http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846

it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route. thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective route to it.

Been using them for tier 1 and tier 2 storage. Work well.

:)

Mat X

Apple Certified Xsan 2 Admin, ACSP 10.5, ACTC 10.5

On 2009-09-16, at 10:34 PM, Daniel Roizman droizman@gmail.com wrote:

http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846

it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of
backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route. thanks to
everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this
seems to be a cost effective route to it.

_ StudioSysAdmins-Discuss mailing list StudioSysAdmins-Discuss@studiosysadmins.com http://mailman.studiosysadmins.com/mailman/listinfo/studiosysadmins-discuss

have you used the 846 with an HBA to another server or do you usually stick with a complete solution in the chasis?

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 10:59 PM, Matxdotca matxdotca@gmail.com wrote:

Been using them for tier 1 and tier 2 storage. Work well.

:) Mat X

Apple Certified Xsan 2 Admin, ACSP 10.5, ACTC 10.5

On 2009-09-16, at 10:34 PM, Daniel Roizman droizman@gmail.com wrote:

http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846

it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route. thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective route to it.

_ StudioSysAdmins-Discuss mailing list StudioSysAdmins-Discuss@studiosysadmins.com http://mailman.studiosysadmins.com/mailman/listinfo/studiosysadmins-discuss

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On 2009-09-16, at 11:15 PM, Daniel Roizman wrote:

have you used the 846 with an HBA to another server or do you
usually stick with a complete solution in the chasis?

Used both "complete solution" and just as a raid array attached to a
server.

Not sure of the exact model #, but I can put you in touch with the
system builders if you'd like to find out more.

:)

Mat X

E: matxdotca@gmail.com T: 778-837-1036

Apple Certified Xsan 2 Admin, ACSP (10.5), ACTC (10.5)

I've built a couple of these. One minor drawback compared to something more expensive: The drive bays can be a little "sticky", since they aren't built to super-precise tolerances. Worth it for the price, though.

You can also try a 48 port chassis if you really want to up the spindle count without costs going too high:

http://www.rackmountpro.com/product.aspx?prodid=3204&catid=259

The biggest choice you'll make is SATA controller card. Cards I've used:

3ware 9650SE: - good Linux support - on the slow side for random access

Areca 1230, Areca 1680: - binary blob Linux driver - seems to be faster than 3ware for random access

Supermicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 (3 with SW RAID): - others have had good luck with it - I experienced system lockups that I couldn't resolve, so I never used them in production

Andrew

--- On Wed, 9/16/09, Daniel Roizman droizman@gmail.com wrote:

http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846 ? it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route.? thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective route to it.

? ?

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

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Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr!

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Daniel

We configure storage servers based in Windows 2003/2008 Storage Server.

He have been using a 24 Bay from AKIWA for installation in post houses in Canada and the States for over 5 years with no problems.

http://www.akiwa.com/item.php?id=159 http://www.akiwa.com/item.php?id=159&pg=overview &pg=overview

You can get them with Multi Lane back planes that way you don't end up with 24 sata cables inside your case blocking air.

You can build it with a Supermicro server board and a 3ware 9650SE-24M8.

http://3ware.com/products/serial_ata2-9650.asp

This Controller provides rapid raid recovery so when a hot spare kicks in from a drive failure the raid becomes redundant again much faster.

At 24 drives I recommend a RAID 6 or RAID 50! Make sure you get the BBU option.

We configure these server with external PCIEx8 options so you can plug them with a HIB card in to your current server. PCIE expansions are transparent to the OS.

20Gigabit bidirectional communication to your host

Cheers!

Savvas Apatsidis

IC Technology

Toronto Office

3049 Universal Drive

Mississauga, ON L4X 2E2

p.416.869.0001x230

f.905.625.0382

Detroit Office

440 Burroughs Street Suite 100

Detroit, Michigan 48202

p.313.483.1123

f.888.259.3126

http://www.ictech.ca

From: studiosysadmins-discuss-bounces@studiosysadmins.com [mailto:studiosysadmins-discuss-bounces@studiosysadmins.com] On Behalf Of Daniel Roizman Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 1:35 AM To: studiosysadmins-discuss Subject: anyone using supermicro for storage chasis?

http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846

it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route. thanks to everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective route to it.

