The drives I have need direct airflow. It doesn't need to be from screaming server fans, but air needs to move over the drives. I have a pair of 140mm fans in a push/pull arrangement over my drives (spinning and U.2) and it keeps the U.2 drives cool enough (30C-50C depending on load) without being too loud.
How to buy used U.2 drives (and recommendations for specific models)?
- Thread starter guiniol
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Add around $25 per U.2 drive for cables and adapters, then the extra fans and power costs, SATA probably starts looking less expensive before you consider how much of a pain it is to route more than a couple U.2 cables.
I'd personally go with SAS, but that does bring some added complexity.
I have a few issues with mounting them in my Dark Base Pro 901.
The first issue is that the drive carriers are supposed to hold 2 2.5" drives each, but that only works if they aren't the thicker drives. I can only fit one CD6 in each one, so I have to use two of them. If I use two of them, I can't use the bottom fan mount. Also, the vast majority of SFF-8639 cables have very bulky connectors, so it can be hard to route it without feeling like you're applying too much force to it. They also lack a retention mechanism. I could use the back-of-motherboard drive mounts, but I feel like there's insufficient airflow back there.
I'm thinking of 3d printing something that attacks onto a fan, so I can just have a fan + 2 drives down there, but I don't have a 3d printer yet:
The first issue is that the drive carriers are supposed to hold 2 2.5" drives each, but that only works if they aren't the thicker drives. I can only fit one CD6 in each one, so I have to use two of them. If I use two of them, I can't use the bottom fan mount. Also, the vast majority of SFF-8639 cables have very bulky connectors, so it can be hard to route it without feeling like you're applying too much force to it. They also lack a retention mechanism. I could use the back-of-motherboard drive mounts, but I feel like there's insufficient airflow back there.
I'm thinking of 3d printing something that attacks onto a fan, so I can just have a fan + 2 drives down there, but I don't have a 3d printer yet:
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I found a card + cables for 180 and PM983 disks for 200 each (at 95% health, so that should be fine, yes?).
In comparison, SATA starts at 300 (and seems closer to 400 TBH), so even considering more average 250 for each U.2 disk, the difference over 5 disks pays for the card + cables, and then more.
So... the node 804 brackets are meant for 3.5" drives, so at the very least I will need some adapters of some kind.
That being said, I also saw some builds where people crammed a fan between the two drive cages
I guess I don't know what SATA drives you're looking at, but 3.84TB should be more like $200.
For eBay US, here's my search, which gives lots of drives under $200:
Just switch the domain and the search should work fine.
Oh no, someone has four incorrectly-listed (as SAS) Micron 9200 Pros for $200 each, I did not need to see that at all.For eBay US, here's my search, which gives lots of drives under $200:
Connecting many u.2 drives to a platform that doesn't have enough PCIe lanes will lead to traffic jams under heavy load. It is ideal to use a backplane with u.2 drives because the cabling is very messy. Also make sure that these drives are actively cooled. These u.2 drives are designed for server racks. They can be used in a standard tower chassis as long as there is enough airflow.
It's a really good thing I grabbed a couple 2.6TB Fusion IOs for $80 each, otherwise I'd have to grab one of those N4 backplanes for my 826 and go entirely overboard.
Thanks for the search! It doesn't show me the same items when changing the domain. However, I can select items on .com and then change the domain to get details about shipping and such.For eBay US, here's my search, which gives lots of drives under $200:
Just switch the domain and the search should work fine.
I see a lot of SAS drives that are cheaper than SATA drives. Now I need to look at SAS controllers
Now you're sending me back to U.2. It's too fast and too hot and I've been trying to figure out how to convince myself to get SATA instead
Please don't I have been made aware. I'm currently considering the Node 804. Any idea if that would have sufficient airflow?
So, it seems that SAS consumes about as much as U.2, so I imagine it needs as much cooling as those, no?
Right, now, I'm basically looking at:
- Samsung PM983 U.2 with a CEACENT CNS44PE16
- Micron 5200 ECO (there are 5210 ION and 5100 from the US, but with shipping and taxes, they are mostly the same -- that's assuming the chinese seller lowballs the declared values, which I wouldn't expect from the US).
Same seller, and disks are about 95% health.
I've been going back and forth on this.
SATA is the safer and lower power. U.2 is the "better" but more power hungry and hotter drive.
Right, now, I'm basically looking at:
- Samsung PM983 U.2 with a CEACENT CNS44PE16
- Micron 5200 ECO (there are 5210 ION and 5100 from the US, but with shipping and taxes, they are mostly the same -- that's assuming the chinese seller lowballs the declared values, which I wouldn't expect from the US).
Same seller, and disks are about 95% health.
I've been going back and forth on this.
SATA is the safer and lower power. U.2 is the "better" but more power hungry and hotter drive.
There may be a few SAS SSDs which use that much power, but the models I have looked up top out around half the power consumption, so far less cooling required.
For example, the Samsung PM1633a with a maximum power consumption of 11W: https://image.semiconductor.samsung...hure-pm1633a-25-sas-ssd/PM1633a_SAS_SSD-0.pdf
The U.2 PM983 is 4W idle and 11W under load too: https://download.semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/brochure/Samsung PM983 NVMe PCIe SSD.pdf
The SATA Micron 5200 is 1.5W idle and 4W under load: https://m2m-enterprise.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Micron_5200_Product_Flyer_-_English_19697.pdf