[US] Supermicro BPN-SAS3-826A-N4 Backplane with 4xU.2 Drive Support

[luckylinux]

Interesting Backplane for those of us that own a Supermicro SC826 / CSE-826 (or potentially a SC829 / CSE-829 although I don't own it so please make your own Research on that one) and of course for the SC847 / CSE-847 (since it has the Backplane of the Supermicro SC826 / CSE-826 on the Side where only 12 Drives are installed ).

You get 4 x U.2 NVMe Drives Support with this Backplane plus of course 8 x SAS/SATA Drives .

Supermicro BPN-SAS3-826A-N4 - 61 USD with free Shipping - Open to Offers

Pardon Our Interruption...

I tried to lowball at 35 USD / Piece but the lowest they went was 51 USD / Piece . Bought 3 Pieces .

I know some around here will say that they can get a complete Server in the US for ~ 150 USD or so, but especially looking at how much this Backplane costs in Europe , I'd say it's quite a good Deal. Looking at some Posts from a couple Years ago I could see it was in the 120-150 USD Range ...

EDIT 1: Only 8 Pieces left

EDIT 2: only 4 Pieces left

EDIT 3: only 1 Piece left

 

[zackiv31]

Anyone know the SuperMicro part number for the cable to attach the AOC-SLG3-4E4R to one of these?

 

[luckylinux]

Anyone know the SuperMicro part number for the cable to attach the AOC-SLG3-4E4R to one of these?

I had the same Problem for the AOC-SLG3-4E2P, but there is a "Trick":

AOC-SLG3-4E4R | Add-on Cards | Accessories | Products - Super Micro Computer, Inc.

Click on the Parts List near the Bottom of the Page .

EDIT 1: Added Screenshot

 

[luckylinux]

Anyone know the SuperMicro part number for the cable to attach the AOC-SLG3-4E4R to one of these?

Actually that would be for a Oculink based Backplane.

I'm in a similar Boat.

We need a SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 NVMe Connector, both for your AOC-SLG3-4E4R and for my AOC-SLG3-4E2P.

So probably something like this:

Supermicro Internal MiniSAS HD PCIe NVMe 12Gbs 45cm Cable (CBL-SAST-0623)

Copper Cable Assembly Perfect for NVMe MiniSAS HD Applications Also Available in 60cm and 70cm Supermicro Certified

store.supermicro.com

Supermicro Internal MiniSAS HD PCIe NVMe 12Gbs 60cm Cable (CBL-SAST-0658)

Copper Cable Assembly Perfect for NVMe MiniSAS HD Applications Also Available in 45cm and 70cm Supermicro Certified

store.supermicro.com

Supermicro Internal MiniSAS HD PCIe NVMe 12Gbs 70cm Cable (CBL-SAST-0590)

Copper Cable Assembly Perfect for NVMe MiniSAS HD Applications Also Available in 45cm and 60cm Supermicro Certified

store.supermicro.com

EDIT 1: my AOC-SLG3-4E2P has Oculink (SFF-8611) Ports, NOT SFF-8643 ! Corrected Text.

 

[zackiv31]

Yeah thanks. 4 of these gonna cost me more than the backplane and card combined, lol. Trying to put 1-2 into the bottom/back of my 36 bay.

 

[luckylinux]

Yeah thanks. 4 of these gonna cost me more than the backplane and card combined, lol. Trying to put 1-2 into the bottom/back of my 36 bay.

I just saw the Prices as well .

Unless getting the (counterfeit ?) CBL-SAST-0590 from China at around ~ 17 - 20 EUR / Piece, it's more than Double for everything else.

@zackiv31: By the Way, are you aware that your NVMe Controller / "Expander" Card is only a Redriver ? You need PCIe Bifurcation in order for it to work correctly.

 

[zackiv31]

@zackiv31: By the Way, are you aware that your NVMe Controller / "Expander" Card is only a Redriver ? You need PCIe Bifurcation in order for it to work correctly.

I'm aware, although I've never done it I believe the first slot on my ASRockRack X470D4U supports x4/4/4/4

 

[luckylinux]

I'm aware, although I've never done it I believe the first slot on my ASRockRack X470D4U supports x4/4/4/4

You also got that Board ? Alright . Yeah it does x4x4x4x4.

