[USED] Ultimate File Server - 24 Bay SuperMicro Opteron Servers w/24 Port RAID $299+

Tcalp

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 31, 2006
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I was shopping for two computers to act as a data archiving system for the office and came across these on eBay, and thought it was a fantastic deal and figured I would share.

Supermicro 24 Bay SATA 4U AMD DC 2.0GHz 8GB H8DME-2 SC846TQ Server
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21hek9I2BVL.jpg[/

Includes all Trays / Dual Redundant PSU / Opteron Motherboard / RAM / RAID cards to support 24 drives / IMPI / etc.


I picked up two units for the office but figured others may equally be interested for a home file server setup (or equally office storage). I should note though, that supermicro gear like this has pretty loud fans, so you'd need to put it in the basement to not hear it running.

Dual Core @ 299.99 - [url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-24-Bay-SATA-4U-AMD-DC-2-0GHz-8GB-H8DME-2-SC846TQ-Server-/151088979758?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item232d9adf2e[/url] [B](new links in-stock 7/25/2013)[/B]
Quad Core @ 349.99 - [url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-24-Bay-SATA-4U-AMD-QC-1-8GHz-8GB-H8DME-2-SIM1U-SC846TQ-Server-/171078773991?pt=COMP_EN_Servers&hash=item27d516ece7[/url] [B](new links in-stock 7/22/2013)[/B]

I picked up two of the cheaper units myself and 5 of these CPU's [url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/130804591027?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649[/url] as I have a higher end need then a basic load that would be on a file server, still need to find some cpu fans and some extra ram, but all in all best deal on server gear I've seen in a while.

I should note, just the chassis sells new for ~$1200 new on Amazon.com, and that's without motherboard/cpu/ram/raid cards/etc.
 
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I can't seem to find what size drives that RAID card can work with? Will it work with 3 and 4TB drives?
 
FWIW, We've (people from [H] as well as AVS forum) have been buying these systems from this seller (TAMSOLUTIONS) on eBay for a while now, so you should be able to dig up some more information on these if you want. These look newer (and nicer) than the one I bought a year ago.
 
The backplane doesn't support SATAIII/6GB does it...?
 
I can't seem to find what size drives that RAID card can work with? Will it work with 3 and 4TB drives?

According to this thread the card will take 3TB+ drives. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1737250

Vader said:
The backplane doesn't support SATAIII/6GB does it...?

I'm not entirely sure TBH, you can install sata III/6GBPS drives (backwards compatibility and all)


Dug up the AVSForum thread : http://www.avsforum.com/t/1412640/are-you-looking-for-a-less-expensive-norco-4220-4224-alternative


.... I wonder what company they are pulling these from, they seem to have so many :p ... must be a newsgroup data archive / dropbox / etc.
 
Dual cores are gone, just Quads left.

And the MB does support dual chips, and upto hex cores. 12 cores is not bad, not bad at all..
 
Yeah these have been pretty popular on avs and the unRAID forums. I bought the quad core, and after swapping in a consumer level PSU and fans its a great setup that's extremely cheap for what you get, pretty much turnkey 24bay server. As for the drive size question, I have some 4tb drives working in it right now with the included 3x8 sata cards.
 
Would this CPU be ok with performing media streaming server duties?
 
Would this CPU be ok with performing media streaming server duties?

Probably; it's a 1.8GHz quad core, and you can always add another one if you want, or upgrade to something faster for cheap.

I've got the same board running 2.4GHz 8379 HE's, which are $15 OBO on eBay and are a nice low power chip (55W). Or if you don't mind a bit more heat (75W), the 2.9GHz 2389's are $19 each. Or you could get a pair of the 1.8GHz hex core 2419's (also 75W) for about $30 shipped.
 
Wow that is one killer rig. Pretty slick with all the silent mods, just wish I had some spare cash for this thing.
 
Great deal.

You can get great deals on Ebay for servers as the datacenters/leasers retire them by the pallet full.

