Recommend me a storage array chassis

boomshakalaka

boomshakalaka

Weaksauce
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Dec 18, 2007
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Hi folks, I'm interested in buying a storage array chassis for up to 12 drives, What are some of the good affordable options I have? Thanks in advance
 
Define affordable?

Are you going to be running a full server inside the chassis or do you just want a place to put drives?

The way I look at it is a Norco RPC-4020 = 22 drive bays for $300. You could also buy say three 5-in-3's for about $90/ each, and find a case for $50 that has nine external facing 5.25" bays. I tried doing the second method with a Norco RPC-470, second time around I went with the 4020.

With that many drives, I would strongly suggest building a server in a Norco RPC-4020 unless you really want/ need DAS on your main system that is much faster than you'd get with GigE/ iSCSI.
 
pjkenned said:
Define affordable?

Are you going to be running a full server inside the chassis or do you just want a place to put drives?

The way I look at it is a Norco RPC-4020 = 22 drive bays for $300. You could also buy say three 5-in-3's for about $90/ each, and find a case for $50 that has nine external facing 5.25" bays. I tried doing the second method with a Norco RPC-470, second time around I went with the 4020.

With that many drives, I would strongly suggest building a server in a Norco RPC-4020 unless you really want/ need DAS on your main system that is much faster than you'd get with GigE/ iSCSI.
Click to expand...

The Norco RPC-4020 doesn't seem to be a bad option, I'm thinking of placing it in the basement downstairs so by affordable I meant something that would do the job but without being "top of the line" equipment if you know what I mean :D

What sort of Mobo do you recommend for this beast? TIA
 
You can pretty much use anything... the new Norco 4020 has a Core i7 and Asus P6T7 WS Supercomputer in it right now.. but I can assure you that it is more than overkill. (I had an orphan i7 920, 12GB of ram, and a bunch of raid cards sitting around). My old Windows Homer Server sitting in the RPC-470 has a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P in it with a Core 2 Duo E6420 that I also had in the extra parts bin.

If you have some leftover hardware, I would suggest optimizing on a low power CPU/ integrated GPU for the build.

The RPC-4020 isn't top of the line but it gets the job done.
 
pjkenned said:
You can pretty much use anything... the new Norco 4020 has a Core i7 and Asus P6T7 WS Supercomputer in it right now.. but I can assure you that it is more than overkill. (I had an orphan i7 920, 12GB of ram, and a bunch of raid cards sitting around). My old Windows Homer Server sitting in the RPC-470 has a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P in it with a Core 2 Duo E6420 that I also had in the extra parts bin.

If you have some leftover hardware, I would suggest optimizing on a low power CPU/ integrated GPU for the build.

The RPC-4020 isn't top of the line but it gets the job done.
Click to expand...

Don't have any leftover hardware, but I was thinking of this mobo on new egg for $79.00 ? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131393

and I'm thinking of this controller card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...9&cm_re=SUPERMICRO_AOC-_-15-121-009-_-Product

what do you think?:)
 
I think I'd avoid buying PCI-x cards when PCI-e versions are available.
 
What OS are you planning to use?

Needless to say, once you start down this road, everything gets expensive. This is especially true if you have to do re-work.

Things to consider:
1. OS for the server?
2. Hardware Raid v. Software (driven in some cases by #1)
3. What level of fault tolerance do you want?
4. Do you need dual or a single GigE connection?
5. Will you need to expand the system?
6. What's your budget?
7. How fast do you need it? What will it be doing? If you are streaming DVD/ Blu-rays, with 12 disks and a decent GigE network, you won't have speed issues. If you are doing database crunching on your server that's a different story.

Those are just some considerations, but you should really do a lot of research before you start. A cheap CPU/ motherboard isn't a bad idea. I had a co-worker that instead of spending $150 on a new cheap CPU/ motherboard took the opportunity to move from LGA 775 to 1366 in his main machine. Made the cost of his upgrade like $350 - the $150 he would have spent.

Do some research, but as for chassis, the Norco RPC-4020 is very popular as is the RPC-4220 (SAS version that is slightly more expensive).
 
