Best way to add 24 drive capacity

[we7313]

Let me start by saying I was using a Promise VTrak J830S 4U 24x 3.5" SAS SATA Drive Bay Storage Array VT.
I picked it up off Ebay for about $400. It worked great for about 6 months until I had a power outage yesterday morning.
Now the device just powers on and the fans run at full speed. Its hard to trouble shoot because the only interface to the CLI is through a RJ11 serial cable.

So now i'm open to finding a new storage array solution.
This array is used only to hold movies, so It just needs to serve files - nothing fancy.

Can anyone recommend a solid solution? I'd like something a little less ancient, so I can troubleshoot it if I do have issues.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Chris Moore]

So now i'm open to finding a new storage array solution.
This array is used only to hold movies, so It just needs to serve files - nothing fancy.

I am not familiar with what you were using.
Is this going to connect to a FreeNAS system you already have or will you be building a FreeNAS system?

 

[we7313]

Yes, it will be connecting to my existing server that is running FreeNAS.
Link to existing storage array.

 

[Chris Moore]

Yes, it will be connecting to my existing server that is running FreeNAS.
Link to existing storage array.

So you already had a SAS attached enclosure and it died, you just need a recommendation for a replacement.

Cool, this isn't exactly what you are looking for, but you might want to look it over and see what you think:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4U-Supermi...y-JBOD-CSE-PTJBOD-CB2-with-Rails/173743139792

 

[we7313]

It looks great. Do you have any idea if this is plug and play? Meaning just add my drives and plug it in and my NAS will see it?
Also, do you know if it has any interface (like web) so if I find myself in a similar situation with my present unit that I could trouble shoot it?

 

[Chris Moore]

It is just a SAS expander and all the communication is through the sesutil.
It probably has fan speed and temperature reports and the ability to turn location lights on and off. not much more.

 

[we7313]

That might be all I need then. Would I be correct to assume that if I move my drives into the new SAS expander that FreeNas will detect them and remount the volume?

 

[Chris Moore]

That might be all I need then. Would I be correct to assume that if I move my drives into the new SAS expander that FreeNas will detect them and remount the volume?

Yes. FreeNAS is very good about detecting drives. All it needs is a data path. I have a server at work that has six enclosures attached to two different SAS cards, 122 drives, no problem.

PS. I moved one of the ZFS pools from FreeNAS to Linux and back also. On the Linux system the pool (4 enclosures with 62 drives) were all connected to one model controller and when it was brought back to FreeNAS, it was connected to a different model controller.

 

[we7313]

I bought it!
Thanks for your help.