Need some advice on finalizing my massive NAS upgrade

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pchangover

Member
Dec 12, 2016
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Build’s Name: Dell R730XD NAS/DO EVERYTHING BUILD
Operating System/ Storage Platform: FreeNAS
CPU: 2 x Xeon E5-2678 12 core 2.5GHz
Motherboard: Dell R730XD
Chassis: Dell R730XD
Drives: Deciding...
RAM: 128GB (8x16GB)
Add-in Cards: Perc H730
Power Supply: 2 x 750w

Usage Profile: Plex Movie/TV storage, Transcode, Backups, VM Hosting



I'm upgrading from a QNAP TVS-1282 with an i5 and 32gb of memory with 8 x 6TB HGST drives and 32TB of storage. I've outgrown that box and need more space in addition to needing more power. I've grown sick of the crappy QNAP OS that is holding that box back. There are serious issues with the controller where it will freeze up with any significant data transfer and it's annoying.

Anyway, I picked up this guy:
Dell R730xd 24-Core Server 2x E5-2678 v3 2.5GHz 128GB-16 H730 RPS 3.5in | eBay

And I'm trying to finalize what drives I should be filling it with. I'm going to add the optional 2x2.5" ssd backplane for the rear of the server so I'll need to fill it with 12 3.5" drives and 2 2.5" drives.

My questions are:
  • Is it worth looking at used SAS nearline HDDs? I'm a little concerned about used HDDs but I've had amazing experiences with used enterprise gear in the past.
  • If no on the SAS HDDs, would the 8TB external shucked drives be a big performance bottleneck for this system?
  • I'm looking at adding 2 SSDs to the rear backplane and am wondering if 6GB/s SAS SSDs will be a bottleneck for me.
  • I'm planning on buying an Intel Optane 900P AIC 280GB for a ZIL drive, should I look into picking up a second for a L2ARC cache drive as well?

Thanks!
 

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
1,532
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Gotha Florida
Nice box, i would be interested in what watts the box runs when you dont with your build.

I have a r720 with 2x e5-2680v2 and 192GB Ram. my drives are 2.5 on the r720 so all my ssds are there. I use a SM 4u box for 3.5 HDD connected via external HBA card into the r720. For drives I run 8TB Reds shucked from the BB easystore usb drives. when they are down to 150 EA, they are an awesome deal. I use 1 intel 900p 280GB for Zil. I run ESXI on the box and have Freenas as a VM with two HBA passthrough. I created 30 GB vm drives off the 900p for zil for each of my storage pools, currently 4 of them. I gave FN 64GB Ram so no need for l2arc. I also run all my other home prod VMs on that server so plenty of power and ram leftover for that.

My usecase doesnt involve plex or tons of media. I have two storage pools i pass to windows server 2012 R2 essentials that i use for storing all my files as well as backups of files and server, etc. The left over storage is used as iscsi drive back to ESXI for backing up VM and storing dev vms when not in use.

Not sure if the 8tb reds with 900p would be fast enough for your needs. Speeds are more then enough to saturate 1GB network, and when using other servers connected to 10 GB i can get a few hundred MB per second transfers.

reference link to my r720 build
https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...-ideas-for-dell-r720-w-8-2-5-hdd-slots.14039/

side note I did have slower results using the 900p in the dell r720 for some reason, it would be interesting if you had a similar result in the r730.
https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ration-of-intel-optane-900p-under-esxi.17426/
 

pchangover

Member
Dec 12, 2016
56
22
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MD
Nice box, i would be interested in what watts the box runs when you dont with your build.

I have a r720 with 2x e5-2680v2 and 192GB Ram. my drives are 2.5 on the r720 so all my ssds are there. I use a SM 4u box for 3.5 HDD connected via external HBA card into the r720. For drives I run 8TB Reds shucked from the BB easystore usb drives. when they are down to 150 EA, they are an awesome deal. I use 1 intel 900p 280GB for Zil. I run ESXI on the box and have Freenas as a VM with two HBA passthrough. I created 30 GB vm drives off the 900p for zil for each of my storage pools, currently 4 of them. I gave FN 64GB Ram so no need for l2arc. I also run all my other home prod VMs on that server so plenty of power and ram leftover for that.

My usecase doesnt involve plex or tons of media. I have two storage pools i pass to windows server 2012 R2 essentials that i use for storing all my files as well as backups of files and server, etc. The left over storage is used as iscsi drive back to ESXI for backing up VM and storing dev vms when not in use.

Not sure if the 8tb reds with 900p would be fast enough for your needs. Speeds are more then enough to saturate 1GB network, and when using other servers connected to 10 GB i can get a few hundred MB per second transfers.

reference link to my r720 build
https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...-ideas-for-dell-r720-w-8-2-5-hdd-slots.14039/

side note I did have slower results using the 900p in the dell r720 for some reason, it would be interesting if you had a similar result in the r730.
https://forums.servethehome.com/ind...ration-of-intel-optane-900p-under-esxi.17426/


Thanks for your input. Which SM box are you using and which HBA card for external connection? I plan on doing something similar as a storage bump later next year. I'm thinking I won't need an l2arc as well.

