Hi all --
Starting to plan my next file server build, and I want to do something a bit more elaborate than my current setup (which is basically a mid-tower case with 3 of the 3 5.25" to 5-3.5" bay converters, giving me a total of 15 drives).
For the moment, I'm thinking of having a 4U enclosure with redundant power to hold the disks, using external mini-SAS connectors back to my main server. I've seen 4U enclosures with anywhere from 45 drive bays up to 60, and I'm sure there are probably some that hold more.
The AIC XJ3000-4603S states that to support the 60 hot-swap drive bays, it has "LSI SAS2x28 + LSI SAS2x36 per expander tray", and 4 x Mini SAS (SFF-8088) per expander tray as well. This is what I'm looking at currently, but I want to clarify a couple of things that I think would apply to any JBOX / drive enclosure.
1) I'm concerned with drive compatibility. I want to be able to use whatever I have around currently (which is likely to be a mix of 2TB and 3TB drives), but in the future I'd like to be able to populate some of the slots with 10TB, 12TB or greater drives and not worry that they aren't supported. How can I determine what the maximum drive size support would be, or does that even come into play with an enclosure like this?
2) If there are multiple SFF-8088 interfaces, would that mean that I could potentially connect some of the drives to one server, and another set of the drives to another? Or is this considered bad practice?
I want to follow more of a process on this new build - my current file server, while stable for the past 3+ years, has one drive fastened with velcro to the power supply, and two more connected with screws to the top of the case (where a fan should be). It's not elegant. It's hacky. Not that it really bothers me, but I want to plan a bit more for this build.
That's it. Appreciate any and all info you can provide.
Thanks!
Starting to plan my next file server build, and I want to do something a bit more elaborate than my current setup (which is basically a mid-tower case with 3 of the 3 5.25" to 5-3.5" bay converters, giving me a total of 15 drives).
For the moment, I'm thinking of having a 4U enclosure with redundant power to hold the disks, using external mini-SAS connectors back to my main server. I've seen 4U enclosures with anywhere from 45 drive bays up to 60, and I'm sure there are probably some that hold more.
The AIC XJ3000-4603S states that to support the 60 hot-swap drive bays, it has "LSI SAS2x28 + LSI SAS2x36 per expander tray", and 4 x Mini SAS (SFF-8088) per expander tray as well. This is what I'm looking at currently, but I want to clarify a couple of things that I think would apply to any JBOX / drive enclosure.
1) I'm concerned with drive compatibility. I want to be able to use whatever I have around currently (which is likely to be a mix of 2TB and 3TB drives), but in the future I'd like to be able to populate some of the slots with 10TB, 12TB or greater drives and not worry that they aren't supported. How can I determine what the maximum drive size support would be, or does that even come into play with an enclosure like this?
2) If there are multiple SFF-8088 interfaces, would that mean that I could potentially connect some of the drives to one server, and another set of the drives to another? Or is this considered bad practice?
I want to follow more of a process on this new build - my current file server, while stable for the past 3+ years, has one drive fastened with velcro to the power supply, and two more connected with screws to the top of the case (where a fan should be). It's not elegant. It's hacky. Not that it really bothers me, but I want to plan a bit more for this build.
That's it. Appreciate any and all info you can provide.
Thanks!