Replacing CPU+MOBO on my storage server

[gnomesenpai]

Hey all,

I am currently running a E3-1230V3 with HT disabled, Asus P9D-M and 32GB Unbuffered DDR3 ECC memory with 2x LSI 9211-8i with Trunas Core as the OS. I am wanting to upgrade to a newer(used) platform to try and reduce power usage but I am struggling to find a nice combination that has enough x16/x8 slots for my HBA's while having a low powered CPU like an Atom. Its a pure file box and never goes past 1-10% load.

Can anyone suggest something that would be suitable, even if it keeps using the DDR3 that would be fine, just seems a waste for this cpu to sit idle all its life.

 

[NPS]

With two HBAs I guess you have many disk connected. How many and what type? What's the rest of your system like? Is there a Backplane? Power supplies? Fans? It's not enough info yet but I guess your problem regarding power consumption are not CPU/MB/RAM.

 

[gnomesenpai]

The HBA's goes to 16 hot-swap bays, cant remember the chassis name/version sorry! Currently got 5x WD red 3TB, 4x2TB Seagate desktop disks, PSU is an EVGA Gold rated 550w (if i remember correctly) and all fans are Noctua 3x120mm mid-chassis, 2x80mm rear.

 

[nexox]

If you just need PCIe for storage you can simply use one HBA with an expander, then quite a few lower power platforms become viable, or you could make a lot more improvement by replacing your current set of disks with a couple larger ones and running them off built in SATA. In my quest to find a platform with at least one x16 and one x8 3.0 slot, with ECC support, for my fileserver everything was either high power, expensive, or relied on non-official ECC support on consumer parts.

 

[NPS]

Expanders are power hungry. Avoid them. Better reduce your disk count like @nexox described.

 

[name stolen]

You can't reduce power consumption enough from an idling Haswell to compete with the savings from retiring all those small spindles (or even a couple of them).

 

[bayleyw]

echoing what @name stolen said, depending how how much space is actually on the server after redundancy you could replace the drives with a pair of 18TB ones for $350-600 depending on if you go used or new. the reason why you can't get 24 lanes on Atom is because Atom doesn't have many lanes to begin with.