Add Additional HDD to full case

[NasKar]

Does anyone have any recommendations as to what hardware I can purchase to add addition HDD to my Freenas? The case is full and I have

• 1 x PCIe 3.0 x16 slot on the motherboard so it would have to be an external enclosure and an add in card.

 

[BigDave]

Fractal Design Node 804 case.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811352047

PCIe HBA add in card.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIABZ04RM8257

 

[NasKar]

Based on the cost of the add in card it maybe a better idea to get a new case and motherboard with more SATA ports and 2 more memory slots. Wasn't sure it there was a way to use the PCIe port and an external enclosure so I don't have to mess with the current box to much.

 

[nojohnny101]

It all depends on your budget. Do you have a backup target for your main freeNAS box?

This might be an opportunity to shift parts around and throw together a cheap backup box from your current FreeNAS box and then build a more forward looking new main FreeNAS box.

This is what I did, details in sig.

 

[NasKar]

This is what I did, details in sig.

Looks like your backup is pretty high quality. Do you think I could use an old desktop computer (no ECC ram) to backup everything but the media? My media is currently backed up by a 8TB external USB drive via a CIFS share. I know it's not the best setup but to get another ZFS Z2 setup would cost a lot in HDD just for backup (6*139=$834).

 

[nojohnny101]

Looks like your backup is pretty high quality.

It's all relative. I don't consider it high end because it doesn't use a Xeon, uses old recycled laptop drives I had lying around, and uses the minimal amount of ram.

The 8tb drive backup is jot a bad setup. If that will work within your storage constraints then I say continue using that.

 

[CraigD]

You will need at an HBA, and an expander that can be powered from Molex instead of PCIe

Have Fun