EU Rackable NM46X 12-LFF chassis 60€ BO

[hmartin]

A vendor in Poland is selling Rackable half-depth chassis with 12 LFF bays

Newer version (Dual Socket F, plastic drive trays, 3 chassis fans, Mini-SAS connectors on backplane)

Older version (Dual Socket 940, metal drive trays, 2 chassis fans, SATA connectors on backplane)

Both versions include a dual Opteron motherboard and a SATA controller (PCI-X for the socket 940 system, PCI-e 3ware 9650SE-12ML for the Socket F system), though they're DDR/DDR2 based systems so it's a rip and replace job.

The motherboards are EATX sized with 1U height for the CPU heat sink. The chassis includes a power supply.

These chassis also appear to include the Rackable remote management card (serial over LAN, remote power/reset). The Socket 940 version appears to come with the Phantom version of the remote management card, which according to the above page is an older revision. The seller's photos include serial/power/reset visible from the remote management card, so both versions should include at least this basic functionality.

The seller manually accepted my 60€ BO for QTY 1 of the newer chassis after just 2 minutes, so they're probably willing to go even lower for the Socket F system. Shipping isn't cheap, but then again these aren't light.

Though they're hardly new, I thought it was a pretty good deal on an ATX compatible, half depth chassis with trayed LFF bays. The remote management card is definitely not modern or secure, but it would allow you basic remote management capability.

I'll update the thread with more photos and information when I receive the chassis.

 

[Mishka]

Any idea if these have issues with 2TB+ drives?

 

[Rand__]

Here are videos for similar models

Unfortunately it does not mention supported drive sizes

But here is a discussion about the raid controller...
4TB disks attached to 3ware 9550SE

Based on that I'd consider it to be SAS1 and thus rather unlikely to support larger drives properly. But o/c i have no *actual* expertise with these

 

[tomaash]

It actually has 3ware 9650SE-12ML, which is SATAII RAID controller and should support 2TB+ disks and LUNs. SATA only, though. Datasheet is here
Also, isn't this chassis 3U? Motherboard compartment looks like 1U and 12 3.5" disks in setup like that typically fit into 2U.

I was considering snatching one just for the chassis, but the front faceplate is highly customised...

 

[Rand__]

Yes that's why I said similar - I assume they came in different sizes depending on # of disks but same base technique.

 

[hmartin]

It actually has 3ware 9650SE-12ML, which is SATAII RAID controller and should support 2TB+ disks and LUNs. SATA only, though. Datasheet is here
Also, isn't this chassis 3U? Motherboard compartment looks like 1U and 12 3.5" disks in setup like that typically fit into 2U.

I was considering snatching one just for the chassis, but the front faceplate is highly customised...

From looking at other eBay auctions, IO plate appears to be removable (though maybe this is for a different chassis model), and is the standard ATX size, so as long as you don't have any SFP ports on the motherboard that would interfere with the remote management port, I don't think there's any modification necessary to replace the board.

Here's a manual for the 2U version (PDF).

Edit: from looking at the position of the holes in the mounting ears, I think you're right that these are 3U. I've edited the original post to remove the 4U height.

 

[Mishka]

From looking at other eBay auctions, IO plate appears to be removable (though maybe this is for a different chassis model), and is the standard ATX size, so as long as you don't have any SFP ports on the motherboard that would interfere with the remote management port, I don't think there's any modification necessary to replace the board.

Here's a manual for the 2U version (PDF).

Edit: from looking at the position of the holes in the mounting ears, I think you're right that these are 3U. I've edited the original post to remove the 4U height.

Judging by the manual i would say these are SAS2?, 5 3.5" drives and max of 15TB so that'd be 3TB drives?

 

[legen]

Given the age of these systems wont fans, PSU, capacitors, etc be very close to their end-of-life?

Socket F in the new system was replaced in 2010. That means that the fans, PSU etc are at least 10 years old?

If you need to replace fans, PSU, capacitors on management-board etc is it really worth it even if its just 50€?

 

[BeTeP]

If you need to replace fans, PSU, capacitors on management-board etc is it really worth it even if its just 50€?

Only if you need a shallow 12LFF chassis for a project.
There were 3 separate 4xLFF direct attach backplanes in those units.

The PSU, fans, motherboard are trivial to replace.

 

[ari2asem]

i have a rackable s3016 (16 bay jbod unit). those 4pin white colour power sockets are electrically the same as molex 4pin power connector. dont confuse them as 4pin pci-e or 4pin atx/eps. they use molex electric scheme.

this unit in OP can be better used as jbod case. my unit supports 10tb hdd, i dont have bigger hdd to test.

 

[hmartin]

Received my unit today. It was shipped with UPS and took 4 days to be delivered (Poland -> France). Very well packaged with ample bubble wrap. It is indeed 3U.

