Hello. I have purchased 2 Supermicro SC846TQ 24-bay servers from eBay and ultimately want all 48 bays between the two to be attached to 1 file server.
Current configuration: Supermicro SC846TQ server with 24 Seagate 4TB NAS drives connected to the 3 internal Supermicro SAT2-MV8 Rev 2 controllers running Windows 2008R2 and FlexRaid's Raid-F.
I would like to setup the 2nd SC846TQ case as a DAS and from what I've read I can accomplish this with a SAS expander.
I currently have an Areca ARC-1680ix-24 controller that I am not using.
How I think it will work: I should be able to install the Areca ARC-1680ix-24 card into my main server, and then purchase a SAS expander card, put it in the 2nd case and use a SFF-8088 cable to connect the two.
What I don't know:
1. Is using the Areca ARC-1680ix-24 to connect to a SAS card in the 2nd machine going to work if I don't have any drives attached to it internally?
2. What would be the least expensive SAS expander to get that would work with the Areca card?
3. (most importantly) Is there a better way to accomplish the end goal of attaching all 48 drives from the 2 servers to my main file server in the first Supermicro SC846TQ case?
The motherboard in the main file server is a Supermicro H8DME-2 Rev 2.01a and has 1 PCI Express x8 slot open.
Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-DC
Current configuration: Supermicro SC846TQ server with 24 Seagate 4TB NAS drives connected to the 3 internal Supermicro SAT2-MV8 Rev 2 controllers running Windows 2008R2 and FlexRaid's Raid-F.
I would like to setup the 2nd SC846TQ case as a DAS and from what I've read I can accomplish this with a SAS expander.
I currently have an Areca ARC-1680ix-24 controller that I am not using.
How I think it will work: I should be able to install the Areca ARC-1680ix-24 card into my main server, and then purchase a SAS expander card, put it in the 2nd case and use a SFF-8088 cable to connect the two.
What I don't know:
1. Is using the Areca ARC-1680ix-24 to connect to a SAS card in the 2nd machine going to work if I don't have any drives attached to it internally?
2. What would be the least expensive SAS expander to get that would work with the Areca card?
3. (most importantly) Is there a better way to accomplish the end goal of attaching all 48 drives from the 2 servers to my main file server in the first Supermicro SC846TQ case?
The motherboard in the main file server is a Supermicro H8DME-2 Rev 2.01a and has 1 PCI Express x8 slot open.
Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-DC