Looking for a solution to add more storage.

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thesethguy

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Feb 5, 2017
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My current build:
  • SuperMicro X9DRL-IF (ATX Form Factor)
  • 2x Xeon 2660
  • Ubuntu Server 16.04.2
  • 3x8TB
  • 6x6TB
  • (I also have a spare 6x3TB I want to use again)
  • This is stuffed into a full ATX tower with no more room to grow.
Every 3-4 months I'm hoping to add 3x8TB to the build.

This build has morphed over time and I want to branch out.

My goal is to find a solution that can house a large amount of drives.

I thought I found a chassis solution, which was the LianLi D8000 with 20x3.5 but my order ended up getting cancelled.

Next solution I was looking at was the Norco 4224, but I don't think I feel comfortable using it based on some reviews.

I'd love to pick up a SuperMicro chassis with a SAS2 backplane so I can use my >3TB drives but I can't find anything for <$700 (at least not right now). It also seems like these all come with mobo/cpu already, which I don't necessarily need.

On eBay there are plenty of other SuperMicro 4U 24bay chassis available, but they only support up to 2TB drives with SAS1, at least that's how I understand it.. I'm pretty new to this. Maybe the backplane can be swapped, I don't know.

So now I'm thinking, maybe I should just pick up a couple NZXT Source 210 cases for cheap. They can fit 12x HDDs. I have the spare parts to put a working computer together with that.

If I did do this, what would be the optimal way to connect what I currently have to this 2nd computer?

I'm thinking 1Gb Ethernet and mount a share on my main server. Or maybe I can pick up a pair of 10GbE cards.

It would hold data for Plex if that matters (direct play / transcoding).

There's probably a better way, or another solution I'm not thinking of and that's what I'm hoping to find here.

I appreciate any help, please and thank you.
 

Mishka

Active Member
Apr 30, 2017
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London, UK
What you could do is make a JBOD unit, cheap case with a load of drives in it connected to a SAS expander that then connects to your main server via SFF-8088 external cables though you would need a HBA in your main fileserver.

I am basically in the same situation as yourself with my fileserver, my intention is to get a LSI 9200 series with either an 8e or 16e port to run a SFF-8088 cable to the JBOD case which would house a HP SAS expander, small PSU and a simple way to power up the thing.

My idea was get a cheap 14 bay (non hotswap as they double the price of the case)) case then use SFF-8087 to SATA cables, because it is using the SAS Expander it just blindly passes through although they are limited to SAS2/SATA2 speeds but enough to max out a mechanical HDD.

Due to the 9200 LSi cards just passing the hdd through the OS just see's them as a drive nothing more, can get smart and everything too just need to make sure you power things up in the right order to avoid any risk of OS having problems and getting confused
 
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T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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You should very easily be able to find a SuperMicro 846 (24x 3.5" in 4U) for under $500 including shipping.

It may come with an old/junk motherboard/cpu just chuck them, and set it up and go :)
 
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thesethguy

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Feb 5, 2017
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You should very easily be able to find a SuperMicro 846 (24x 3.5" in 4U) for under $500 including shipping.

It may come with an old/junk motherboard/cpu just chuck them, and set it up and go :)
Thanks for the reply!

If I were to pick up one of these 846 models, like the SC846A-R1200B, the specs say it has a BPN-SAS-846A backplane.

For clarity, will this recognize drives greater than 2.2TB each? I've read that SAS1 doesn't go past 2.2TB. It has some feature called "i-Pass" as well, so maybe it's like a "passthrough" and will work with drives up to 8-10TB?

For instance, here 24x Hard Drive Bay 4U Server ZFS FREENAS 9.3 Server Network Storage NAS JBOD | eBay the 846 model says that it's only compatible with drives up to 2TB. :-\

And over here, SuperMicro 4U 24-BAY Chassis - Gotcha's?? it seems that I'd "need to keep in mind you'd need a SAS expander or in my case 3, 8 port HBA's. With this don't have to worry about any drive capacity issues."

So it looks like maybe this will work. I'd just need a few extra part which is fine.

Also, if there's a caveat or anything like it only runs at SATA1/2 speeds, I'm not too worried about that based on the purpose of my setup.

haha, forgive my ignorance on the subject here. I'm reading one thing in one place and another thing in a different spot so I just want to be sure before I go out and pick up a $500 chassis + whatever it will be in HBAs if necessary.

I appreciate the help brain storming!
 

RobertFontaine

Active Member
Dec 17, 2015
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Winterpeg, Canuckistan
You will need the .................(see below)
You are also going to want the sq or platinum power supplies and to swap out the fans in a residential environment.

It's a bit of a project but you can end up with a good quality, quiet, rackable chassis w/sas2 for zfs. The sas2 backplane can go for more than the price of the chassis. Shipping on the chassis can be a beast
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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I think you will come to regret going with the MV8 sas cards. Would be much better odd with an LSI based card.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 

thesethguy

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Feb 5, 2017
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I think you will come to regret going with the MV8 sas cards. Would be much better odd with an LSI based card.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
Yeah? I can probably cancel my order and switch.

I went with them based off some other reviews and they seemed decent enough.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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sfbayzfs

Active Member
May 6, 2015
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Definitely get LSI cards instead - the MV8 cards apparently have driver problems in a number of cases, and do not support SAS expanders. I think I have heard that UnRaid or a similar OS likes the MV8 cards, they supposedly work OK in Windows, and CORAID systems used them, but otherwise avoid them.
 

ttabbal

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Mar 10, 2016
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If you can cancel, I would.

LSI SAS2 cards are available for less than 50/ea if you look a bit. Dell H200/H310 seem to be the easiest ones to find. Flash them to IT mode and you have a great controller. And the LSI cards have driver support for almost any OS.