Hello,
I searched around a bit here, and they have been mentioned here a couple of times in passing, but I haven't seen anyone talk seriously about building one. To those unfamiliar, here is the info:
The original "open" build from the Backblaze cloud provider:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/09/01/petabytes-on-a-budget-how-to-build-cheap-cloud-storage/
More details:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/10/07/backblaze-storage-pod-vendors-tips-and-tricks/
This is the 2.0 version, a 3.0 version is coming...
http://blog.backblaze.com/2011/07/20/petabytes-on-a-budget-v2-0revealing-more-secrets/
Here is what Netflix built based on inspiration from Backblaze:
https://signup.netflix.com/openconnect/hardware
Someone who built a media server using one:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/10/1...edia-server-based-on-a-backblaze-storage-pod/
http://extrememediaservers.blogspot.com/
Here is a very "objective" viewpoint on building one:
http://bioteam.net/2011/08/why-you-should-never-build-a-backblaze-pod/
Now, here is my take on it:
* The design specifically addresses two key areas:
1 Using consumer drives
2 The disk vibration issue with large numbers of disks in close proximity
> neither the Supermicro nor Norco cases specifically tackle vibration, that I know of
* They use a pure SATA design, so no SATA emulation over SAS
> I found these two guides very enlightening:
http://www.nex7.com/readme1st
http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Best_Practices_Guide
* Very easy to keep quiet, their fan solution is good even with just 2 fans let alone the six they allow for
* The SATA port multipliers are a very cheap and easy solution compared to some of the SAS HBA and expander solutions I see
> You would likely not have the bandwidth to put SSDs on them, but for hardrives that can't saturate that anyways it is fine
> SSDs could go on their own dedicated non-multiplier ports
Now, before you guys chop me to pieces:
* I know there are lots of success stories with the Norco and Supermicro here, doesn't mean it not a problem, but a consideration
* As the information points out, your use case matters allot
* Yes, the case alone is twice the cost of the Norco, but also holds almost twice as many disks
The downsides I see:
* Unless you buy the *expensive* just-add-disks version, it requires some DIY knowhow
* The power supply(ies) issue needs to be addressed if you using one pod instead of many
Looking over this information, it just got me thinking that with all the knowledge and talent on this forum, it would be really cool if we croud-sourced our own "STH custom design", made it open, and similarly upgraded it over time.
Just a thought.
-JCL
I searched around a bit here, and they have been mentioned here a couple of times in passing, but I haven't seen anyone talk seriously about building one. To those unfamiliar, here is the info:
The original "open" build from the Backblaze cloud provider:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/09/01/petabytes-on-a-budget-how-to-build-cheap-cloud-storage/
More details:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/10/07/backblaze-storage-pod-vendors-tips-and-tricks/
This is the 2.0 version, a 3.0 version is coming...
http://blog.backblaze.com/2011/07/20/petabytes-on-a-budget-v2-0revealing-more-secrets/
Here is what Netflix built based on inspiration from Backblaze:
https://signup.netflix.com/openconnect/hardware
Someone who built a media server using one:
http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/10/1...edia-server-based-on-a-backblaze-storage-pod/
http://extrememediaservers.blogspot.com/
Here is a very "objective" viewpoint on building one:
http://bioteam.net/2011/08/why-you-should-never-build-a-backblaze-pod/
Now, here is my take on it:
* The design specifically addresses two key areas:
1 Using consumer drives
2 The disk vibration issue with large numbers of disks in close proximity
> neither the Supermicro nor Norco cases specifically tackle vibration, that I know of
* They use a pure SATA design, so no SATA emulation over SAS
> I found these two guides very enlightening:
http://www.nex7.com/readme1st
http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Best_Practices_Guide
* Very easy to keep quiet, their fan solution is good even with just 2 fans let alone the six they allow for
* The SATA port multipliers are a very cheap and easy solution compared to some of the SAS HBA and expander solutions I see
> You would likely not have the bandwidth to put SSDs on them, but for hardrives that can't saturate that anyways it is fine
> SSDs could go on their own dedicated non-multiplier ports
Now, before you guys chop me to pieces:
* I know there are lots of success stories with the Norco and Supermicro here, doesn't mean it not a problem, but a consideration
* As the information points out, your use case matters allot
* Yes, the case alone is twice the cost of the Norco, but also holds almost twice as many disks
The downsides I see:
* Unless you buy the *expensive* just-add-disks version, it requires some DIY knowhow
* The power supply(ies) issue needs to be addressed if you using one pod instead of many
Looking over this information, it just got me thinking that with all the knowledge and talent on this forum, it would be really cool if we croud-sourced our own "STH custom design", made it open, and similarly upgraded it over time.
Just a thought.
-JCL