Quanta 2U D51B: LGA2011-3, 24 x 2.5" Trays, 10 GbE, Rails $250 OBO

[sneakyimp]

So I ordered one of these and it didn't come with the 2 drives in the rear. I wanted to pass-through the HBA card for the front ports to a Storage VM. I made a drive holder that mounts where the rear HDD cage would go and used a buck converter to go from the 12v out of the PCI-E power plug to 5v, which my 2 boot SSD's will use. I sacrificed an extra PSU sata power cable to hook up to the Buck converter and then used an SFF-8087 to sata breakout cable to attach the two SSD's I will use. Its a tight fit and I might be ordering some cables to make it easier but for now its working for my needs.

Here are some pictures and a link to the STL if anyone else is interested:

http://imgur.com/a/4ZYbBcc

Quanta D51B-2U HDD PSU mount by sneakyimp

This is a HDD holder for two 7mm 2.5 inch drives and a 12v to 5v buck converter linked here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/XL4015-5A-DC-Buck-Step-down-Adjustable-Voltage-Power-Converter-w-LED-Voltmeter/142968844998?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649This allows you to use the...

www.thingiverse.com

 

[YuanyangX]

used a buck converter to go from the 12v out of the PCI-E power plug to 5v

I also found something might be interesting. There is a "PCIe SSD power connector" port on this board. It's No.28 if you check the motherboard overview sticker on the server cover. It matches an adapter from Dell Precision T1700 SSF. Please refer to the photo.
I haven't found any pinout diagram for this "power connector". I can't test it either because my only server is running some production apps.

The part number of the adapter is "DP/N 07GYGG" and you can find it from eBay for few dollars. If the connector on motherboard can provide all 3.3/5/12v then it could be a better solution than a converter.

 

[sneakyimp]

I also found something might be interesting. There is a "PCIe SSD power connector" port on this board. It's No.28 if you check the motherboard overview chart on the server cover. It matches an adapter from Dell Precision T1700 SSF. Please refer to the photo.
I haven't found any pinout diagram for this "power connector". I can't test it either because my only server is running some production apps.

The part number of the adapter is "DP/N 07GYGG" and you can find it from eBay for few dollars. If the connector on motherboard can provide all 3.3/5/12v then it could be a better solution than a converter.

That would be a lot better. I had assumed that connector was a mini PCI-E power plug but your right it doesn't appear to be. Ill order one of these and see. I'll poke around that connector and see what I can find voltage wise. The standard SFF drive backplane uses both of the SATA DOM power connectors on the board to provide power to the backplane so those are already 5v.

 

[YuanyangX]

That would be a lot better. I had assumed that connector was a mini PCI-E power plug but your right it doesn't appear to be. Ill order one of these and see. I'll poke around that connector and see what I can find voltage wise. The standard SFF drive backplane uses both of the SATA DOM power connectors on the board to provide power to the backplane so those are already 5v.

I remembered I tried with a voltmeter and got ground, 5VDC and 12VDC reads from that port, when system is powered on. But I didn't make note. The adapter has 6 individual cables attached to each pin. 4 for regular size SATA power and 2 for the smaller one. So the worse situation would be cut and re-wire all 6 cables using a correct order.

Also about the 6-PIN white connector in your photo, the pinout match EVGA fully modular PCIe power connector. However they don't physically match. So few knife cuts would be needed. Then you will get a 6 or 8 pin power connector for your gaming graphic card.(G2 650W pinout - EVGA Forums)

 

[sneakyimp]

The white connector on the board is a standard PCI-E 6 pin like you would find on a GPU. I cut the end off an extra one of those I had and thats where I am currently pulling power from. I will test the other plug with a volt meter to see what it will give me.

 

[Wolfstar]

As a note, these were dropped in price yesterday some time to $219 shipped.

 

[sneakyimp]

As a note, these were dropped in price yesterday some time to $219 shipped.

Yea, looks like it no longer has the drive trays or rails but still a good deal.

Attached is what my assembled version looks like as well as I made a diagram of the voltages on the connector. I just wish we knew the current limits of it. I would hate to draw 3+ amps from it and kill something on the board.

http://imgur.com/a/pHVm9ML

 

[YuanyangX]

I just wish we knew the current limits of it. I would hate to draw 3+ amps from it and kill something on the board.

