Best SAS shelf for home (noise/power)

[VR46]

I am currently running TrueNAS on an old Dell C2100 and am likely getting a R720 8LFF to upgrade to next week.

Current layout:
4 x 960G SAS SSD 12Gbps mirrored
5 x 8T SAS HDD 12Gbps RAIDz2

The 720 does not have enough drive bays so I am looking to add a 2.5" shelf and wondering which is ideal between Dell, HP, and Netapp. Big disks will stay in the server, small will go to the shelf and may be adding some SFF HDD to shelf as well.

Planned layout:
6 x SSD mirrored
2 x three disk RAIDz1 (Open to other config but only have three spare disks to migrate to unless I pull everything from backup)

 

[VR46]

Models I'm considering:

Dell EB-2425
HP D2700
Netapp DS2246

 

[HoneyBadger]

Commercial 2.5" DAE's aren't really optimized for either low noise or low power. The drives are packed tightly together and the cooling is often spec'd to handle 10K/15K SAS disks, which means designing for both high static pressure and high airflow volume. End result is the fans being absolute banshees.

Check out the Supermicro CSE-216 series, but I have a feeling you're going to be looking at "least bad" as the option here, and none of them really being something you'll want to have in the same room as you regularly.

 

[VR46]

It's in a closet off the laundry room downstairs but I keep door cracked/open for temps, so it's not a major issue but something I want to minimize.

I like the idea of a Supermicro setup as a DAE with the SAS ports extended to the rear instead of an expander/controller but they seem hard to find and then cost 3x-4x more.

 

[jgreco]

It's in a closet off the laundry room downstairs but I keep door cracked/open for temps, so it's not a major issue but something I want to minimize.

I like the idea of a Supermicro setup as a DAE with the SAS ports extended to the rear instead of an expander/controller but they seem hard to find and then cost 3x-4x more.

You do realize that making a JBOD is just running a few cables to the back of the chassis and adding the JBOD controller board. The older ones (i.e. not CB3 which is a few hundred bucks) can often be found on eBay. There is no way that they cost "3x-4x more" unless someone is literally giving away a chassis.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

I agree with the power/noise comments made by @jgreco. I have had positive experience with HP 2600/2700 units and a Promise 636. They are pretty inexpensive on eBay as are the LSI controller cards.

 

[VR46]

I have each of the ones I mentioned above saved on Ebay in the $100-$150 range.

 

[HoneyBadger]

I have each of the ones I mentioned above saved on Ebay in the $100-$150 range.

Of the options you've got listed, the Dell/Xyratex is probably what I'd go with. Make sure you account for the cost of drive trays though as that can inflate the price pretty rapidly - watch out for units that require interposers (eg: EMC VNX) and preferably stick to straight SAS mounting.

 

[VR46]

Commercial 2.5" DAE's aren't really optimized for either low noise or low power. The drives are packed tightly together and the cooling is often spec'd to handle 10K/15K SAS disks, which means designing for both high static pressure and high airflow volume. End result is the fans being absolute banshees.

Check out the Supermicro CSE-216 series, but I have a feeling you're going to be looking at "least bad" as the option here, and none of them really being something you'll want to have in the same room as you regularly.

I ended up getting a CSE-826 unit w/o MB, the 12LFF will suit me well as I'm now using a SFF R730 as the host.

Anyone know anything about the CSE-PTJBOD-CB2 power boards? Ones on Ebay are all from China I'm I wonder if they're genuine. Plus, there are two different versions there. One with two 4 pin fan connectors plus another 3 pin connector, and the other with four 4 pin fans and not the 3 pin one.

 

[Elliot Dierksen]

Make sure you account for the cost of drive trays though as that can inflate the price pretty rapidly

Excellent point!