My server rebuild in the making.

[Freak1]

Hi Guys

So I'm moving my NAS server to a rack, and moving from desktop to server hardware. It contains 28 hard drives.

I'm keeping the drives and the controller, and i already have 1 case and 1 SSD the rest i am getting now.

Edit: Will be using Windows 2008R2

Here is the config:

Case 1:
1x SuperMicro SC846A-R1200B
1x MBD-X8DAH+-F -B
2x Intel Xeon E5606, 2.13 GHz - Quad Core/1066/8 MB
2x Heatsink SNK-P0038P (Rev. A & B) 2U+ DP Server
6x Kingston DDR3 ECC Reg, 1333 MHz, DR x4, 4 GB
2x Intel 510 Series SSD, 120 GB, 450/210 MB/sec
1x SAS 4-port Cable Assembly, 68/76cm Supermicro CBL-0386L (For external to Case 2)
2x SuperMicro 3.5" convert to 2.5" hot-swap HDD Tray MCP-220-00043-0N
6x SFF 8087 to SFF 8087 Internal Backplane Cable, 39cm CBL-0108L-02 (To backplane)
1x Adaptec 52445 24+4 Ports RAID controller For case 2 + 12 internal drives
1x Adaptec 51245 12+4 Ports RAID controller for 12 internal drives including 2 SSD for system

4x SAS EL2/EL1 Cascading Cable (External), 68cm CBL-0166L (Between the 2 cases)

Case 2:
1x SuperMicro SC847E16-RJBOD1
31x WD Caviar RE4-GP, 2 TB, 64 MB, SATA II (So far)

After this i also have room for 20 more disks EDIT: Now room for 24+45= 69 it will properly never be used.

So am I'm forgetting something or does it all look good?

EDIT: New case

 

[edlin303]

Looks pretty similar to the one I just ordered, except without an external chassis. I went with the CSE-847A-R1400LPB for not much more than the 846A and can get 36 drives in 4U. Unfortunately I don't know if your motherboard would work, and your RAID would have to be low-profile too. If not for that, your board looks a little nicer than my X8DTH-6F.

You mentioned 2 8087-8087 cables, but the A chassis doesn't have a built-in expander. Are the other 4 cables coming with something else? If not, you might want to confirm you have enough. Unless your plan is to only connect up 2 backplanes to start with.

I know nothing about rigging a second one up as an enclosure, so even though it seems like more hardware should be needed to connect to the backplanes, I have no idea about that.

 

[Freak1]

WOW you are right.

I thought the case had expander like the SuperChassis 846E16-R1200B. I can see that i need to get SuperChassis 846E16-R1200B instead for case 2 then use my external port on the adaptec for case nr. 2. and get 4 more cables for case 1. Or maybe a case like yours. But does that have expanders? Its also i A case so I'm guessing no?

There is also this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/847/SC847E16-RJBOD1.cfm
It looks like it has a expander, When i look at the manual it looks like both backplanes have expanders, so it seems like the best choice, since i don't need to have any hardware except the powercard.

I found these pictures of the case: http://www.dsngsystem.co.kr/product/detail.html?part_idx=81&search_item=&item_idx=573

Power card and external ports are included. So its complete. Only need external cables.

 

[[LYL]Homer]

What OS?

 

[edlin303]

WOW you are right.

I thought the case had expander like the SuperChassis 846E16-R1200B. I can see that i need to get SuperChassis 846E16-R1200B instead for case 2 then use my external port on the adaptec for case nr. 2. and get 4 more cables for case 1. Or maybe a case like yours. But does that have expanders? Its also i A case so I'm guessing no?

Correct, mine doesn't have expanders. I wanted to avoid them because several people have said they don't always play well with ZFS. That steered me to the board I chose because it has 2 onboard SAS ports, and 7 slots for more controllers. In your case, if you're doing a physical RAID I think expanders are the way to go, so you want to avoid the A chassis.

There is also this: http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/847/SC847E16-RJBOD1.cfm
It looks like it has a expander, When i look at the manual it looks like both backplanes have expanders, so it seems like the best choice, since i don't need to have any hardware except the powercard.

I found these pictures of the case: http://www.dsngsystem.co.kr/product/detail.html?part_idx=81&search_item=&item_idx=573

Power card and external ports are included. So its complete. Only need external cables.

I think that case looks great for your purpose, and gets you almost double the drive density per u. As for any technical pros and cons, maybe someone else has played with them before and can comment on it from that perspective. I am new to all of this, and can only speculate based on general IT knowledge.

I can't pull up the manual right now, but if it has more than one external connector you would have to sort that out. Your Adaptec looks like it only has one external port. It would also seem to me like running that many drives off one port on the Adaptec could be a bottleneck.

Good luck with the build. I was happy with my 36 drive capacity, but yours will already be putting my new build to shame. Be sure to come back with pictures for us to drool on.

 

[Freak1]

Correct, mine doesn't have expanders. I wanted to avoid them because several people have said they don't always play well with ZFS. That steered me to the board I chose because it has 2 onboard SAS ports, and 7 slots for more controllers. In your case, if you're doing a physical RAID I think expanders are the way to go, so you want to avoid the A chassis.



I think that case looks great for your purpose, and gets you almost double the drive density per u. As for any technical pros and cons, maybe someone else has played with them before and can comment on it from that perspective. I am new to all of this, and can only speculate based on general IT knowledge.

I can't pull up the manual right now, but if it has more than one external connector you would have to sort that out. Your Adaptec looks like it only has one external port. It would also seem to me like running that many drives off one port on the Adaptec could be a bottleneck.

Good luck with the build. I was happy with my 36 drive capacity, but yours will already be putting my new build to shame. Be sure to come back with pictures for us to drool on.

I too can't get the manual to work. :/

I have updated the top with the new setup with the new case. I also added a 4 port internal to external like the one in Case 2 for Case 1 so i get 4 SAS cables to the external box then i should have enough bandwidth for my needs

 

[john4200]

Expanders are sort of a black art. Not all expanders work well with all HBAs. I know from experience that the Supermicro SAS1 expanders can have troubles with some Areca and Adaptec HBAs. After that experience, I have avoided expanders completely.

If you must use expanders, I would choose the HBA from the supported hardware list from Supermicro. Also, you might have better luck than me since you are looking at a chassis with SAS2 expanders, and I have heard that they are more compatible than the SAS1 variety. Still, I would only buy from the supported hardware list.

 

[Freak1]

Expanders are sort of a black art. Not all expanders work well with all HBAs. I know from experience that the Supermicro SAS1 expanders can have troubles with some Areca and Adaptec HBAs. After that experience, I have avoided expanders completely.

If you must use expanders, I would choose the HBA from the supported hardware list from Supermicro. Also, you might have better luck than me since you are looking at a chassis with SAS2 expanders, and I have heard that they are more compatible than the SAS1 variety. Still, I would only buy from the supported hardware list.

I did actually buy my case as it was on the Adaptec compatibly list, Listed as a LSI SAS2X36 expander. But it doesn't have any expanders. Now I'm going with another case that has that expander. And another expander that is also in the list in older cases. The case i edited in at the top. Thats seems like it my best bet.

I hope you didn't have problems with series 5 adaptec and LSI SAS2X36 or SASX28 expanders.

 

[Freak1]

Update: Pictures of the case: