Need new chassis for my storage server

[zicoz]

So, I have been using Norco 4220 and Norco DS-24 as my chassis for a few years now, but it seems that the backplanes are dying on me, so I need to replace them with something new (and not Norco this time around).

Because of the crappy exchange rate on the NOK atm my budget isn't all that great when it comes to USD. I saw that SuperMicro SC847 was mentioned in a another thread, would that be a good choice? And is this a good deal for it?

Supermicro Storage NAS Expander JBOD 45 Bay 24 36 SC847E16-RJBOD1 HD SAS2 SAN


Or should I look for something else?

 

[Fritz]

Supermicro is good. Lots of options, excellent build quality, excellent support, excellent availability of parts. I would advise you go with an all Supermicro build. Everything will fit together and you won't have to do any jury rigging. Wish I had went with the 847 instead of the 846 but still happy with what I have.

 

[cheezehead]

Happy with an 836 and a 216 here. One build is all SuperMicro and the other is running with a Gigabyte board, the only extra step is you need to pickup a breakout cable for the front I/O panel (usually $4-8 USD shipped). The 847's can be picked up for cheaper but I'm guessing your looking for a SAS2 variant.

Not sure if your looking for a JBOD specific build or not....the below is a bit cheaper but is a regular server.

4U Supermicro 847E16-R1400LPB 36 Bay Server X8DTN+ JBOD L5630 SAS2 6Gb Expander

 

[zicoz]

Thank you. I think I need SAS2 since all my disks are in the 3-6TB range. (I saw some cheaper models that mentioned that it might not work with 3+TB drives when fully populated, not sure if that's a SAS1 limit or something else).

I guess I can work with both a pure expander-chassis as well as the one you suggested, the 45bay one I linked would probably work great with my 9202-16e, but the one you linked looks like it is a complete package with expanders. So thank you for the suggestion, will look into that type as well.

 

[CyberSkulls]

I should have known better too. Had Norco in the past and switched everything to Supermicro. Then I wanted more power efficient chassis that ran cooler and quieter so I bought some Norco 2U 12 bay RPC-2212's. Out of the four units, one had a failing backplane about a week in. Norco responded and replaced that one. Less than a week later a second one started to fail. This time Norco refuses to respond. So they are defiantly still having backplane issues as of May 2016.

I knew better than to trust Norco but did it anyway. Looks like up I'll be putting a little more money in my 826 & 846 chassis and changing all the backplanes and power supplies.

Just had to say I feel your pain OP with Norco and their crap backplanes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[zicoz]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this one:

Supermicro CSE-847 4U 36-Bay w/X8DTN+ 2x Xeon E5520 24GB 2x 1400W PSU NO HDD #76

But does anyone know if it will have any issues with large capacity drives?

 

[BlueFox]

Pretty certain that has one of the older 3gbit SAS expander backplanes, so unfortunately it would.

 

[ttabbal]

Email the seller and ask about it. They should be able to read the model number of the backplane without much effort. Keep the message so you can show ebay if they send you the wrong one and try to be a pain about replacing it.

 

[yobigd20]

I'm about to pull the trigger on this one:

Supermicro CSE-847 4U 36-Bay w/X8DTN+ 2x Xeon E5520 24GB 2x 1400W PSU NO HDD #76

But does anyone know if it will have any issues with large capacity drives?

if they are not specific about the chassis model number, don't buy it. each 'chassis' has a dozen or more configurations so just them saying CSE-847 isn't enough info to know which backplane is in it. for example for the 846 chassis here are all the configurations: Tower / 4U Chassis | Chassis | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc. and for 847: Tower / 4U Chassis | Chassis | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc.

For me personally, I kept monitoring (I had a lot of 'supermicro' alerts setup in ebay) and eventually found a good deal on a 846E16-R1200B chassis which has the SAS2 backplane (BPN-SAS2-846EL1). you can find out the backplane from their spec page on supermicro.com on the bottom they are usually listed or have a link at the very bottom saying 'see parts list'. Supermicro | Products | Chassis | 4U | SC846E16-R1200B . there are multiple backplanes supporting SAS1, SAS2, SAS3 etc so you really need to get familiar with them as last think you need is to find out you need to fork out another $200 for the backplane (they aren't cheap).

 

[BlueFox]

Email the seller and ask about it. They should be able to read the model number of the backplane without much effort. Keep the message so you can show ebay if they send you the wrong one and try to be a pain about replacing it.

Or you can just look at the capacitors on the back. Pretty easy to tell which it is by that alone. Looks like the the older backplane to me, though my phone might not be the best for displaying things.

 

[zicoz]

Thanks, how low can I expect to find 846/847 chassis with SAS2 backplates?

Also, the 846TQ is not SAS2, but it's "direct connect" does that change anything? Doesn't it then come down to what ever SAS-card I'm using?

 

[ttabbal]

The TQ is individual SAS ports. So you have 24 wires to the backplane. There are no expanders on it, so large drives work fine. I have one here and it works fine with 6TB drives. You just use breakout cables to wire the drives up.

The wiring is more complex, but I don't mind for my single server. To run all the drives you need to use 3 8port cards or get your own expander.

 

[Kybber]

Just a FYI: I have two 846 chassis with SAS1 backplane that have no issues whatsoever with at least 24*4TB drives. So I guess not all SAS1 backplane revisions (or some other parameter) limit drives to 2TB.

Oh, and they're both for sale. Search on Finn.