Supermicro 3u 16bay 3.5" chassis with SAS2 expander

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PigLover

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Jan 26, 2011
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Mr Rackables has a chassis lised that is an even better deal than the SC846 SAS2 expander chassis some of us bought a couple of months ago:

3U Supermicro 16 Bays Storage Server Chassis SC836E26 R1200 SAS2 836EL2 6Gbs | eBay

SuperMicro SC836E26-R1200
- 4u 16 bay 3.5" drive chassis
- Includes dual ported SAS2 expander backplane (SAS2-836EL2)
- dual redundant 1200w Platinum PSUs (these are the efficient & quiet model - though 1200w is probably overkill)
- Rails

This one is a steal @ $345+50. They've listed it OBO so you might be able to grab it for even less.
 
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Entz

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Apr 25, 2013
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Canada Eh?
Indeed ;)

Nice find! I can vouch for these cases, well worth the money (or lack of it in this case I paid well over 1k new).
 

NetWise

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Jun 29, 2012
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I'm having a blonde moment and not getting this. Is this just to be used as a JBOD type expander (a la Dell MD1200) or are you guys putting system boards in them and using them as 3u servers? I have need for the former but don't see the external SAS connections here unless it's just stock photos?
 

PigLover

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I plan to use it as JBOD. External SAS-8088 to internal-8087 adapters that slip into the PCIe slot openings are cheap and easy to find on ebay. In my case I have a couple of them available in my spare parts bin.
 

NetWise

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Jun 29, 2012
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That's fine ;). I know what to watch for now... The cost difference between something like this and an MD1200 Makes the drives almost free. I haven't had to do a lot of external JBOD work as of yet, all internal. I'm here for the learning!
 

Marsh

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May 12, 2013
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Got one with Best Offer @$300 + $30 CA tax. Trying to do local pickup to save the $50 shipping charge.

Mr Rackables has a chassis lised that is an even better deal than the SC846 SAS2 expander chassis some of us bought a couple of months ago:
Mr PigLover, could you please explain why this 3u 16bay chassis is better deal?
thanks
 

PigLover

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The other nice thing about the SuperMicro SAS2 backplanes is that all the chassis management interfaces work correctly with LSI HBA/Raid cards. For example, if you are running Server 2012R2 the drive pool information will tell you the correct backplane slot # for the drive and the "identify drive" feature will properly light the UID light on the drive slot. Linux equiv. works too (though I don't remember the commands).

Its a small thing - until you have a lot of drives, have one start dying, and spend hours trying to figure out exactly which one is the sick one.
 
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PigLover

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Mr PigLover, could you please explain why this 3u 16bay chassis is better deal?
thanks
My view: dual expander vs single. $150 less. Yes, 16 drives vs 24, but for most home/SOHO users this is probably enough with 4tb drives under $150. It doesn't have a MB, but for most of us your either going to pull the MB anyway and run it as JBOD or get a different MB where you can source less expensive CPUs to do the job.

At the end of the discussion it might not be a "better" deal, but it is at least an equal value, a steal for what is offered.

Also, seller was accepting offers. Since he had multiple up for sale eBay won't show the actual sale price of each one - but I'm pretty confident they didn't all go for asking price.
 
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Marsh

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Thanks for the explanation, I whole heartily agreed about the 16 drives vs 24 drives for home use. I just cannot imagine that I would spin up 24 drives to watch a move or physically move a 4u loaded 24bay chassis.

Thanks again
 

canta

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Nov 26, 2014
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the lowest price is $300 + 50 shipping, I bought one.

if you need without sas2 expander backplane is 175+55 shipping, but NO rails

the one has sas2 expander is pretty good deal that includes rails....
 

canta

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Not surprising given the way Mr. Rackables sells. New listing for 8 more of them, same offer.

3U Supermicro 16 Bays Storage Server Chassis SC836E26 R1200 SAS2 836EL2 6Gbs | eBay
they have many, I assume.
Since I monitored that on ebay and other one which is non expander.
I sent multiple best prices to those. the lowest $300+50 shipping on sas2 expender, and $175+55 shipping on non expander.
decided to pick with sas2 expander.

I counted 5X relisted at least on those for 1 month period.
 

canta

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Nov 26, 2014
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The other nice thing about the SuperMicro SAS2 backplanes is that all the chassis management interfaces work correctly with LSI HBA/Raid cards. For example, if you are running Server 2012R2 the drive pool information will tell you the correct backplane slot # for the drive and the "identify drive" feature will properly light the UID light on the drive slot. Linux equiv. works too (though I don't remember the commands).

Its a small thing - until you have a lot of drives, have one start dying, and spend hours trying to figure out exactly which one is the sick one.
I think, you are talking on sg_ses tools, am I correct?
 

TubaMT

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Jul 26, 2014
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I bought one of these back in August. He accepted my best offer of $320, so it seems like he/she is accepting it for lower now!

I'm still trying to figure out what to use it for. Probably a JBOD eventually.
 

Boddy

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Oct 25, 2014
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Sounds interesting. (I don't have a wife, at least yet, anyway :rolleyes:)
Do you think I could a Supermicro X10SRH-CLN4F and make a killer NAS hooked up to a C6100 or two. (Any suggestion for expansion cards?) Many thanks.