<RANT>I hate being scammed by people

[Quasduco]

So, just finally got my "new" 15k SAS drives from eBay, go down and get them in trays and plugged in, do a short test then look at the summary only to find:

Error counter log:
           Errors Corrected by           Total   Correction     Gigabytes    Total
               ECC          rereads/    errors   algorithm      processed    uncorrected
           fast | delayed   rewrites  corrected  invocations   [10^9 bytes]  errors
read:          0        0         0         0          0    1135830.384           0
write:         0        0         0         0          0      44365.653           0
verify:        0        0         0         0          0          2.454           0

SMART Self-test log
Num  Test              Status                 segment  LifeTime  LBA_first_err [SK ASC ASQ]
     Description                              number   (hours)
# 1  Background long   Self test in progress ...   -     NOW                 - [-   -    -]
# 2  Background short  Completed                   -   28525                 - [-   -    -]
# 3  Background short  Completed                   -   28509                 - [-   -    -]

So, essentially, database server drives with 3+ years of use.

Goal was to use 4 of these in a zfs raid 10 for VM storage. Opinions on whether you would keep them if they end up error free?

 

[T_Minus]

I would return for 'new' drives as they said they were selling you.

 

[whitey]

Just chiming in here, unless you got those for dirt cheap and if they are 2.5" or 3.5" 15K models, also taking into acct power usage, I'd have taken the AFA all ssd route for your raid-10 VM datastore/storage pool. Could even go raid-z w/ 3 ssd's and they would do pretty well.

Those will be fine but I think if you do not use cache drives your gonna top out at about 10-12 VM's iops/queue back to array.

15K iops per drive last time I checked 180 iops x 4 /2 (raid10) = 360iops (unless I am screwing up some stripe penalty/gain), 50iops per VM, 10VM's MAYBE before they start performing 'in the dirt'.

 

[pricklypunter]

I agree, SSD would be the way to go if you had the choice. Either way, I wold still return those drives, you paid for new ones, you should expect to receive new drives

 

[Quasduco]

To frame things a little better -

• I won't need but about 8-10 VMs, so that is bearable.
• I got 5 300GB 15k SAS for $17 each. They were supposed to be "new", and on principal, I would want my money back, but that might not go so well with the seller. Who knows...
• While I may, upon finding the right deal, get a couple of ssds for ZIL (first priority) and possibly L2ARC when hit rates start suffering, SSD arrays are not in the current finances.
• My IO needs are not huge for the VMs, so the 15k drives are better than sitting on my storage pool, with slower drives.
• Power consumption for 4 15k drives ain't gonna break the bank, so that part is fine.

 

[whitey]

Fair enough/makes sense then. What chassis/compute?

 

[Quasduco]

2x SuperServer 1026T-6RFT+ w/ Dual L5630s.

 

[bash]

I send the same message to every ebay seller before I put in an offer.

"Can you please send me the SMART Data for power on time and total written."

If they respond with data I use it to estimate what my offer should be and I hold them to it after delivery. If the number is within an acceptable range of what they quoted me I will let it slide. If they flat out lied to me or the product does not match what they described I open a case for refund.

From past experiences you will only get the requested info around 60% of the time. I am pretty ruthless with all these recycling companies who list enterprise drives. I know someone in the business and I have a pretty good idea of what their markup is on these drives.....

If you are not careful you could wind up overpaying on a sample unit or some other craziness.

 

[Quasduco]

I send the same message to every ebay seller before I put in an offer.

"Can you please send me the SMART Data for power on time and total written."

If they respond with data I use it to estimate what my offer should be and I hold them to it after delivery. If the number is within an acceptable range of what they quoted me I will let it slide. If they flat out lied to me or the product does not match what they described I open a case for refund.

From past experiences you will only get the requested info around 60% of the time. I am pretty ruthless with all these recycling companies who list enterprise drives. I know someone in the business and I have a pretty good idea of what their markup is on these drives.....

If you are not careful you could wind up overpaying on a sample unit or some other craziness.

That is a very good suggestion, will have to do that in the future. Most of the time I get my drives not on eBay, so don't have to play with this crap.

 

[Quasduco]

Well, closure - After communicating with the seller, he apologized, said he was told by his vendor they were new, and that he would check his inventory to see if he actually had any new ones. Ends up no, apologized again, and gave me a full refund. I never saw that coming...