I think it should be safe enough as long as you only connect SSD to it since it’s marked as “SSD power connector”.

 

[Layla]

Yea, looks like it no longer has the drive trays or rails but still a good deal.

I was interested before and thinking about getting one; but, without rails or drive trays, this isn't interesting at all anymore.

 

[Fritz]

I was interested before and thinking about getting one; but, without rails or drive trays, this isn't interesting at all anymore.

I agree. If it was a SM server it would be a different story.

 

[YuanyangX]

I was interested before and thinking about getting one; but, without rails or drive trays, this isn't interesting at all anymore.

Second this. The rails came with it are really good ones and it’s tool less design. Also the trays would cost a lot of money, which might be more than server itself, since it can take 24!!...

 

[Bert]

I have received mine and it comes with mezzanine card and bracket but pretty much all my drive trays are missing the springs. I don't want to create a fuss about this but is it possible to get springs separately and get them installed? I see trays kind of pop up without springs but I am not sure if they will with the drives. Any suggestions?

 

[tritron]

I just got two of the servers it came with mezzanine card raid controller 3108 and one got caddies. Where I can find couple pci-e cars that allow me too boot from? Is there cable that I can buy to power ssd of board power connector. I saw dell sata power cables on ebay they look like they have gpu power connector to 2 sata power connectors. I was trying to install linux and windows and server did not recognize drives attached.

 

[iriscloud]

Has anyone found a good solution to control the fan speed? These run a bit too loud for me with the rack being in the kitchen. I'm considering a stand alone PWM controller or just swapping the fans outright for something quieter and keeping BMC fan control.

 

[tritron]

What version of bios bmc are you running my are not that loud not dell quiet but not very loud

 

[iriscloud]

What version of bios bmc are you running my are not that loud not dell quiet but not very loud

Mine aren't extremely loud either but i was hoping to make them quieter. They are the loudest thing i have in the rack, beating out my brocade icx 7250 although at a lower pitch. For reference my fans SYS0-SYS3 are running between 3100-3500RPM and SYS4-SYS7 are running between 4000-4600RPM. My rack is close to silent with the door closed and these off, but clearly audible (not loud) with these running and the TV on.

Firmware Revision: 3.83.00
BIOS Version: S2B_3B20

 

[tritron]

There are 8 fans what size ? I a guessing 80mm quiet fans are $20 a piece so that $120 per server. I am trying to figure if we can use fan controller software with linux or windows to lower noise

 

[Bert]

How can I get this server boot from a drive? I was hoping to use my SataDOM but blue sata ports do not seem to power up the SataDOM I have. Now I am not sure where to put an SATA drive and power it.

Mine came with LSI card, either it is 3008 (or 3108 I don't know the difference) and I cannot get Windows to see the drives on the LSI card. In any case, I don't want the OS to be on the SAS card.

 

[Fritz]

How can I get this server boot from a drive? I was hoping to use my SataDOM but blue sata ports do not seem to power up the SataDOM I have. Now I am not sure where to put an SATA drive and power it.

Mine came with LSI card, either it is 3008 (or 3108 I don't know the difference) and I cannot get Windows to see the drives on the LSI card. In any case, I don't want the OS to be on the SAS card.

My boot SSD is in one of the rear slots. Had no problems loading the OS and all my drives are recognized. I'm using a 3008 I bought separate on eBay.

 

[sneakyimp]

How can I get this server boot from a drive? I was hoping to use my SataDOM but blue sata ports do not seem to power up the SataDOM I have. Now I am not sure where to put an SATA drive and power it.

Mine came with LSI card, either it is 3008 (or 3108 I don't know the difference) and I cannot get Windows to see the drives on the LSI card. In any case, I don't want the OS to be on the SAS card.

There are two 3 pin power connectors near the onboard sata connectors that you can use: Amazon.com: Supermicro CBL-PWEX-0625 3 Pin to 2 Pin SATADOM Power Cable, 12.7cm, 28AWG, RoHS: Computers & Accessories