I'm currently running at Dell R710 server and currently using all 6 standard drive slots in a Raid10.
I would like to add an additional drive for backup purposes and I noticed that a 750GB 2.5" laptop drive will fit between the top of the drive bay and case.
I also located an extra SATA port on the board itself which I can use.
The only thing that is missing is an appropriate power source for the extra drive.
Here are the options that I think "could" work.
1) Use the power connector that currently runs to the optical drive. However, this is not a standard 15-pin SATA power. It might be a proprietary dell connector so I may not be able to find an adapter. Also, I lose the optical drive this way which can make system recovery difficult if I need to insert a rescue disk.
2) Try to power the 2.5" laptop drive through the internal USB. While USB should be able to supply enough juice to power a 2.5" drive, I think I need some way to signal the port to supply the power. Also, I wasn't able to find an USB-->SATA power cable.
Which brings me to the final alternative...
3) Somehow power the drive through a pci-e card that also supplies SATA power.
Does such an add in card exist? I was not able to find one.
I can't be the first person who wanted to try to install an extra drive into a full server, I feel like this should be possible....
I would like to add an additional drive for backup purposes and I noticed that a 750GB 2.5" laptop drive will fit between the top of the drive bay and case.
I also located an extra SATA port on the board itself which I can use.
The only thing that is missing is an appropriate power source for the extra drive.
Here are the options that I think "could" work.
1) Use the power connector that currently runs to the optical drive. However, this is not a standard 15-pin SATA power. It might be a proprietary dell connector so I may not be able to find an adapter. Also, I lose the optical drive this way which can make system recovery difficult if I need to insert a rescue disk.
2) Try to power the 2.5" laptop drive through the internal USB. While USB should be able to supply enough juice to power a 2.5" drive, I think I need some way to signal the port to supply the power. Also, I wasn't able to find an USB-->SATA power cable.
Which brings me to the final alternative...
3) Somehow power the drive through a pci-e card that also supplies SATA power.
Does such an add in card exist? I was not able to find one.
I can't be the first person who wanted to try to install an extra drive into a full server, I feel like this should be possible....