The remote management board in my unit is the Roamer model, though I haven't tested it yet to explore any of the features:

The IO plate is not removable but rather part of chassis front. If you want to install another ATX compatible board in this, you'll need a dremel to cut it:

Overall, the server is extremely clean apart from some label adhesive on some drive trays and on some portions of the chassis.

The power supply has a manufacture date of December 2008. The 40mm fan starts at a high RPM and then gradually lowers to something I'd consider annoying but not intolerable.

At the POST screen, the server draws ~165W and is quite loud. Oh, and it has 8x4GB DDR2 667MHz ECC DIMMs, which was somewhat surprising. I had expected to find 16x2GB. Anyone fancy a space heater?

With the main board off and the PSU supplying 5VSB (which the Roamer also uses) the consumption at the wall is 6.6W and all fans (including the PSU fan) are off.

The backplane does have SAS connectors in the HD bays (SFF-8482), though I don't have any SAS devices to test if the backplane is really SAS compatible.

 

[Lorenzo Nencini]

The backplane does have SAS connectors in the HD bays (SFF-8482), though I don't have any SAS devices to test if the backplane is really SAS compatible.

Hi
I've some questions about this servers:

- can you tell me if the backplanes are 3Gbps or 6Gbps?
- can you also tell me his depth? I haven't found exact info about it and the translations doesn't help.

Thanks in advance

 

[hmartin]

I don't know if the backplane supports 6Gbps, the included controller is only 3Gbps and I don't own any SAS devices to test the backplane at 6Gbps. I don't think it has a port multiplier (each row of 4 drives has its own SFF-8087 connector), so the speed should only be limited by the controller.

The chassis is 36.5cm deep from the mounting ears, and the total depth is 39.5cm (the rack ears are not flush with the front of the chassis).

Edit: I just plugged an SSD into the backplane of a Rackable 2U chassis (4 drive bays, individual SATA connectors instead of SFF-8087) and it's showing up as 6Gbps in smartctl, so I would say that this model should support 6Gbps too.

 

[Lorenzo Nencini]

Really thank you.
I'm going to buy asap

 

[hmartin]

An update on the 3U chassis. So SFF-8087 to 4xSATA cables don't appear to work, the backplane appears to require a SAS controller. I have a motherboard with an integrated LSI2008, and I can confirm that the backplane supports 6Gbps speeds:

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Marvell based SanDisk SSDs
Device Model:     SanDisk SD8SN8U-128G-1006
Serial Number:    XXXXXXXXXXXX
LU WWN Device Id: 5 001b44 XXXXXXXXX
Firmware Version: X4120006
User Capacity:    128,035,676,160 bytes [128 GB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Rotation Rate:    Solid State Device
Form Factor:      < 1.8 inches
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 T13/2015-D revision 3
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.2, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Sat Apr 18 16:02:36 2020 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

 

[rootgremlin]

An update on the 3U chassis. So SFF-8087 to 4xSATA cables don't appear to work, the backplane appears to require a SAS controller. I have a motherboard with an integrated LSI2008, and I can confirm that the backplane supports 6Gbps speeds:

for this to work, you would need a reverse breakout cable! did you use one? or was it a "normal" SAS to 4x SATA breakout cable?

 

[ari2asem]

first, we need to know what type of connectors has the backplane and your motherboard

 

[hmartin]

for this to work, you would need a reverse breakout cable! did you use one? or was it a "normal" SAS to 4x SATA breakout cable?

I have no idea what a "reverse breakout cable" is, can you link to one?

Here is the cable I used, they're quite cheap on eBay/AliExpress:

Edit: okay, after googling I found this answer on the unRAID forum. So I'll order a reverse cable and update when it arrives.

 

[ari2asem]

Discrete SATA to SFF-8087 Mini SAS Reverse breakout cable. L=50 [02-0103-50] - €13.00 : Ri-vier, for 19 inch Rachmount cases, Cables and Powersupplys.

Discrete SATA to SFF-8087 Mini SAS Reverse breakout cable. L=100 [02-0103-100] - €20.00 : Ri-vier, for 19 inch Rachmount cases, Cables and Powersupplys.


Discrete SATA to SFF-8087 Mini SAS Reverse breakout cable. L=70 [02-0103-70] - €15.50 : Ri-vier, for 19 inch Rachmount cases, Cables and Powersupplys.

from the netherlands (holland)

those reverse cables look exacly the same as forward cables, but the wiring inside the cable is different.
i have tested thos cables from this seller, they are working cables

 

[bzaras]

Seems like they still have them on polish auction site:
Rackable Arima HDAMA 2 x AMD 265 HE 16GB 12x SATA
Rackable Tyan S2932 1x Opteron 2372HE Quad 32GB