I'll definitely let you know what speeds I get with the 900P.
 

marcoi

Well-Known Member
Apr 6, 2013
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Gotha Florida
Thanks for your input. Which SM box are you using and which HBA card for external connection? I plan on doing something similar as a storage bump later next year. I'm thinking I won't need an l2arc as well.

I'll definitely let you know what speeds I get with the 900P.
 
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nthu9280

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Feb 3, 2016
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San Antonio, TX
If you are looking for Supermicro Used 836 chassis, keep an eye on Dell Compellent CT-040 and Quantum DXi 6500 series in your searches. They probably come with old X8 boards but the chassis is just relabeled SCE836. They can be had for really cheap and possibly end up getting SAS2 HBAs as well. The below is incorrectly listed as 2U. It's actually 3U

for example like this one:
Dell CT-040 2U SAN System - 1x Xeon E5540 QC @ 2.53GHz 6GB DDR3 NO HDD + | eBay
 
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pchangover

Member
Dec 12, 2016
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MD
If you are looking for Supermicro Used 836 chassis, keep an eye on Dell Compellent CT-040 and Quantum DXi 6500 series in your searches. They probably come with old X8 boards but the chassis is just relabeled SCE836. They can be had for really cheap and possibly end up getting SAS2 HBAs as well. The below is incorrectly listed as 2U. It's actually 3U

for example like this one:
Dell CT-040 2U SAN System - 1x Xeon E5540 QC @ 2.53GHz 6GB DDR3 NO HDD + | eBay
Bought it! lol

Definitely worth it to see what trouble I can get into with it. Thanks!
 

nthu9280

Well-Known Member
Feb 3, 2016
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San Antonio, TX
Most likely it will come with SAS1 backplane. If you want cheaper route, 836TQ back planes can be had for $25. It's a cabling mess. If you want direct attached, 836A get ready to spend upwards of $350. bpn-sas2-836 is the other alternative but that is expander version.
 

iamtelephone

Member
Jan 30, 2017
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Ah so the difference is having 16 SATA cables to manage vs 4 mini-sas? I guess I'd also have to consider costs of a controller card too.
Yep, the 836TQ requires 4x mini-sas to sata cables (16 cables) versus mini-sas to mini-sas cables. It can be a cable nightmare if you're extremely limited in space (between backplane and fans). In the end, it all depends on how you organize your cables.

As you mentioned, you'll need a controller card or two (or an expander).

EDIT: I haven't used a SAS-836EL1, but it's $65 on Ebay and has mini-sas connectors. More info on the backplane: BPN-SAS2-836EL1 SAS Expander Backplane - Thomas-Krenn-Wiki. Read the comment below.
 
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pchangover

Member
Dec 12, 2016
56
22
18
MD
Finally cracked the case of this supermicro Dell CT-40 open today and it has the following in it:
  • LSI sas9201-16e which has 4 x SFF-8088 mini-SAS External Connectors
  • Compellent Dell 102-018-002-c 512mb Cache Pci-e RAID Controller
According to the Dell service tag:
  • 6TWX31BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP), CPLNT, 2.5, 6G, SERIAL ATTACHED SCSI, QUICK SHIP, SC40
So it looks like I have a 6G backplane which is good! I'm very confused as to how I'm supposed to cable this up to work as a JBOD extension for my Dell R730XD. I've never seen a RAID card with RJ45 jacks on it.

EDIT: Just to confirm I did check and I can see the backplane that came with it is the SAS836TQ.

I can also pick up the SAS2-836EL1 backplane if that would make my life easier.

What are my options for using this?

Thanks all!
 
Last edited:

ajs

Active Member
Mar 27, 2018
101
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Minnesota
Finally cracked the case of this supermicro Dell CT-40 open today and it has the following in it:
  • LSI sas9201-16e which has 4 x SFF-8088 mini-SAS External Connectors
  • Compellent Dell 102-018-002-c 512mb Cache Pci-e RAID Controller
According to the Dell service tag:
  • 6TWX31BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP), CPLNT, 2.5, 6G, SERIAL ATTACHED SCSI, QUICK SHIP, SC40
So it looks like I have a 6G backplane which is good! I'm very confused as to how I'm supposed to cable this up to work as a JBOD extension for my Dell R730XD. I've never seen a RAID card with RJ45 jacks on it.

EDIT: Just to confirm I did check and I can see the backplane that came with it is the SAS836TQ.

I can also pick up the SAS2-836EL1 backplane if that would make my life easier.

What are my options for using this?

Thanks all!
What PSU came with the Dell CT-40 case? Is it a screamer, or an SQ model?