No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.100/2375 - Release Date: 09/16/09 05:51:00

Hello Daniel,

Daniel Roizman wrote: > http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846 >
> it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of > backplane feels less risky than the backblaze route. thanks to > everyone's feedback, I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems > to be a cost effective route to it. Another nice point is that you can add a second chassis and use the chassis interconnect to just boost the number of drive trays:)

Francis

-- Francis Provencher, IT Director Lumi?re VFX Email: francis@lumierevfx.com Phone: +1-514-316-1080x2116

--- On Thu, 9/17/09, Francis Provencher francis@lumierevfx.com wrote:

Another nice point is that you can add a second chassis and use the chassis interconnect to just boost the number of drive trays:)

Ah, cool, I didn't know you could do that. A little Googling leads to a Supermicro backplane manual, with lots of helpful diagrams and pictures in Section 3:

http://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/BPN-SAS-846EL.pdf

They also have a helpful list of usable RAID cards in their FAQ:

http://www.supermicro.com/support/faqs/faq.cfm?faq=8590

Andrew

Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com.

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 10:34 PM, Daniel Roizman droizman@gmail.com wrote: > http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846 > > it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane > feels less risky than the backblaze route.? thanks to everyone's feedback, > I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective > route to it.

I have one SuperMicro chassis for a custom-built NAS, and it's been working fine for a couple of years now. It took a lot of time to get SLES installed on there, due to driver issues. I recommend saving some labor time by going with a vendor like Silicon Mechanics instead:

http://www.siliconmechanics.com/c7/storage.php

They have a wide variety of options in chassis types, controllers, motherboards, and processors. They will pre-install any free (as in speech) OS for little or no charge, so that's a good cheap way to determine your distro will work on the hardware, even if you don't get an OEM license from them. The more pieces you buy from them, the more they will support on their on-site warranty options, which also means much less maintenance work for you in the long run.

I recommend LSI RAID Controllers on most Linux distros. If you get 3ware, stay away from bleeding edge product line, as driver support of many distros tends to lag release time by about a year.

:) Jared

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 10:34 PM, Daniel Roizman droizman@gmail.com wrote: > http://supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/?chs=846 > > it's no backblaze but 24 drives, redundant power and choice of backplane > feels less risky than the backblaze route.? thanks to everyone's feedback, > I'm trying to up the spindle count and this seems to be a cost effective > route to it.

I have one SuperMicro chassis for a custom-built NAS, and it's been working fine for a couple of years now. It took a lot of time to get SLES installed on there, due to driver issues. I recommend saving some labor time by going with a vendor like Silicon Mechanics instead:

http://www.siliconmechanics.com/c7/storage.php

They have a wide variety of options in chassis types, controllers, motherboards, and processors. They will pre-install any free (as in speech) OS for little or no charge, so that's a good cheap way to determine your distro will work on the hardware, even if you don't get an OEM license from them. The more pieces you buy from them, the more they will support on their on-site warranty options, which also means much less maintenance work for you in the long run.

I recommend LSI RAID Controllers on most Linux distros. If you get 3ware, stay away from bleeding edge product line, as driver support of many distros tends to lag release time by about a year.

:) Jared

yes, please. i'm checking out some of the builder sites now.

thanks!

On Wed, Sep 16, 2009 at 11:27 PM, matxdotca matxdotca@gmail.com wrote:

On 2009-09-16, at 11:15 PM, Daniel Roizman wrote:

have you used the 846 with an HBA to another server or do you usually > stick with a complete solution in the chasis? >

Used both "complete solution" and just as a raid array attached to a server.

Not sure of the exact model #, but I can put you in touch with the system builders if you'd like to find out more.

:)

Mat X

E: matxdotca@gmail.com T: 778-837-1036

Apple Certified Xsan 2 Admin, ACSP (10.5), ACTC (10.5)

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