Supermicro hotswap cage vs. IcyDock

[badatSAS]

So I kind of want to free up some of the 3.5" hotswap bays that currently have 2.5" SSDs in adapters, and it seems like the easiest way will be to add a block of 4 (or 6) 2.5" bays where there is currently a 5.25" hole in my Supermicro SC745.

Option 1: CSE-M14TB, 4 bays. Officially only supports 3GB/s SATA and SAS. Fan removal possible, alarm silence possible. Comes in "SuperMicro Black and Red" color combo to match case. $80
Option 2: IcyDock MB994SP-4S. 6GB/S SATA and SAS. Fans non removable, automatically turn on when drives are in the enclosure. $60
Option 3: IcyDock MB994SP-4SB-1. 6GB/s SATA only. Fan disable switch, single power connector. $67
Option 4: IcyDock MB996SP-6SB. 6GB/s SATA only, 9.5mm drives only, fan speed selection, dual power connection, $80

Thoughts? Should I be considering something other than these?

 

[nitrobass24]

I used to have the Supermicro one listed above and it is a great product. I dont know if its $13 better than the IcyDock one, but its only $13. At least you know what quality you are getting with SM..plus it will match.

If you want something that uses a SAS8087 cable for host connection - http://www.startech.com/HDD/Mobile-...SATA-SAS-525in-Hot-Swap-Backplane~SATSAS425BK

 

[PigLover]

Second on the SM chassis. I have two of these and they are by far the best made hotswap I've ever used. Even for SSDs you do want some cooling - I found that a simple resister mod slows the SM fan down to almost silent levels. Of course, if the rest of your case has enough negative pressure to pull air through that's probably OK too.

i actually bought the SMs to replace Icy-dock units. They were earlier models than you list here, but the sleds were cheap/flexible/worrysome and the the SSDs didn't always mate properly with the connectors on the backplane. Plus their mounting screw locations interfered with installing the drives (ugh - such simple things can screw it all up!).

Definitely get the SMs. Also - they work fine at SATA-III speeds.

 

[Patrick]

Just got a shipping notification from Icy Dock. Not sure what is en-route.

 

[cactus]

I have a Patriot cage similar to the 4 pot icy dock, the chassis looks the same, but the trays have different fronts. Ex. The trays are annoying because the have a top and bottom and you have to slide the drive in from the side.

 

[badatSAS]

I only saw a review from Patrick of the 2x2.5 + 1 slim optical icydock from this series, had favorable reviews

my main concern was SATA-III speeds of the supermicro, but since that works i'll probably go that way.

Too bad all of the reviews of the CSE-M28E2 say it doesn't work for crap with SSDs, that would be optimal if I could fit 8 drives in and also have access to 4 more ports of the expander to add more harddrives to one sas card

 

[RimBlock]

I am using a M28SAB in my 743 chassis and am very happy with it.

I did take the small fan off the back and disabled the fan fail warning as it sounded like a model helicopter but apart from that all is good.

One thing that is irritating though is something I have noticed with all the Supermicro chassis I have worked with and that is that some drive green activity lights stay on all the time. They do flicker when the drive is in use but are solid green all the time otherwise. It seems to be drive related. Both of my Agility 3 drives are doing it and changing slot or cables or controller makes no difference. I have also had 1 or 2 hard drives out of an array of 5 also doing it. Same brand, model etc as the other 3 drives in the array and again, changing slot etc makes no difference.

The same drives so not exhibit the same behaviour in other chassis, only the Supermicro ones.

So far I see no actual negative effect.

RB

 

[TheBay]

I'd go with the Supermicro hotswap docks all day long.

 

[dba]

One issue with at least some of the IcyDock units: They are all-metal and the drive sleds fit very loosely in their slots. This is a non-issue for SSD drives, but I'd be very worried about vibration if I were using spinning drives.

So I kind of want to free up some of the 3.5" hotswap bays that currently have 2.5" SSDs in adapters, and it seems like the easiest way will be to add a block of 4 (or 6) 2.5" bays where there is currently a 5.25" hole in my Supermicro SC745.

Option 1: CSE-M14TB, 4 bays. Officially only supports 3GB/s SATA and SAS. Fan removal possible, alarm silence possible. Comes in "SuperMicro Black and Red" color combo to match case. $80
Option 2: IcyDock MB994SP-4S. 6GB/S SATA and SAS. Fans non removable, automatically turn on when drives are in the enclosure. $60
Option 3: IcyDock MB994SP-4SB-1. 6GB/s SATA only. Fan disable switch, single power connector. $67
Option 4: IcyDock MB996SP-6SB. 6GB/s SATA only, 9.5mm drives only, fan speed selection, dual power connection, $80

Thoughts? Should I be considering something other than these?

 

[TheBay]

I am using a M28SAB in my 743 chassis and am very happy with it.

I did take the small fan off the back and disabled the fan fail warning as it sounded like a model helicopter but apart from that all is good.

One thing that is irritating though is something I have noticed with all the Supermicro chassis I have worked with and that is that some drive green activity lights stay on all the time. They do flicker when the drive is in use but are solid green all the time otherwise. It seems to be drive related. Both of my Agility 3 drives are doing it and changing slot or cables or controller makes no difference. I have also had 1 or 2 hard drives out of an array of 5 also doing it. Same brand, model etc as the other 3 drives in the array and again, changing slot etc makes no difference.

The same drives so not exhibit the same behaviour in other chassis, only the Supermicro ones.

So far I see no actual negative effect.

RB

If you unscrew the back panel and take it off it becomes M28SAB-OEM which is designed for the 743/745 cases .
It will look like this and one of the chassis fans then cools it.

 

[badatSAS]

Thanks a lot rimblock, you're going to cost me a lot more money since I have to buy the CSE-M28SAB after seeing the picture of yours

jerk.

(random question - is the m28sab upside down?)


** Does anyone know the supermicro part number for the cover/filter holder over the 8 standard hotswap bays for these cases? My cases both came without them, and i'd like to get the part

 

[TheBay]

Yes it is upside down lol , buy the M28SAB-OEM for your case if it's cheaper, or unscrew the metal plate and take it all off as the picture I posted above, which makes it a M28SAB-OEM

@Rimblock, what a great name. Made me laugh as it reminds me of something I hang in my toilet, no offence meant.

 

[glee2000]

Does anyone know if M28SAB can be installed into the 8 drive hot swap cage of the SC743 or SC745 chassis? I don't know if the screws locations match. The reason I ask is because I have a SC745 and want to see if I can fit two M28SAB's into the hot swap space so I can have a 16 drive capacity. I know I can use the 5.25" drive bays to fit the M28SAB, but that would mean I have to have 2 Raid arrays (1 for 3.5" disks and 1 for 2.5" disks). I would like to convert all drives to 2.5" so I can have 1 big array of Raid 10 to gain the performance of a 16 drive array.

If any owner of the M28SAB can test this for me, I would appreciate it very much!


Gee