will likely be instituting an RSVP form (keep an on the blog - and I will be in here posting a link to it once we have it) to make sure that everyone gets a chance. There will likely be a soft-limit of 2 pods per person. What's a soft limit? If you don't mind waiting and we have some left over at the end of the day, we'll round-robin them.

Folks thinking about picking them up for a friend and shipping them: these weigh about 45-50lbs. We have shipped them w/ FedEx before, and it was around $100-$110 or so, but might be more if international.

*Update -> The RSVP form has been added to the blog post: Storage Pod Giveaway

*Update 2 -> This form is now CLOSED - we're a bit oversubscribed so I will need to take stock and make sure that we can take care of as many people as possible. Please follow along on the blog for updates.
 
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techtoys

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Feb 25, 2016
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*Update 2 -> This form is now CLOSED - we're a bit oversubscribed
Thanks! That makes it simple. I was just thinking road-trip or take the day off and tinker with the equipment I already have. The tinkering was already ahead of a 6 hour drive.
 

William

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May 7, 2015
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Yeah going up 50 is a nightmare. I am over in Stockton and hate even going that way.
I was thinking about heading over but now I will pass.

Don't get me started on heading over to the bay area LOL
 
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Samir

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Jul 21, 2017
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You're right, thanks. I didn't notice that they may open it up again. Guess I need to keep checking back!
If I was that close, I would just go there and 'hang out'. I'm sure there will be no shows on reservations, so you should be able to get at least 2 imo.
 

Markess

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May 19, 2018
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I just saw one of these pop up on Ebay. $599 plus shipping.

4U 45 Bay Backblaze Storage server Intel i3-2100 3.10Ghz 8GB | eBay

Seller is in Walnut Creek, which is about an hour and a half from where they distributed them, and says he "has an extra". So, maybe likely they came from last week's giveaway.

Really makes me wish I'd noticed when they went to an RSVP system from 'first come first served". Although, if I were being honest, I would have kept them both for myself...then rationalized since they were empty, I really needed to buy 45 drives for each.....and then run into serious marital difficulties when the wife found out how much I'd spent on drives and my home office started sounding like an airport. So, on the whole, probably good I missed it after all.
 

kapone

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May 23, 2015
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Well...I just picked up two Chenbro 48 bay top loaders (getting my 846s out of the rack) with an X9SRL-F motherboard for $400/ea shipped. That motherboard itself is probably ~$100-$150. So, the chassis really was $300ish shipped. And that has a proper SAS backplane (6gb/s), no eSATA stuff. That said, it'll require some surgery to put in alternate power supply(its), as the stock Zippy ones are trash.

Comparing the Chenbro to this, I'd pick the Chenbro every time.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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Well...I just picked up two Chenbro 48 bay top loaders (getting my 846s out of the rack) with an X9SRL-F motherboard for $400/ea shipped. That motherboard itself is probably ~$100-$150. So, the chassis really was $300ish shipped. And that has a proper SAS backplane (6gb/s), no eSATA stuff. That said, it'll require some surgery to put in alternate power supply(its), as the stock Zippy ones are trash.

Comparing the Chenbro to this, I'd pick the Chenbro every time.
Why not add a 3rd 846 Or an 847 for that matter?
Avoid re-doing and just expand?

or replace HDD with higher capacity? (unsure what you have)

Curious though as it sounds like a LOT of work. :D