Can I convert these servers to TrueNAS Server?

[ablaze]

Hi.

This is my first post here.

I have two servers. I am wondering if I can get these to work with TrueNAS. Please let me know if there is any more information I can share to help you help me.

FYI - I took a look at hardware guides, but I work at a non profit and we do not have budget to buy much, Also, both these servers have SCSI drives, FWIW.

 

[danb35]

Please let me know if there is any more information I can share to help you help me.

A text description of what they are, perhaps? The output of dmidecode isn't all that straightforward to follow--though it does make it look like server "h" has a maximum RAM capacity of 8 GB, which is inadequate to run any version of TrueNAS.

 

[Ericloewe]

So good news and bad news. You had me scared when you said "SCSI", because anything old enough to be using parallel SCSI is too old to be worth using with TrueNAS.

Good news first: Server G is pretty good, a Dell R720XD with 128 GB of RAM.
Bad news: It's a 24x 2.5 chassis, not the 12x 3.5". Actually, it's good news if you wanted to use SSDs anyway, just not if you wanted to run 3.5" disks for bulk storage.
Worse news: I can't quickly determine how old Server H is, but it's old. It has PCI-X. Definitely in "too old for this" territory.

 

[Ericloewe]

Dug a bit further. It's not just old, it's old enough to vote. Original Xeon platform, as in NetBurst Xeon.

Intel 603/604 Xeon Server Board SE7501BR2, P/N: SE7501BR2 - Intel Motherboards

Intel 603/604 Xeon Server Board SE7501BR2, P/N: SE7501BR2 The Intel Server Board SE7501BR2 supporting dual Intel Xeon processors, a 533MHz system bus, and the Intel E7501 chipset enables you to create an extraordinary selection of powerful systems - including...

store.cwc-group.com

Other highlights include:

• ATI Rage XL SVGA PCI video controller with 8 MB of video memory, from back when "servers" were just glorified desktops in rackmount chassis.
• Intel E7501 Northbridge, which apparently does support PCIe, which must be how they're getting "three independent PCI busses". Also, it actually supports 16 GB of RAM, which would require 4 GB DDR DIMMs, if such a thing even exists, or 4 DIMMs per channel.

 

[ablaze]

Good news first: Server G is pretty good, a Dell R720XD with 128 GB of RAM.
Bad news: It's a 24x 2.5 chassis, not the 12x 3.5". Actually, it's good news if you wanted to use SSDs anyway, just not if you wanted to run 3.5" disks for bulk storage.

So I can install TrueNAS on server G but I'd either have continue using the current 2.5" hard drives or to switch to SSDs. Regular 3.5" WD Red SATA drives mightn't be an option. I asked this question because, when I installed FreeNAS on my Virtual Box with SCSI, it did not detect the drives and I was giving up my hope.

Worse news: I can't quickly determine how old Server H is, but it's old. It has PCI-X. Definitely in "too old for this" territory.

Any idea, what I could do with this server?

 

[Ericloewe]

continue using the current 2.5" hard drives or to switch to SSDs

Or use other 2.5" drives, but the efficiency in terms of $/GB is not really there.

Regular 3.5" WD Red SATA drives mightn't be an option

Yeah, they won't fit.

I asked this question because, when I installed FreeNAS on my Virtual Box with SCSI, it did not detect the drives and I was giving up my hope.

Well, you'll need to replace or crossflash the RAID controller (probably part of the problem you're seeing). See also https://www.truenas.com/community/resources/cross-flashing-dell-h310-h710-mini-to-it-mode.166/

Any idea, what I could do with this server?

Museum piece? Not much more, I'm afraid. The power consumption is going to kill any realistic use even for low-intensity tasks.

 

[HoneyBadger]

As mentioned, the "G" server is a great candidate for an all-SSD build; although, you did mention that budget is a concern. If you need something suited for general file-sharing, a system using 3.5" disks will probably be far more cost-effective.

What's the desired use for these servers once TrueNAS is on them? Video files, office documents? How many users (roughly) total, and how many generally accessing at once?

 

[ChrisRJ]

Many 2.5" HDDs are SMR drives these days. So that would be something to look out for.

 

[Ericloewe]

Many 2.5" HDDs are SMR drives these days. So that would be something to look out for.

Ask my shelf of 2 TB 2.5" HDDs how I know.

Together with Gluster-induced latency, I could literally gather up a few people to manually produce something aking to the output of du -h faster than the computers were doing it. That was certainly hilarious in a tragedy plus time sort of way.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Just to be crystal clear for the benefit of @ablaze here - "keep an eye out for SMR" means "ensure they stay very, very far away from your ZFS pools" rather than "attempt to acquire them."

 

[Alex_K]

It could be possible to convert 2.5" R720XD into 3.5" version. You'll need to replace backplane and some other parts, but it shoudl be possible. It certainly is possible for some HP servers. Would need to work with local Dell service experts for that.

Another option would be to use external disk shelf.

For all-flash you could use many small Intel SSD from ebay, they are quite cheap these days and you have a lot of 2.5" slots. look for Intel S3** series

H server could be used as a router/proxy server or RDP/other thin client but power and coling efficiency is a killer. Possibly noice too.

 

[Ericloewe]

It could be possible to convert 2.5" R720XD into 3.5" version. You'll need to replace backplane and some other parts, but it shoudl be possible.

I think I looked into this once, IIRC the metalwork is substantially different and riveted to the rest of the chassis. And there might be larger differences, even (e.g. the 10-bay R630 is longer than the 8-bay or 4x 3.5" (or mythical 24x 1.8") versions).
At that point, selling and replacing with the desired chassis would be a better option.

H server could be used as a router/proxy server or RDP/other thin client but power and coling efficiency is a killer. Possibly noice too

It's not even x64. Sure, it could do a couple of small tasks, but no better than a Raspberry Pi 3 at a tenth the power (or less). Pi 4 to get real GbE.