I got a DELL 2u PE for $250/shipped. Had dual quad cores, 16gigs ECC, Perc6i, 6x 15k SAS drives, redundant nic/psu. Came with all the rails as well.

For personal use or small business, it's a no brainer. Why pay thousands for one generation newer? You probably won't tax the hardware at all.
 
Seriously I hate you so much right now....I am trying to save to buy a house. This is a screaming deal, and I have been looking for a home server so I can get all the extra drives out of my main PC.
 
FYI look for DL320 servers, that can be had for about 250shipped with 14hotswap bays,
sure they are 771 xeons but make excellent storage servers and 3u rackmountable
 
Not to be funny but how load are these things? Going to be in my rack in my office. Just don't want a jet sitting behind me..
 
INCREDIBLY loud. Like if you had it in your office with the door closed you'll hear it elsewhere in the house, not even kidding. The linked avs these has some info on how to quiet it down. I personally replaced the two server PSUs with an ax850, swapped out the two 80mm exhaust with quieter ones, and replaced 3 80mm fans behind the drives with 3 140mm fans which fit perfectly. Now it's tolerable enough to be in the same room. It your buying this for a house go in expecting to spend some extra making it house friendly.
 
They're actually not that loud if the fan is controlled by the motherboard. Not something I'd want to be working around all day though, but if it's in a room with a closed door you barely hear it. In my rack I can't tell the difference if it's on or not, because everything else just drowns it.
 
I keep hoping to see these sold out damnit... I don't need this kind of temptation

EDIT - Woot all sold out!
 
according to Kim @ TAM "We do have several more units available, just not processed at this time. More should be going up soon."
 
I don't know if they are just selling on ebay now, but when I purchased mine we just talked over email and paid through paypal without using ebay at all.
 
I haven't looked at the chassis carefully yet, but could we just dremel it and slap on some 120 fans?
 
What I'm boggled about is how are they making any money off this at all? It cost me near 4 grand to build my system. The case alone is over a grand.

Would be hard to mod to add new fans, these are special hot swap units:



I suppose you could just cut out that whole section and maybe have room for 1 120mm fan in the back and 2-3 in the front. But you are better off just throttling the speed of the existing ones with some kind of PWM controller.
 
What I'm boggled about is how are they making any money off this at all? It cost me near 4 grand to build my system. The case alone is over a grand.

Would be hard to mod to add new fans, these are special hot swap units:



I suppose you could just cut out that whole section and maybe have room for 1 120mm fan in the back and 2-3 in the front. But you are better off just throttling the speed of the existing ones with some kind of PWM controller.

they're not reselling, they're getting rid of old equipment....


would be easy enough to swap those fans...
 
What I'm boggled about is how are they making any money off this at all? It cost me near 4 grand to build my system. The case alone is over a grand.

Would be hard to mod to add new fans, these are special hot swap units:



I suppose you could just cut out that whole section and maybe have room for 1 120mm fan in the back and 2-3 in the front. But you are better off just throttling the speed of the existing ones with some kind of PWM controller.

Here's a pic of what I did (much better than the crazy loud 80mm fans that were in there):

 
Sigh...

I ordered two to add to my Norcos. Good thing I have a half height rack or I might of purchased three!
 
they're not reselling, they're getting rid of old equipment....

Those can't be all that old though... Still crazy to think they are selling them at that price.

I just wish I would have gotten in on this earlier, I would have gotten a couple for the same price it cost to build mine. :D
 
damn you guys! i now have a quad on the way (trying to save for a house as well)
I just couldn't pass up on this amazing deal! should work great for my backup server.
luckily i have a Corsair TX900 and lots of 120mm fans laying around to throw in it too (may make a new fan plate myself)
 
they're not reselling, they're getting rid of old equipment....


would be easy enough to swap those fans...

The case fans aren't the loud part, its the PSU's. Unless you have a qualified Supermicro board in there the PSU fans will run in safe mode (100% fan). Also if you have a Supermicro board connected it will control the case fans as well, which are actually really quiet when auto-regulated by the mobo.
 
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