You want the 4220 (most likely, depending on the drive controller of course. Done right, you'll end up with simple SAS <-> SAS interconnects). Backplanes allow for better airflow and therefore cooler drives. There are some other difference (2.5" vs 3.5" HDD mounts, etc), but I'd get the 4220. (Current 4020 owner here).
 
movax said:
You want the 4220 (most likely, depending on the drive controller of course. Done right, you'll end up with simple SAS <-> SAS interconnects). Backplanes allow for better airflow and therefore cooler drives. There are some other difference (2.5" vs 3.5" HDD mounts, etc), but I'd get the 4220. (Current 4020 owner here).
Click to expand...

I agree with you, the 4220 also looks very promising. Question though, the 4220 has 5 SFF-8087 Mini SAS connectors on its back-plane, how would the connection be to the controller card? for example a RocketRaid 4320 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115056 which only has 2 x SFF-8087 mini-SAS connectors so does this mean I need 3 of these cards to cover the 5 on the back-plane? sorry for the n00b questions :D
 
likuid.silence said:
I agree with you, the 4220 also looks very promising. Question though, the 4220 has 5 SFF-8087 Mini SAS connectors on its back-plane, how would the connection be to the controller card? for example a RocketRaid 4320 http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16816115056 which only has 2 x SFF-8087 mini-SAS connectors so does this mean I need 3 of these cards to cover the 5 on the back-plane? sorry for the n00b questions :D
Click to expand...

You have a few options:
1 - multiple raid cards with two sff-8087 ports
2 - one larger and much more expensive raid card (six sff-8087 ports)
3 - one raid card with 1-2 sff-8087 ports and a compatible SAS expander card which has 5+ sff-8087 ports

option 3 is the cheapest, but make sure you check compatibility between controller, expander, backplane, drives and cables. Everything has the potential to not work with something else in this case.
 
novadude said:
You have a few options:
1 - multiple raid cards with two sff-8087 ports
2 - one larger and much more expensive raid card (six sff-8087 ports)
3 - one raid card with 1-2 sff-8087 ports and a compatible SAS expander card which has 5+ sff-8087 ports

option 3 is the cheapest, but make sure you check compatibility between controller, expander, backplane, drives and cables. Everything has the potential to not work with something else in this case.
Click to expand...

it seems like this is going to be a more expensive solution as I wouldn't like to deal with # 3 and have to worry of incompatibility issues during implementation, Although I like option #2 I haven't found any 6 port sff-8087 raid cards, do you have a link? maybe I'm not hitting the right keywords :)

Anyhow, I think my cheapest and best solution right now would be to buy the 4220 case with this controller card ( Areca RC 1260) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151005 and connect it to the backplane with Mini SAS to SATA cables like these: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=mini-sas_to_sata-_-16-103-196-_-Product

That way I'm left with with something that will allow me to have full "SAS <-> SAS interconnects" in the future if I ever need to.. what do you guys think?:confused:
 
likuid.silence said:
Although I like option #2 I haven't found any 6 port sff-8087 raid cards, do you have a link? maybe I'm not hitting the right keywords :)
Click to expand...

Areca ARC-1280ML is a SATA controller (with SFF-8087 ports)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151037&cm_re=1280ML-_-16-151-037-_-Product

Areca ARC-1680ix-24 is a SAS controller:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16816151052&cm_re=1680ix-_-16-151-052-_-Product

Unless you actually plan to use SAS drives, I'd go with the SATA controller, since the compatibility with SATA drives is better. Although for some reason newegg only sells the 1280ML with SATA breakout cables. You can buy it elsewhere with SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cables, for example:

http://serversdirect.com/product.asp?pf_id=DC0243
 
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likuid.silence said:
iAlthough I like option #2 I haven't found any 6 port sff-8087 raid cards, do you have a link? maybe I'm not hitting the right keywords :)
Click to expand...

In addition to the Areca cards listed above you could use an Adaptec 52445, although it is a bit of overkill with 4 external ports also.

Another option is that you can always move to smaller controllers and use more of them. Odds are you don't want a 20 drive raid 6 array anyway. (This is #1) One thing to remember here is that you will likely want to purchase a battery back up unit for any controller that you buy. Add $120/ controller or so. This does mitigate the advantage to smaller controllers somewhat.
 
The SFF-8087 connectors can be used with a SATA controller. You can call the connectors mini-SAS, but if the controller does not implement the SAS protocol, you cannot connect SAS drives. A SATA controller can have SFF-8087 connectors, or SATA connectors.
 
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