Supermicro 3u 16bay 3.5" chassis with SAS2 expander

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lmk

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Dec 11, 2013
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What's the noise on this one like? dB? Or relative to some common hardware, here; like a C6100, or Quanta LB4M, etc?
 

PigLover

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What's the noise on this one like? dB? Or relative to some common hardware, here; like a C6100, or Quanta LB4M, etc?
Assuming your MB will run the PWM fans slow then it shouldn't be too noisy at all. Not "living room quiet" but certain way quieter than a C6100.
 

PigLover

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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.
Yes, that would make quite a nice NAS. You really wouldn't even have much need for any add-in cards since the HBA and extra NICs are already on the MB. Problem is that there are few, if any, deals on E5 v3 CPUs and DDR4 memory is still quite pricey - it would be an expensive MB/CPU/RAM. But you'd end up with quite a nice system.
 

NetWise

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This may be the wrong place for general discussion on these solutions but...

Supermicro 837E16 Rjbod 3U 28 Bay 16 Front 12 Back SuperChassis Storage Array | eBay
Are these largely similar? I have a situation at a CoLo facility that is pretty tight on rack space, and this seems like a pretty nice density. Though, there are the 4U 24 bay that sometimes hit $500 and are often $1000, this seems like a reasonable way to "not waste the back half" of the unit, and get some additional density? Reads as though it has only single port SAS expander if I'm reading this right? Any feedback from anyone, largely about cooling?
 

Patrick

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This may be the wrong place for general discussion on these solutions but...

Supermicro 837E16 Rjbod 3U 28 Bay 16 Front 12 Back SuperChassis Storage Array | eBay
Are these largely similar? I have a situation at a CoLo facility that is pretty tight on rack space, and this seems like a pretty nice density. Though, there are the 4U 24 bay that sometimes hit $500 and are often $1000, this seems like a reasonable way to "not waste the back half" of the unit, and get some additional density? Reads as though it has only single port SAS expander if I'm reading this right? Any feedback from anyone, largely about cooling?
Might be good for a different thread. Let me know if you want to move it.

I recently picked up a Supermciro SC847 (non-expander) and it is excellent. Certainly on the louder side but I am turning it into the new drive testing machine

The one you linked is a JBOD only instead of a unit that can hold a server also. If that is what you are looking for, it may be a solid option. Also, if you are tight on space, it does help.
 
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PigLover

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The one you linked is a JBOD only instead of a unit that can hold a server also. If that is what you are looking for, it may be a solid option. Also, if you are tight on space, it does help.
I believe that model is also a SAS1 expander, so not the best option if you are using any SSD. And the price does not put it into the realm of "great deals".
 

NetWise

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Oh totally not a great deal. But now that I have an idea for what to target I can watch for it. Good call on the SAS1. I have some additional reading to do for sure, but these at $300 would be great. Good buy for those that got them!
 

Chuntzu

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Well just to chime in on this, I have been using these chassis with my sofs windows server 2012r2 set up for 4 months or so and can tell you these are wonderful chassis especially as jbods. First thing about noise, these things can be desktop quiet. They use pwm fans and when using as a jbod using a pwm fan controller you can manage the speed and noise of these things with out worry. Please don't use resistor based fan controllers as they will burn up very quickly. Second these chassis use the much more silent 1000-1200watt power supplies. These are not the default 900 watt always on screamer power supplies the old CSE 846 or 216 chassis come with. I don't have my db mic readly available but with just the quiet power supplies noise levels are so low I no longer hear the humm of these across my house, where as those darn 900 watt supplies even turned off are extremely annoying. I with these modifications these jbods and chassis are very home server friendly. It has stopped me from having to implement the same sound proofing and dampening techniques I employed building my home theater addition to my house. But I still may make some modifications to the room to isolate the sound and heat even further, but that will probably be a post in and of itself.

**edit sorry for the second post with just photos, really should set up my own image hosting so I dont need to use the built in tap2talk**

 
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lmk

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@Chuntzu great details and pictures added, thanks!

What are those black things affixed with velcro, one on each of the chassis in the rear?

(Dial/analogue RPM) Fan controllers? Temperature monitor?
 

Boddy

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You really wouldn't even have much need for any add-in cards since the HBA and extra NICs are already on the MB.
How about on C6100 side. Any expansion cards required on C6100 to connect to NAS motherboard (e.g. Supermicro X10SRH-CLN4F )? Thanks
 

Chuntzu

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@awedio and @imk those little black Velcro pieces are the pwm mate pwm fan controllers. They work very well on the triple fan 2u cse-216 chassis! The 3u servers use a dual controller chip dig pwm fan controller that was built by another form member here and works really well on the 5 higher power fans in the case 836. Truth is I need to make another one for the second 836 chassis so CE the single chip in the fan mate gets a bit overwhelmed by the 5 larger fans and need almost three of the pwm mates to control the fans properly. So in the mean time I have all the fans running at 5 volts to keep them quit and that works very well for now, but the drives are under light duty currently and I can keep the room a bit cooler since winter temps are here finally in AZ.
 

Chuntzu

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Do a search for pwm fan split cable on amazon and there will be plenty of option. Nice thing about pwm fan splitting is that your not going to burn out the controller like you would if you split a resistor based fan controller.
 

PigLover

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PWM fans are great. I almost always make up my own splitter cables. It's really easy.

First thing to remember is that PWM fans can all be connected directly to power independently. So no matter what the fans draw in amps it won't burn up you controller trying to handle it.

In this case, as long as you want all 5 fans to be controlled together, use one of the PWM-mates shown above. Wire 12v (pin 2, typically yellow) and gnd (pin 1, typically black) independently from the psu to each fan. Make a cable with 12v and gnd for the PWM-mate. connect the 'sense' lead (pin 3, typically green) fom a single fan to the PWM-mate. Then connect the pulse (pin 4, typically blue) lead from the PWM-mate to all of the fans.

This way all of the fans are drawing power without impact to the controller. You can usually at least to 8-10 fans connected this way before the pulse signal gets too degraded/noisy to maintain control.
 
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Entz

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Apr 25, 2013
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Canada Eh?
Exactly, I use the PWM mate as well in mine, connected to a Swiftech PWM splitter which gets its power directly from the PSU (Stolen from one of the back plane connectors)