FS: Motherboards, Chassis , RAM, C6100s, HDDs,SAS SSDs,CPUs,PFSense,SAS Expanders.The great purge!!!

[Chuntzu]

**Updated Pricing - Price has been lowered and items for trade have been updated along with new pics of the subsequent build and benchmarks. 12-7-14**

There will be a large number of items posted in here, and this post will be updated frequently. A little background information: My story starts a few years back when I started frequenting this site at which point I caught the fever for building the biggest fastest server I could imagine. I have spent the last 24 months or so trying out all sorts of storage configurations, and as luck has it a lot of these projects worked out really well. I finally reached my goal of a fully redundant clustered storage spaces set up with redundant paths, expanders, chassis, hbas, Infiniband nics, 10gb Ethernet nics, and I was seeing really great speeds from all of this. I ended up with 3 node clustered storage spaces/SOFS Cluster and a 24 node HyperV cluster being feed over infiniband from SMB 3.1 shares. At one point in time I had thought about setting these up in a data center and start up a company using this hardware, but it turns out that the hosting market is tough to get started in and as much as I have learned about setting up and running this infrastructure I was quite out of my wheel house running a hosting company (I have no formal training, ie college degree in information Technology, though I do have a PhD completely unrelated to all this fun computer stuff!!).

As this project came to a close something happened that changed my needs.....Extremely high power bills (more due to cooling costs in Arizona than powering servers, but running my cluster full time isn't super cheap), a wedding (new wife is surprisingly okay with most of the stuff I do, but there are limits to her patience ! ), and a new goal of crazy fast storage (think flachesan V2...2 million iops & 24 GB/s reads and writes).

So feel free to make a reasonable offer, though, I will price all of these parts really competitively so as to not insult the intelligence of the user of this site (we all can see the going rates on ebay). I will also make a list of items I would be willing to trade for as well. Have a great one.



For Sale:
Motherboards:


1 x Supermicro X8DAH+-f - $140

SAS SSDs:
10 x SanDisk/Pliant LB806M 800gb - $475

1 x SanDisk/Pliant LB206M 200gb - HP branded - $200
2 x OCZ Talos 2 240gb - $155

SAS HBA:

4 x LSI 9202-16e - 16x external sas - pci-e 2.0 16x - 700,000 iops/6GB/s - $300

1 x Marvell 8gb WAM1 PCI-E x4 w/SuperCap - Crazy Fast ZIL w/Unlimited writes!! - $99
6 x SuperMicro SAT2-MV8 8 port sata PCI-X card - $22

PFSense Appliance:
2 x WatchGuard Firebox X750e T1AE8 - These are great low power pfsense appliances, they take a bit of time to configure but once that is done they run fantastic and the LCD panel even works!- $115

Things I will trade for:

24 x 256gb or higher ssd drive with powerloss protection
6-8x - 2.5" NVMe Drives, redriver cards, and Backplanes or cables
8gb or 16gb ddr3 ecc 1600mhz dimms

 

[Hank C]

do you want to trade for 9361-8i? very lightly use only purchased for 3+ months

 

[darkconz]

Are the C6100s DCS models? (both 12 and 24 bay versions)

 

[Chuntzu]

Double checking info on the c6100s this evening

 

[Patrick]

I did not see Google Glass for the wife on your items to trade for

 

[Chuntzu]

I knew I was missing something!! Bahahaha!

 

[Chuntzu]

UPDATE:
All the dell c6100 nodes look to be dcs version, though, 2 of the nodes in one of the 12 bay models show up as none dcs versions. But, the bios and BMC can be update and have been on the 12-bay models. They also all have different asset tags, which I believe can cause issues with esxi and older versions of scvmm if they are the same. Also added some images, with more to come in the next couple of days. Hope this helps.

 

[Mindrunner]

Forgive me for this newbie-ish question:-

I have access to 2x Xeon 5660 & 96GB 1333 DDR ECC RAM ( 8 GB Sticks )
Supermicro X8DTH-if
Supermicro X8DAH+-f

1) Do they come with CPU heatsinks & I/O Sheilds?
2) Would they work in a large ATX case with a decent PSU?

I plan to just load it w/ a SSD to test out VMs, and maybe a 4 -5 SATA drives at a later stage.

 

[Scott Laird]

Do the C6100s have 24GB per node or per chassis? Also, which SAS card do the 24-bay models have--3G or 6G SAS?

