Storage chassis options

[freebsdrules]

Hi all -

I currently have a storage server that resides in a 3U supermicro chassis with 16x 3.5" bays. I run FreeNAS and it's great. I thought it was more than enough storage but of course, that's becoming not the case as time goes on. And I've already upgraded to 6TB disks so I'd prefer not to go just upgrading the size.

So, that being said, I'd ideally like to add a chassis that is literally just drives that can connect to my existing server to create additional volumes as I add drives. What am I looking for here? Forgive my naivety and thanks in advance!

 

[K D]

Depending on the number of drives you need you can go with a supermicro 826/836/846/847 chassis with an expander backplane and a JBOD board.

MCP-280-84701-0N - Cable to convert the backplane internal to an external sas port

Add an external hba to your existing server and connect it to the external port in the new JBOD

 

[K D]

Some articles from the main site to help

SAS Expanders, Build Your Own Cheap JBOD DAS/ SAS Enclosure

SAS Expanders, Build Your Own JBOD DAS Enclosure and Save - Iteration 2 - A Better Solution

Supermicro CSE-PTJBOD-CB1 JBOD Power Board - DIY JBOD Made Easy

 

[freebsdrules]

Thank you, will read up!

 

[Patrick]

Those are probably due for a refresh. 2010!

Nowadays, using the JBOD board make sense. Also, you can find a lot of JBOD/ SAS expander chassis on ebay. I would get SAS2 or SAS3 enclosures only at this point.

 

[freebsdrules]

So something like this Supermicro 24 bay (currently for sale) seems like it would work great. FS: SuperMicro Chassis, NAS Drive , APs, RAM.. and more.. It looks like it includes a cable to convert from internal backplane to external sas but I'm confirming with the seller. If that's true, all I need is an external HBA in my current file server?

 

[freebsdrules]

Ended up getting a bit more clarification and went ahead and purchased the unit along with this adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PRXOQFA/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and the supermicro jbod board.

Any reason why I can't use a Sun Dual Port 40GB MHQH29B-XSR INFINIBAND ADAPTER I have lying around n my fileserver to connect them?