WTB: Server Hot Swap Chassis

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K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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@CyberSkulls : What fans are you using? I'm not able to drives temp less than 34degrees. with Noctua NF80 running at full speed in my SC826 as a JBOD.
 

CyberSkulls

Active Member
Apr 14, 2016
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@CyberSkulls : What fans are you using? I'm not able to drives temp less than 34degrees. with Noctua NF80 running at full speed in my SC826 as a JBOD.
I have Arctic F8's in mine. I tried Noctua NF-R8 and as I assumed, they couldn't keep up. The Arctic are not much more powerful, but so far it's enough to keep them cool.

I don't mind Server fans such as the San Ace fans. It just running it as a JBOD, I didn't want to add a fan co triller into the mix. I'd rather run less powerful fans but run them at full speed and be done with it.


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K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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@CyberSkulls

Just swapped out the Noctuas with Amazon.com: ARCTIC F8 PWM PST CO - 80mm Dual Ball Bearing Low Noise PWM Standard Case Fan with PST Feature - Ideal for Systems running 24/7: Computers & Accessories. I am currently running 6 Hitachi GST Ultrastar A7K1000 HUA721010KLA330 (0A35772) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB drives in the chassis. The drives are idling around >= 38 degrees.Will let them run overnight with some read/write to see how they perform.

These drives are just what I'm using for tuning heat and noise in the new case. The actual drives will be 12 4 TB HGST Deskstar 7200 NAS drives.
 

wardtj

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Jan 23, 2015
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Good Morning All,

I am relatively new to these forums, so please excuse me if I am not doing something right.

I am currently reworking my home network/servers and am planning to re-dedicate what is currently my storage/Misc server as solely storage. it is currently sitting in the following, and I would love to rehome it in a chassis that is better suited for a storage server with hot-swap bays.

Chassis (Rosewill RSV-L4500): Rosewill RSV-L4500 Black Metal/ Steel, 1.0 mm thickness , 4U Rackmount Server Chassis, 15 Internal Bays, 8 Included Cooling Fans-Newegg.com
MOBO(SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCL-F-O LGA): SUPERMICRO MBD-X9SCL-F-O LGA 1155 Intel C202 Micro ATX Intel Xeon E3 Server Motherboard-Newegg.com
RAID: LSI MegaRAID SAS 9260-16i

I would love to see something with 16+ Hot Swap Bays, some internal ones for the system drives would be fine. On my current chassis, adding more drives is too cumbersome, and I want something a bit easier with all of the changes I am planning to make.

I have been considering the following, but am having a hard time pulling the trigger due to the price.

NORCO RPC-4216
NORCO RPC-4216 Server Case-Newegg.com

iStarUSA EX4M24
iStarUSA EX4M24 Heavy-duty SGCC Cold-rolled Steel 4U Rackmount 4U 24-Bay Storage Server Rackmount Chassis - Newegg.com

Anyone have anything worthwile laying around? Id even take recommendations on other options if you are not selling.

If I need to be more focuse din my request let me know, and I will move this over to chassis forums for opinions.
Hey!

Know your issue. I have been looking to put my machines into better cases than some of the older Norco's I have. They are good cases, but could be better.

Some have suggested Chenbro, which is excellent! I'm a Supermicro person (snob!)

Here is what I did though.. I started trolling for old servers for sale. Here is a 89$ US 2U Supermicro system...

Supermicro 2U Server 2x CPU / 2x heatsink 16GB X7DBU SC823TQ 500w psu 550 Watt | eBay

I went with one of these...

3U Superchassis CSE-836 16 Bay HDD 3.5'' Backplane SAS836TQ 800 Watt | eBay

I already have sleds so for me cost is cheap. Much cheaper to buy the chassis this way. I also picked up a slightly better version of the 2U case I listed for about 40$ US + shipping, including sleds.

Looking for older servers can be better, as folks tend to not know the value of the case. The server parts are typically junk, but, the case and fans still work perfect.

HTH
 

CyberSkulls

Active Member
Apr 14, 2016
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@CyberSkulls

Just swapped out the Noctuas with Amazon.com: ARCTIC F8 PWM PST CO - 80mm Dual Ball Bearing Low Noise PWM Standard Case Fan with PST Feature - Ideal for Systems running 24/7: Computers & Accessories. I am currently running 6 Hitachi GST Ultrastar A7K1000 HUA721010KLA330 (0A35772) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive - Newegg.com Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB drives in the chassis. The drives are idling around >= 38 degrees.Will let them run overnight with some read/write to see how they perform.

