Decent rack / chasis and added storage - Moving to more professional level. Need advice.

[antsrealm]

Hi,

I've been running FreeNas now for a few years and it has worked really well for me. I am now looking at the possibillity of expanding my setup to store backups for work and would like to get it to a more professional level. I'm a bit rusty on the terminology as it has been running pretty well and I havent really touched it for the past few years.

This is what I currently have:-

8 x 3tb western digital drives. Mainly reds as I started with greens and had a few fail.
32gb ECC ram
Supermicro X10SL7 Motherboard
Intel Xeon E3-1231V1
Fractal design R5
Z2 Volume
No cahces
version 9.10 (latest stable)
P20 firmware on SAS 3208 controller


I will need more capacity soon so was considering a second volume / pool of another 8 x 3TB drives in Z2.

The second issue is the chasis. The fractal does a good job but is unprofessional. I don't mind spending a 'reasonable' amount of money and I once bought a second hand supermicro rack mount chasis only to throw it in the bin becuase I could hear the fans running from up stairs.

I can appreciate they are a bit noisy but this was rediculous. If there is a decent rack mount chasis that is moderate on fan noise, please recommend. I'll also need a rack / enclosure to store it in.

In regards to the additional storage how should I handle this as I am currently using 8 of the sata ports on the MB and expect the chasis will use a different connector to a back plane. I am also sick of failed SATA cables as I have had a few of them now and would prefer a more robust back plane. I have an old M1015 card so that could be utilized. Should I get two small chasis that can take 8 drives each or just 1 big one.

I guess it's time for me to take this to the pro level and just need some direction to get it right the first time. I can't really have a povo desktop case sitting on my garage bench one fan failure away from a meltdown.

 

[scwst]

I'd also be grateful if somebody could point me to a "rack mounts for noobs" introduction of some sort, because my FreeNAS system is currently enclosed in an old, giant, rear-ugly tower desktop case that has to go, and I'm wondering if would make sense to just consolidate it with my desktop computer while I'm at it.

 

[Dice]

If there is a decent rack mount chasis that is moderate on fan noise, please recommend.

One solution I've kept an eye at is this one:
https://www.xcase.co.uk/collections...lue-rm-424-24-hotswap-bays?variant=9205909957

 

[Magius]

My current server, built ~8 years ago, is in a Norco 4220 chassis, with 20 hot swap drive bays. I got it before the 4224 came out, and in place of the 4 extra drive bays, it has a slimline optical, 2.5" mounts, and some buttons and lights up top. Either of those chassis are 'oldies-but-pretty-goodies' if you want something cheaper and quieter than a Supermicro. In either variant, you can replace the 4x80mm fan wall with 3x120mm in a snap. I made my own fan wall to do just that, before the community started building and selling them. Nowadays you can by compatible fanwalls online for $10-15 it's such a popular mod, just add your own fans :).

Personally, I'm getting ready to rebuild that server, and this time I need a chassis with a multiple of 6 drive bays. I'm planning to go with Supermicro SC846 (24 bays) or SC847 (36 bays) for the higher perceived build quality, as soon as I can find the right deal on a used one. I imagine you could find an old Norco for a reasonable price on the used market as well, since they've been around forever and at one time were about the only reasonable alternative to expensive Supermicros.

 

[Stux]

Here's my Norco RPC-4224 build which is silent enough:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...24-supermicro-x10-sri-f-xeon-e5-1650v4.46262/

It's silent enough for use in a home office, not for a living room/bed room

Wish I could dB meter it :)

 

[antsrealm]

Thanks for the input guys, in particular Stux. That thread on your norco build is fantastic, just what I needed to see. I think I'll follow your path and do as you have done. I'm new to the fan control and temp logging so I might need to throw you some PM's over the next few weeks to understand how the temps can be logged and the fan scripts written etc.

Thanks again :)

 

[antsrealm]

Here's my Norco RPC-4224 build which is silent enough:
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...24-supermicro-x10-sri-f-xeon-e5-1650v4.46262/

It's silent enough for use in a home office, not for a living room/bed room

Wish I could dB meter it :)

Don't know how accurate those mobile phone DB apps are but you could start with that for a basic db meter. Great thread by the way, looks like I'll do the same as you have done. Thanks.

 

[Scharbag]

I have a Norco 4220 and it has been great. As said, not silent enough for living room but tuck it away in the utility room and all is well. Build quality of mine was good and I have been running it for a few years without any issues.

I just picked up a SC847 with MB, RAM and HBA.

Not cheap but I needed the extra bays. And SM cases are well built and easy to maintain. Also, SM motherboards seem to run great in ESXI. If you do go for SM case, make sure it is a SAS2 version if it has expanders.

Cheers,