MD1200 vs SA120

MD1200 or SA120, which should I use?


  • Total voters
    3
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

Dssguy1

New Member
Apr 5, 2016
29
2
3
45
Hey Guys,
I have purchased a Dell R720 server (unfortunately it was the 2.5" drive variety which has 16 slots) and I have a BUNCH of Enterprise SAS and Normal Sata 3.5" drives already in my possession. I was actually hoping to just use the R720 as my storage platform instead of adding any separate enclosure. It was such a great deal $200 delivered), I jumped at it. I put in a LSI 9207-8E to communicate with the enclosure and it appears to see everything I load in either of the below enclosures.

Now I am contemplating using the MD1200 (12 3.5" bay enclosure I got at the same time for $200) or the SA120 I just bought. The MD1200 was built Jan 2011, so way before these really high capacity drives came out. The SA120 is current model (had manufacture date of Nov 2015). I outfitted the SA120 with Dual PS and Dual IO interface (probably overkill but oh well).

Is there any significant advantage to using either one over the other? I know the MD1200 was much more expensive and seems heavier duty but I am concerned with it's ability to use current HDDs like 8TB or higher without throwing errors or having issues. I am also just now starting to realize the Financial impact of running a Server and Enclosure 24/7. My math shows it will be around $250 a year just to power a server and enclosure with HDDs.

Any advice for a nub to this world? I am just building storage for my home backups and movie serving to a PLEX box. I have so many irons in the fire on this project right now, I don't know which way to turn.
 

Dssguy1

New Member
Apr 5, 2016
29
2
3
45
You can control the fans in the SA120 if noise is a concern. Maybe better power consumption as well?
I noticed a lot of people were complaining about noise level of the SA120 and that even after you turn the fans down, they would ramp back to full speed after power loss. I set mine to Auto from windows and they stayed there through several power losses. In Auto, they seem to fluctuate between level 2 and 3 on fan speed.

I have not had time to figure out how to control the fans in the MD1200 yet. It is quite a bit louder and as far as I know, you have to have a PERC card to actually communicate with it. Anybody else have any info on talking to a MD1200 to slow down the fans?
 

MountainDew

Member
Oct 19, 2015
251
20
18
I have not had time to figure out how to control the fans in the MD1200 yet. It is quite a bit louder and as far as I know, you have to have a PERC card to actually communicate with it.
You might have the same issue on the SA120 not being able to control fans if it's not a card recognized by the array manager software. Have a look here