These drives are just what I'm using for tuning heat and noise in the new case. The actual drives will be 12 4 TB HGST Deskstar 7200 NAS drives.
Mine are all 5,400 RPM so naturally yours will run warmer. I get away with lower temps since the Chenbros have a little more airflow through the backplane. Not a better or worse backplane, just a different design. My coolest running chassis are my HGST 60 bay top load 4U60's, but they are obviously substantially louder.

I left the San Ace fans in my Supermicro 826 & 846 chassis when I was running all SM chassis and just ran them off the motherboard fan controller and they were pretty damn quiet. Also had changed everything over to 920 SQ power supplies.


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K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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Right now, I'm trying out options. I need to end up with 3 storage cases.
  1. (12) 4 TB 7200 RPM Deskstars,
  2. (8) 6 TB 5400RM Reds and (4) 6 TB 7200 RPM Iron Wolfs
  3. (14) Mix and match of several drives
for stor1, I dont have an option of replacing all the drives. stor2 - The ironwolfs were bought during a sale and I've already initiated an RMA. Will use only 5400 RPM drives for it.

The drives I'm currently testing with are throw away ones which I purchased as a lot just for tuning thermals in a new build. If I get them to idle at ~35degrees then the final build is usually 5-6 degrees cooler.
 

K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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I noticed that the caddies had a metal mesh covering the front (See pics). Not sure if that is standard. The caddies in my other SM cases did not have this. I removed them from the ones that have drives. Currently loaded 4 drives in the top 4 bays, X10SL7 MB with e3-1265 v3 and onboard HBA connected to the expander backplane with a reverse breakout cable. Using Arctic F8 fans in the mid plane connected to the motherboard and set to full speed. PSU is a 920SQ. System is super Quiet with drives active. Need to source another set of 4TB reds to fill the chassis and check thermals with all bays loaded.

IMG_0619.jpg IMG_0620.jpg
 

CyberSkulls

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Apr 14, 2016
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I guess I never paid any attention to them but after looking at some of mine they are like the ones in your second pic, more open.

What did your drive temps do with the cages/sleds now opened up?


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pricklypunter

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Nov 10, 2015
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No, the Chenbro RM23212 use 3x multi-lane backplanes, i.e each backplane board has an 8087 on it, breaking out 4 SAS ports. More like the Supermicro type "A" :)
 

K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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I guess I never paid any attention to them but after looking at some of mine they are like the ones in your second pic, more open.

What did your drive temps do with the cages/sleds now opened up?


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Running 10 6TB Reds.


2017-04-17 22_25_45-zeus.dnet.kd11.net - VMware Remote Console.png
 

K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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For Comparison, I swapped out half the drives for Ultrastars and the temps rose across the board again. I guess I will have to look at other options for my 4 TB drives. These chassis can be kept super quiet with 5400 rpm drives.

2017-04-18 01_18_15-zeus.dnet.kd11.net - VMware Remote Console.png
 

asintado08

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Sep 16, 2014
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No, the Chenbro RM23212 use 3x multi-lane backplanes, i.e each backplane board has an 8087 on it, breaking out 4 SAS ports. More like the Supermicro type "A" :)
I'm not familiar with the type A of Supermicro. The only thing that I'm worried is that the RM23212 will not support drives larger than 2tb.
 

vl1969

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Feb 5, 2014
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I like the size of the Supermicro 846 but much of what I was reading was saying that they cannot take more than 2TB drive sizes, which leads me to think that the backplane might need to be replaced, but not finding much info...
What are you talking about?
I have an old 846 with sata backplain and it take 3tb drives just fine, so I assume it will take larger ones as well.

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vl1969

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Feb 5, 2014
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Someone lied to you. I have 8TB WD drives in mine.


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as it have been pointed out to me and now you
he probably talking about "old sas1 expander backplane."
not sure if this are still on the market nowadays, I got my 846 4 years ago and it still supports drives larger than 2T as is. I have only tried 3Tb in it, as I do not have any larger. but I assume if 3T work than 4 or 6 should too.