 

[Chuntzu]

Forgive me for this newbie-ish question:-

I have access to 2x Xeon 5660 & 96GB 1333 DDR ECC RAM ( 8 GB Sticks )
Supermicro X8DTH-if
Supermicro X8DAH+-f

1) Do they come with CPU heatsinks & I/O Sheilds?
2) Would they work in a large ATX case with a decent PSU?

I plan to just load it w/ a SSD to test out VMs, and maybe a 4 -5 SATA drives at a later stage.

They do come with CPU heatsinks, but they are the "passive" ones that are used in 4u chassis (alot of enterprise chassis use high powered case fans and ducting to directed fan air over a passive heat sink vs having a fan directly attached to the cpu heat sink). I know any cooler that can mount to lga1366 will work on the board so if you didnt want to use a supermicro cse-846 or cse-847 type chassis you would still be able to cool it no problem. So if you were to use are large atx case it would need to support E-ATX for the X8DTH (which alot do) or EE-ATX for the X8DAH. For the X8DAH. PSU wise you can get away anything supporting the proper number of pins (there are 2 cpus so will need power connectors for both and you can always buy wire adapters to accomplish this as well) so its really up to what you are going to be running off of it. One final note on the chassis, the cse-846 is a pretty noisy chassis, but I have seen mods to this model of case to be just as quite as desktop chassis. You would need to change out the fan wall and use 120mm quiter fans, possibly pwm fans, change out the rear fans the same way, either replace the dual hotswap power supplies with the quite versions supermicro offers (which are still kind of expensive), or you can replace the whole back of the case with a desktop type backplate (atx) and use and atx power supply (though this would probably render the x8dah mobo unusable since it is so wide and needs every inch of that case. But all in all your game plan is sound.

 

[Chuntzu]

Do the C6100s have 24GB per node or per chassis? Also, which SAS card do the 24-bay models have--3G or 6G SAS?

The C6100 have 24GB per node 96GB per chassis. The LSI cards are the Y8Y69 lsi 1068e.

 

[Chuntzu]

**Updated Pricing - Price has been lowered substantially on all items. Also added a few more items for sale and added images. 9-28-14**

 

[Rain]

The full model number for the SuperMicro "cse-846" cases you mention is SC846E16-R1200B, correct? How loud would you say they are? Currently I have a Norco 4224 w/ the 120mm fan wall w/ 3x Noctua fans and I can barely hear it. The SC846E16-R1200B is obviously louder... but I'm wondering how much. I've heard the PSUs in SuperMicro chassis are like jet engines... is this true?

 

[Chuntzu]

That model number you gave is close enough, but 900 watt power supplies not 1200 watt...though the wattage wont really matter to most users since they will not be running 220v/240v to them (If you read the power ratings of all the supermicro supplies they do not hit there max power on 120v outlets, max power a 15a 120v outlet will offer is 1500-1800watts), nor will most even get close to pushing the power supplies to there max power but it sure would be fun to try (like 7 monster gpus and some super huge processors!!!). The cse-846 are loud chassis in there native form (all the fans run 6-8000 rpm) even with pwm fans it can be pretty noisy, but more so than the volume is the pitch that the smaller fans give off that can be kind of bothersome. But the reason I bought these chassis in the first place and not the norco cases are that these chassis are built like tanks and in the end the norco's would have cost more to get the same features like the sas expander backplane, proper cooling fans for dual socket motherboards, and dual power supplies. As for the fans they are loud since they not only cool the drives they also cool the cpus, ram, and pci express slots. I would not recomend the stock fans for any server that will be sitting right next to you, though when the server was in a room with carpet it was not super loud to me, my older mac pro I had back in the day was pretty darn loud when the fans were running full bore. But with all that said there are a couple cheap modifications that take this jet engine chassis and tones it down to Norco 4224 levels. First replace the fan wall with with a new one that uses 120mm fans, here is a link to one 120mm fan wall (think this is probably the same one you used in the norco 4224). Next is to replace the power supplies with a normal atx power supply, you would put in this back panel. I know that that you can get that exact back panel for around $20-25 at other spots on the net, but you get the idea. If you wanted to keep the power supplies then it becomes a bit more tricky. Supermicro makes quiter power supplies but quiet pertains to when the server is powered down since those quite power supplies have their fans shut off. Otherwise they are still just as loud since redundant 1u type power supplies pushing high wattage require 10k rpm little fans to keep them cool.With these two rather simple, and pretty much drop in mods I have successfully turned these cases into much more silent beasts, especially paired with e3-12xx xeon platforms. I actually have one of these as my always all-in-one home server, its been running all the basic infrastructure of my home network and what not for a couple of years now. I really like these chassis and I am only selling a couple of the extra ones I have lying around. These are actually my favorite cases because they are so versatile, I still have a 2 more that I am selling and are still in use.

