I bought this 837 based sas enclosure from a local shop since price was so tempting 
Now I have to figure out what to do with it! If some of you had prior experience with this enclosure, perhaps you can help me out with some of the issues I see and whether it is worthwhile to invest my time in it.
I have one 4U NetApp and one 2U Dell Xyratex based disk shelves which I can consolidate on this 3u system. Yet, I am having second thoughts on migrating to this solution although space savings are significant.
First of all the fans are super noisy on this system in comparison to my other disk shelves . The system has fan control board but I didn't see any knobs. Is there a way to control fan speeds? I can replace them with quieter 80mm fans but I am not sure if this is advisable. It seems like the system fans are underbuilt for the enclosure as they are limited to 80mm and there are only 3 of them. I am worried that the problem is structural since there is not enough fan space.
SATA drives do not work on the enclosure. I am quite puzzled why this is happening since all the sas enclosures I used supported SATA drives. I also like that NetApp/Dell Xyratex system offers SAS/SATA transposers. Is SATA incompatibility expected or am I doing something wrong?
I have the nice RevB sliding rails that go with the enclosure. They look super strong but I am worried if I can fully extend them when the disks are loaded so that I can reach to the back slots. Any prior experience with fully loaded SuperMicro chassis and these rails.
Finally the same seller is offering the 4u version of this, 847E26-RJBOD1 but price is much steeper, $200 more. Yet it seems like that one is much better contender with 45 drive slot and more fans but I am not sure if I should invest to SuperMicro systems due to these problems. If you had prior experience with 847 and if it is significantly better than 837, please let me know.
Now I have to figure out what to do with it! If some of you had prior experience with this enclosure, perhaps you can help me out with some of the issues I see and whether it is worthwhile to invest my time in it.I have one 4U NetApp and one 2U Dell Xyratex based disk shelves which I can consolidate on this 3u system. Yet, I am having second thoughts on migrating to this solution although space savings are significant.
First of all the fans are super noisy on this system in comparison to my other disk shelves . The system has fan control board but I didn't see any knobs. Is there a way to control fan speeds? I can replace them with quieter 80mm fans but I am not sure if this is advisable. It seems like the system fans are underbuilt for the enclosure as they are limited to 80mm and there are only 3 of them. I am worried that the problem is structural since there is not enough fan space.
SATA drives do not work on the enclosure. I am quite puzzled why this is happening since all the sas enclosures I used supported SATA drives. I also like that NetApp/Dell Xyratex system offers SAS/SATA transposers. Is SATA incompatibility expected or am I doing something wrong?
I have the nice RevB sliding rails that go with the enclosure. They look super strong but I am worried if I can fully extend them when the disks are loaded so that I can reach to the back slots. Any prior experience with fully loaded SuperMicro chassis and these rails.
Finally the same seller is offering the 4u version of this, 847E26-RJBOD1 but price is much steeper, $200 more. Yet it seems like that one is much better contender with 45 drive slot and more fans but I am not sure if I should invest to SuperMicro systems due to these problems. If you had prior experience with 847 and if it is significantly better than 837, please let me know.
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