Which Supermicro 24 drive backplane

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Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
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Hi All,

I have:
9361-8i HBAs
HP SAS Expanders - the large ones.
IBM SAS Expanders.

Can I have some SuperMicro backplane options please.

I want to be able to run upto 24 x 4Tb SAS3 drives in the backplane as either SAS2 or SAS3.
It's optional for the backplane to provide it's own expanders, it can even operate as passthrough using whatever SFF connection it want's to
and 7 pin Fanouts cables.

I don't want any gotchas, I just want it to work.

Thanks in advance.
 

BlueFox

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Oct 26, 2015
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SAS2-846EL1 is the backplane you want. You won't need to worry about separate expanders and cabling will be much easier. You could get the SAS3 version, but you will see minimal benefit in terms of performance and it will just pay considerably more for it.
 

StevenDTX

Active Member
Aug 17, 2016
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I like the TQs. Cabling sucks, but it’s not something you mess with often, and it works with everything.
 

Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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SAS2-846EL1 is the backplane you want. You won't need to worry about separate expanders and cabling will be much easier. You could get the SAS3 version, but you will see minimal benefit in terms of performance and it will just pay considerably more for it.
No problems with 24 x 4Tb?
 

Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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I like the TQs. Cabling sucks, but it’s not something you mess with often, and it works with everything.
Whats the full model number for the TQs?
And when you say works with everything do you mean all sas versions and HD sizes?
 

BlueFox

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No problems with 24 x 4Tb?
None. Only the original SAS1 version had issues. I've been running 4 systems with the SAS2 backplane for the better part of a decade.

TQ would be the least desirable model after the SAS1 version. There no reason to get it when the A version exists and even then, for hard drives, you should just get the SAS2 one.
 
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Falloutboy

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Oct 23, 2011
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None. Only the original SAS1 version had issues. I've been running 4 systems with the SAS2 backplane for the better part of a decade.

TQ would be the least desirable model after the SAS1 version. There no reason to get it when the A version exists and even then, for hard drives, you should just get the SAS2 one.
Thank's for the replies people I appreciate your time, I brought a Bare Supermicro Chassis CSE-848X off Ebay in the U.K it says it's got a
BPN-SAS3-846EL1 and I can see that it's in there in the pictures although I can't see the model number so I am assuming that since it was mentioned in the advertisement it is there, it was sold as : no internals, no CPU, no Ram, No HDD, No motherboards, No PSU etc.

I'll have to wait two weeks for it to get here but if it is there and fully operative - it's a bit of a steal really. Cost 200 Pounds ( 300 NZD ) about $150 US, I have 48 Trays on the way for it, got them cheap.

If it's all good I will be looking at plasma cutting the rear end off the chassis and attaching a Backplate made from the PCIe Slot end to make a desktop NAS box.

Hopefully this link will work. CSE-848X
 

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
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None. Only the original SAS1 version had issues. I've been running 4 systems with the SAS2 backplane for the better part of a decade.

TQ would be the least desirable model after the SAS1 version. There no reason to get it when the A version exists and even then, for hard drives, you should just get the SAS2 one.
This TQ model that was mentioned , I just found a reference "TQ is a straight direct hardware passthrough so yes any TQ backplane can do 12Gb sas 3 if your sas setup supports it", my understanding is that it uses SFF-8087 to 7 Pin x 4 Fanout cables which I have plenty of and can attach to a HP or IBM sas expanded hooked back to my 9361-8i, I'm just trying to figure out what the problem is barring ugly wiring - can you clarify for me @BlueFox
 

BlueFox

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It offers literally no advantage, only disadvantages. The SAS3 backplane already has a SAS expander built in, so, you would hook your HBA directly to it. You just get a rats nest of wiring in the end and no enclosure management features with the TQ one.
 

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
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It offers literally no advantage, only disadvantages. The SAS3 backplane already has a SAS expander built in, so, you would hook your HBA directly to it. You just get a rats nest of wiring in the end and no enclosure management features with the TQ one.
Thanks for the response, I thought it might be O.K with a HP SAS Expander or an IBM one, I have both and I would just loop the input and output out of a PCI external to internal SAS adapter into the Expander and run an external cable back to the main case to another PCI backpanel converter and run that back to the 9361-8i it wouldn't have been pretty but it would have worked.

But apparently according to the response I got from the EBay seller who sold me the Chassis I was talking about - yes it does have a BPN-SAS3-846EL1 ( rubs hands together ) so that's a good look :) I have also picked up two of the BPN-SAS2-846EL1 s as well , one for a 2nd chassis and one for a spare.

I am really looking forward to trying the SAS3-846EL1 though my HGST SAS3 drives should love it.
 

i386

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Mar 18, 2016
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can you clarify for me @BlueFox
You would have to route 24 sata cables from the expander (or hba/raid controller) to the backplane.
Example of a 16 port tq backplane:


I would recommend the following backplanes
- BPN-SAS3-846EL1 (single sas3 expander, easy cabling, works with sas 1-3, most expensive)
- BPN-SAS-846A (requires 6cables with sff-8087 on one end, works with sas 1-3 and probably with the upcomming sas4, cheaper than the expander versions)
 

Falloutboy

Member
Oct 23, 2011
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You would have to route 24 sata cables from the expander (or hba/raid controller) to the backplane.
Example of a 16 port tq backplane:


I would recommend the following backplanes
- BPN-SAS3-846EL1 (single sas3 expander, easy cabling, works with sas 1-3, most expensive)
- BPN-SAS-846A (requires 6cables with sff-8087 on one end, works with sas 1-3 and probably with the upcomming sas4, cheaper than the expander versions)
Thanks for that, it wouldn't have been a problem to do this either - it would basically be JBOD by the looks of it and not have any session management barring what was available on the SAS expander. The only real issue I could see here would be if a drive failed it would be hard to ID which one.
 

i386

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and not have any session management barring what was available on the SAS expander
I think all supermicro mainboard come with ses management, but on tq (and maybe a) backplanes you will probably required to connect the sideband cables to get backplane information:
TQ.JPG