 

[b3nz0n8]

These are potentially rev. E2 = SES2 (dual-channel) vs. E1 SES2 (single-port):

• E2: SuperChassis 846E2-R900B (Black) - Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 4U | SC846E2-R900B
  • Manual E1 & E2
    
    
  • 1. High density 4U Storage Chassis
    
    2. 900W (1+1) Redundant Power Supply
    
    3. 24 x 3.5" SAS Hot-swap Drive Bays with SES2 (dual-channel)
    
    4. 2x Extra HDDs (optional)
    
    5. 100% Cooling Redundancy
    
    6. Power Switch, Reset Switch & 6 LED Indicators
    
    7. Can be configured as either HEAD Or JBOD unit
    
    
  • Backplane
    
    
    
    4U Dual Expander Backplane, features:
    • Scalability through cascading
    • 3Gb support
    • Inband SES-2 Enclosure Management
    • SAS/SATA support
    • Dual input/output SFF 8087 connectors

• E1: SuperChassis 846E1-R900B (Black) - Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 4U | SC846E1-R900B
  • Manual E1 & E2
    
    
  • 1. High density 4U Storage Chassis
    
    2. 900W (1+1) Redundant Power Supply
    
    3. 24 x 3.5" SAS Hot-swap Drive Bays with SES2 (for single-port)
    
    4. 2x Extra HDDs (optional)
    
    5. 100% Cooling Redundancy
    
    6. Power Switch, Reset Switch & 6 LED Indicators
    
    7. Can be configured as either HEAD Or JBOD unit
    
    
  • Backplane
    
    
    
    4U Expander Backplane, features:
    • Scalability through cascading
    • 3Gb support
    • Inband SES-2 Enclosure Management
    • SAS/SATA support
    • Single input/output SFF 8087 connectors

Fan Noise & Solution @ NewEgg review #1 for CSE-846TQ-R900B :

Cons: If you have a Supermicro board, you can set the case fans to a surprisingly quiet level but, the 900W redundant power supply fans are so loud as to be unsuitable for a home environment. My rack is in an unfinished basement and the power supply fans in this configuration of the chassis are so loud that I could clearly hear them through the heating ducts in every room of the house.

Other Thoughts: I'm not reducing any eggs for the power supply fans for two reasons: 1) This level of gear isn't really built with home usage in mind. 2) The problem is fixable. I ordered two of the high efficiency PWS-920P-1R power supplies and the difference in sound is night and day. If you are planning to use this in a home, you will almost certainly need to get the PWS-920P-1R power supplies or buy a configuration of the chassis with them already installed. After putting in the new power supplies, I have no complaints whatsoever with this chassis.

​

Also, page 125 from the manual:

E-10 Single and Dual Port Expanders

Single Ports

SAS2-846EL1 backplanes have a single-port expander that accesses all hard drives and supports cascading.

Dual Ports

SAS2-846EL2 backplanes have dual-port expanders that access all the hard drives. These dual-port expanders support cascading, failover, and multipath.​

The full model number for the SuperMicro "cse-846" cases you mention....

 

[Patrick]

Hey @Chuntzu the Crucial drives you mention do not have the full power loss protection you are likely looking for.

And yes... I am looking at all of those SanDisk/ Pliant drives on a daily basis

 

[Chuntzu]

These are potentially rev. E2 = SES2 (dual-channel) vs. E1 SES2 (single-port):

• E2: SuperChassis 846E2-R900B (Black) - Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 4U | SC846E2-R900B
  • Manual E1 & E2
    
    
  • 1. High density 4U Storage Chassis
    
    2. 900W (1+1) Redundant Power Supply
    
    3. 24 x 3.5" SAS Hot-swap Drive Bays with SES2 (dual-channel)
    
    4. 2x Extra HDDs (optional)
    
