Norco 4220 + expension. Need help/advice

[Wil32]

Hello guys,

I am going to upgrade the hardware from my norco 4020 rack and I wanted to check if there is anyway if I could plug another 20/24 drives to the rack.

For the "main" part of the rack i need 20 sata ports :
4 x h4 xport multiplier
6 on mobo
Total : 22ports.

Here comes the fun part.
I want to check if I could put 4-5 of 5x1 multiplier in the expension then eSata to the "main" rack and eSata

Let me know what you think.

My other option is to have 2 seperates rack but I can't have RAID6 over network so...

Thanks

Wil32

 

[amarshonarbangla]

Why not just buy a HBA with an external 8087 port?

 

[staticlag]

So your plan is to put 20 drives in the 4220, and then put another 20 drives in another rack?

The best idea is:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816118184

and 2 of:

http://www.amazon.com/Intel-RAID-Ex...1374522346&sr=8-1&keywords=intel+sas+expander

Each of those expanders will control 20 drives.

 

[Wil32]

The current rack is a 4020, sorry about the mistake. It already has 20 drives. My plan is to add another rack with 24 bay.

I didn't about SAS, I am not sure why.

Is there a similar card I could use in the expansion rack that doesn't require power from the pci express?

 

[patrickdk]

it doesn't need pcie power, that is why it has a 4 pin power connector.

 

[Wil32]

@staticlag

so I need 6x of these in the expension rack straight to the main rack?

 

[mini-me01]

@staticlag

so I need 6x of these in the expension rack straight to the main rack?

No, You need 6 of those (SAS-8087 cables) to connect the drive backplanes in the 2nd chassis to the SAS expander which will live in the 2nd chassis.

To connect the 1st chassis to 2nd, you either need the card pointed out above with an external SAS-8088 connector or one of these connecting to an internal sas port.

On the second chassis, you will need cable like this to connect to the "input" on the SAS expander.

To connect the two chassis, you need a cable with a SFF-8088 connector on each end (external SAS cable). Something like this is available in multiple lengths

 

[mini-me01]

Other options are:
A) Buy a Norco JBOD chassis with expander and cabling built in
B) Move server 1 to a Supermicro 847 chassis with 36 drive bays. These pop up used on eBay from time to time.
C) Buy a Supermicro 846-E16 chassis that includes the SAS expander on the backplane to simplify cabling.

 

[mini-me01]

I've made the decision to clean out some unused servers/parts so option D is to buy the 24 bay server I have for sale here!