Since I plan on putting it on some Supermicro X10SRL-F / X10DRi Servers I went with the AOC-SLG3-4E2P which has an NVMe Switch Chip on it.

 

[DRW]

I don't have one of these backplanes, but if you want to do SFF-8654 8i to nvme, and the nvme ports use the same cables as the BPN-SAS3-826EL1-N4 (which I have), then these cables work Amazon.com: DiliVing 8X to 2* 4X,- 74Pin to 2*- 36Pin Cable 80cm(Broadcom MPN 05-60002-00) : Electronics (clone of Broadcom MPN 05-60002-00).

Just fyi.

 

[gb00s]

Never got this backplane working with AOC-SLG3-4E4R in single-socket boards here. Have them working with X11DPU, X11DDW-NT directly connected with the onboard ports or AOC-SLG3-4E2P as add-on card.

 

[luckylinux]

I don't have one of these backplanes, but if you want to do SFF-8654 8i to nvme, and the nvme ports use the same cables as the BPN-SAS3-826EL1-N4 (which I have), then these cables work Amazon.com: DiliVing 8X to 2* 4X,- 74Pin to 2*- 36Pin Cable 80cm(Broadcom MPN 05-60002-00) : Electronics (clone of Broadcom MPN 05-60002-00).

Just fyi.

That's quite cheap actually.

It's more about the NVMe Controller you would need for those SFF-8654 Ports though. I'm not sure if Supermicro has anything for NVMe using those Ports Configuration.

I guess it would be something like the Dell PowerEdge R740 R640 R940 PCIe SSD NVMe Expander Card (01YGFW) rather:


EDIT 1:
@DRW: on the other Hand, do you know good & cheap Cables for:
a. Oculink (SFF-8611) on Controller Side to MiniSAS HD (SFF-8643) on Backplane Side ?
b. Oculink (SFF-8611) on Controller Side to Oculink (SFF-8611) on Backplane Side ?

There just does NOT seem to be almost any availability on eBay for a decent Price when I look at the official Supermicro Part Numbers (and using the "generic" Search Term yields 80%+ non-relevant Results).

 

[luckylinux]

Never got this backplane working with AOC-SLG3-4E4R in single-socket boards here. Have them working with X11DPU, X11DDW-NT directly connected with the onboard ports or AOC-SLG3-4E2P as add-on card.

IIRC you were looking for those in a Thread, but that was back in 2020 IIRC, then I couldn't find your Post again and ping you there.

About the AOC-SLG3-4E4R NOT working in single Socket (or even some dual Socket) Boards, it's probably due to:
a) Enough PCIe Lanes being available (especially on single Socket Boards)
b) PCIe Bifurcation NOT being supported

That's also why I got a couple of AOC-SLG3-4E2P instead . But then it's Oculink SFF-8611 to Mini SAS HD SFF-8643 Cables.

 

[DRW]

@DRW: on the other Hand, do you know good & cheap Cables for:
a. Oculink (SFF-8611) on Controller Side to MiniSAS HD (SFF-8643) on Backplane Side ?
b. Oculink (SFF-8611) on Controller Side to Oculink (SFF-8611) on Backplane Side ?

There just does NOT seem to be almost any availability on eBay for a decent Price when I look at the official Supermicro Part Numbers (and using the "generic" Search Term yields 80%+ non-relevant Results).

I don't know of any other cables, sorry. And yeah the official Supermicro cables are absurdly expensive.

The HBA I'm using is just one of those cheap "dumb" non-bifurcating ones that there are dozens of on ebay and elsewhere. Similar to this https://www.amazon.com/JMT-SlimSAS-PCIe4-0-Adapter-Graphics/dp/B0CW1RRH9Q, but with the ports oriented back instead of up (much nicer to route cables like that). Obviously the motherboard has to support bifurcation.

In another chassis, I have a similar cheap "dumb" HBA but with 4x SFF-8643 ports and (as far as I know) normal SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 cables running to the backplane, and that also works.

 

[luckylinux]

I don't know of any other cables, sorry. And yeah the official Supermicro cables are absurdly expensive.

The HBA I'm using is just one of those cheap "dumb" non-bifurcating ones that there are dozens of on ebay and elsewhere. Similar to this https://www.amazon.com/JMT-SlimSAS-PCIe4-0-Adapter-Graphics/dp/B0CW1RRH9Q, but with the ports oriented back instead of up (much nicer to route cables like that). Obviously the motherboard has to support bifurcation.

In another chassis, I have a similar cheap "dumb" HBA but with 4x SFF-8643 ports and (as far as I know) normal SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 cables running to the backplane, and that also works.

Alright, thanks .

At least the Supermicro Cables are easy to identify by the Color of the SFF-8643 Connector:
- Black: SAS/SATA Cable (should be 100 Ohm Impedance from what I read)
- White: NVMe Cable (should be 85 Ohm Impedance from what I read)

All the other Cables ... not very clear .

So you are running normal (presumably SAS/SATA) SFF-8643 Cables and it works reliably with NVMe ?

Of course you can "cheat" on the Characteristic Impedance of the Cable (similarly to using an Ethernet Cable for ModBUS RS-485 and such) but I would have expected massive Issues at the Speed NVMe Drives work at .

 

[mattventura]

The lesson I have learned is that it's way less hassle to just plan your build around it and get something with built-in NVMe ports. Two X11SRM-VFs, both working perfectly with their respective backplanes (BPN-SAS3-826EL1-N4 and BPN-NVME5-LA26A-S12), including LED management, for latter of which is using random cheap cables. The AOC-SLG3-4E2P also seems to work well with both (same cables).

I haven't had issues with the white vs black cables. Maybe gen3 just isn't fast enough for it to matter. I used to run a pair of AOC-SLG3-2E4 and never had issues with white, black, or third party cables. That being said, if you have an OCuLink host side, the SFF-8643 to 8611 cables do have a designated "Host" and "BP" side.

 

[DRW]

So you are running normal (presumably SAS/SATA) SFF-8643 Cables and it works reliably with NVMe ?

Of course you can "cheat" on the Characteristic Impedance of the Cable (similarly to using an Ethernet Cable for ModBUS RS-485 and such) but I would have expected massive Issues at the Speed NVMe Drives work at .

Concerning reliability, I can only really say for sure that they
1) would only link up at gen 3 on the 4x SFF-8643 hba (I haven't tried moving my gen 4 drives over to the chassis with the SFF-8654 hba)
2) aren't disconnecting and I'm not seeing any errors in the sys log or anything like that
3) aren't under any load to speak of at the moment
4) are powered on pretty much 24/7

 

[luckylinux]

I haven't had issues with the white vs black cables. Maybe gen3 just isn't fast enough for it to matter. I used to run a pair of AOC-SLG3-2E4 and never had issues with white, black, or third party cables. That being said, if you have an OCuLink host side, the SFF-8643 to 8611 cables do have a designated "Host" and "BP" side.

Yeah and those Oculink Cables are for sure expensive, 10 EUR Minimum from China.

Not like those SFF-8643 to SFF-8643 for 2.5 EUR or so .

EDIT 1: Just grabbed 2 x SUPERMICRO AOC-SLG3-2E4 (with a PCIe Switch onboard) for 25 USD each, that's actually quite OK for a small System, if the Cables are so much Cheaper .

 

[luckylinux]

Concerning reliability, I can only really say for sure that they
1) would only link up at gen 3 on the 4x SFF-8643 hba (I haven't tried moving my gen 4 drives over to the chassis with the SFF-8654 hba)
2) aren't disconnecting and I'm not seeing any errors in the sys log or anything like that
3) aren't under any load to speak of at the moment
4) are powered on pretty much 24/7

Well I don't think I would have any more Intensive Usage than you do, so that's promising alright .

 

[josh]

Would there be any use for this without a supermicro chassis?

 

[luckylinux]

Would there be any use for this without a supermicro chassis?

Which "this" are you talking about ? Backplane, NVMe Expander, Cables, etc ?