    5. 100% Cooling Redundancy
    
    6. Power Switch, Reset Switch & 6 LED Indicators
    
    7. Can be configured as either HEAD Or JBOD unit
    
    
  • Backplane
    
    
    
    4U Dual Expander Backplane, features:
    • Scalability through cascading
    • 3Gb support
    • Inband SES-2 Enclosure Management
    • SAS/SATA support
    • Dual input/output SFF 8087 connectors

• E1: SuperChassis 846E1-R900B (Black) - Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 4U | SC846E1-R900B
  • Manual E1 & E2
    
    
  • 1. High density 4U Storage Chassis
    
    2. 900W (1+1) Redundant Power Supply
    
    3. 24 x 3.5" SAS Hot-swap Drive Bays with SES2 (for single-port)
    
    4. 2x Extra HDDs (optional)
    
    5. 100% Cooling Redundancy
    
    6. Power Switch, Reset Switch & 6 LED Indicators
    
    7. Can be configured as either HEAD Or JBOD unit
    
    
  • Backplane
    
    
    
    4U Expander Backplane, features:
    • Scalability through cascading
    • 3Gb support
    • Inband SE2 Enclosure Management
    • SAS/SATA support
    • Single input/output SFF 8087 connectors

Fan Noise & Solution @ NewEgg review #1 for CSE-846TQ-R900B :

Cons: If you have a Supermicro board, you can set the case fans to a surprisingly quiet level but, the 900W redundant power supply fans are so loud as to be unsuitable for a home environment. My rack is in an unfinished basement and the power supply fans in this configuration of the chassis are so loud that I could clearly hear them through the heating ducts in every room of the house.

Other Thoughts: I'm not reducing any eggs for the power supply fans for two reasons: 1) This level of gear isn't really built with home usage in mind. 2) The problem is fixable. I ordered two of the high efficiency PWS-920P-1R power supplies and the difference in sound is night and day. If you are planning to use this in a home, you will almost certainly need to get the PWS-920P-1R power supplies or buy a configuration of the chassis with them already installed. After putting in the new power supplies, I have no complaints whatsoever with this chassis.

​

Also, page 125 from the manual:

E-10 Single and Dual Port Expanders

Single Ports

SAS2-846EL1 backplanes have a single-port expander that accesses all hard drives and supports cascading.

Dual Ports

SAS2-846EL2 backplanes have dual-port expanders that access all the hard drives. These dual-port expanders support cascading, failover, and multipath.​

Well the first thing that needs to be cleared up is the back planes are defiantly not sas 3gb it is sas 6gb or sas 2.0. I REPEAT THESE ARE NOT THE OLDER SAS 1.0/3GB BACKPLANES BUT THE NEWER SAS 2.0/6GB BACKPLANES. The chassis were originally cse-846tq-r900b, but I purchased the Backplanes and changed them out to get the sas 2.0/6gb expanders. As for the power supplies yes they are noisy, but they can be replaced. The pws-920p-1R are less noisy, but its like a jet engine to a vacuum cleaner (I have the 1200 watt variation in a couple servers and they are much quiter). They are still not silent like a desktop PC would be but again most desktop pcs will never have a need for redundant power supplies so different stroke for different folks I suppose. I have test rack at home in a room that is 6 foot x 12 foot with a dedecated return duct and supply right above it, when running a single cse-846 with current power supplies I do not hear them in my kitchen which pretty much a straight shot from "server room" door to open floor plan vaulted ceiling/kitchen and great room. Though if I am in the office which is right next to the "server room" I can hear the hum of the servers. The only reason to go dual ported would be if using sas drives since most consumer sata drives are not dual ported. Sata drives on dual ported back planes will only use one of the two ports, it will not use both so aggregate through put will be that of only 1 sas expander.

 

[Chuntzu]

@Patrick, I am pretty sure they do....Linky & Linky #2. With the mx100 Can't beat $209 for 512gb and power loss protection. Benchmarks are very similar to the m550, and even though they are not samsung 850 pro fast I can counter act that by running 48x at once !!!! Seems reasonable bahahahah! Thinking perhaps of over provisioning so they are 400gb and get some more write life from them.

 

[NobleX13]

That is an excellent price on those 400GB Seagate drives. Very tempting...

 

[Chuntzu]

That is an excellent price on those 400GB Seagate drives. Very tempting...

I really like the performance of the 400gb write intensive drives. They are pretty darn good! That and they list unlimited endurance...can't beat that!