Supermicro 2U 24 Bay Chassis

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Kneelbeforezod

Active Member
Sep 4, 2015
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I Was looking at one of these on Ebay as it has an SAS2 Backplane. I know the 4U 24, 36 and 45 Bays seem to b e the more popular ones here so i was wondering what opinions y'all had on the 2U 24 bay. Any idea what kind of noise the 2U Might kick out as well?
 

PigLover

Moderator
Jan 26, 2011
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For the 2U I really prefer the "A" series backplane but the SAS2 backplanes work great too. Unlike the 4Us you don't have to worry about getting an "old" SAS-1 expander because, AFAIK, SM never built a SAS1 expander backplane for their 2U chassis.

Noise is no more or less of a problem than you find with the 3U/4U chassis. Same PSU modules as used in the 3u/4u chassis so the issues are the same - if you get the right PSI (920SQ or 720P/510P) you can manage the PSU noise. If you get the non-platinum PSUs they scream like a jet.

Backplane fans are same story too. Watch for older revision chassis that has 3-pin fans. No love there. But with the PWM model and good fan speed control from your MB you can slow them down to tolerable noise levels and still maintain cool operation. Remember that SM designed the fans expecting to run 24x hot 15k SAS drives in the backplane - you probably won't be doing that so you have lots of headroom to slow the fans and still cool the disks.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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The SM 216 (2U. 24x hot swap) is a popular choice and usually a lot on ebay, sadly the price is up around 100$ or more from this time last year. Watch for some chassis that have rear 2.5" as well as no drive caddies... even at $3-5 each it adds up to replace 24 of them, now the chassis 'deal' is no more a deal, and likely cost more than jsut buying one ready to go :)
 

Connorise

Member
Mar 2, 2017
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I can confirm that The SM 216 (2U. 24x hot swap) is the really valid option.
Some time ago my customers add two SM216 servers and as far as I know a job is done.
 

Churchill

Admiral
Jan 6, 2016
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There's quite a few of the SM216's on ebay that are ready to roll out. I went hunting for them.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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There are a lot on ebay, yep! Make sure you get the backplane you want if you go that route.
 

Churchill

Admiral
Jan 6, 2016
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There are a lot on ebay, yep! Make sure you get the backplane you want if you go that route.

how can you tell the difference? is there a command to run or a spec sheet to see? I'd assume that all SM216's come with SAS2 backplane.
 

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
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The sellers will list the backplane model #.

Some are expander backplanes, some are dual expander, some are 6x SAS cables, etc... there are variants.