Dell T30 Deal: likely my starter platform

[WaitingForTesla]

Hi, Everyone

Still reading and learning, I'm pretty close to pulling the trigger on this. It will be my basic starter platform. I've read quite a few posts and since I'm mainly looking to consolidate my mess of external storage into one network appliance for personal use, this will work nicely I hope. Your thoughts are welcome. Likely load it with 3-4, 4 or 6TB drives depending on the price point in a raid 5. Still debating considering it's basic use initially whether to invest in additional RAM out of the gate. Looking forward to learning and eventually contributing.


https://slickdeals.net/f/10075248-d...49-with-f-s?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarV2Algo1

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/poweredge-t30/pd?oc=pet30_12084_3&model_id=poweredge-t30

 

[Ericloewe]

350 bucks? I'd pull the trigger.

 

[WaitingForTesla]

350 bucks? I'd pull the trigger.

Already did, Dell is pretty slow so I have the weekend and a few days more before canceling is out of the question, but I'm 99% sure this will fit my needs for a while. The inside of the case looks like it could accommodate another 2 drives if I want to expand in the future and wedge another cage in.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

That's a great price for the Xeon version. Keep in mind that the optical drive occupies the space that is left free for two 2.5" drives in the Pentium version.

 

[Ericloewe]

Even better, a free DVD drive. :D

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

It's a slimline, plus then you need a blanking plate.

Still a good deal ...

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Oh, one more thing.

The inside of the case looks like it could accommodate another 2 drives

The cooling for the bottom 2 drives is only just adequate in the T20, and I assume it's the same in the T30. Replacing the vented PCI slot blanking plates with solid plates helps.

Therefore, if you plan to add more 3.5" drives, cooling will be a challenge.

 

[WaitingForTesla]

Oh, one more thing.

The cooling for the bottom 2 drives is only just adequate in the T20, and I assume it's the same in the T30. Replacing the vented PCI slot blanking plates with solid plates helps.

Therefore, if you plan to add more 3.5" drives, cooling will be a challenge.

Thanks for the advice, 3-4 drives and additional RAM is all I have planned for my initial build. I was more thinking out-loud wondering how far I can take this system in it's current form. Thinking ahead, If I would want to upgrade in anyway, the case, power supply, fans, and RAM might all get upgraded in one go. I'm trying to to keep my initial investment on the lower side in case I hate it or it doesn't fit my needs, but I also don't want to go so cheap that it's a poor implementation of Freenas and I turn to a consumer turn-key NAS out of sheer ignorance.

 

[WaitingForTesla]

Oh, one more thing.

The cooling for the bottom 2 drives is only just adequate in the T20, and I assume it's the same in the T30. Replacing the vented PCI slot blanking plates with solid plates helps.

Therefore, if you plan to add more 3.5" drives, cooling will be a challenge.

Can you recommend or have you heard of any mods that would improve the ventilation on this system? I know it may just be the nature of a small case but might be worth it.

Slightly related, I'm having trouble finding documentation on what memory configuration this ships with. It says 8gb but doesn't specific whether that's spread across 4x2gb, 2x4gb, or 1x8gb. Trying to figure out how many and what size RAM to add or just replace it all with the same thing.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

the case, power supply, fans, and RAM might all get upgraded in one go

You might run into frustrations with things like proprietary motherboard power connectors.

Can you recommend or have you heard of any mods that would improve the ventilation on this system?

Aside from solid PCI slot blanking plates, I also covered the side vent on my T20 with foam. When I was running four drives, I would sometimes see lower bay drive temperatures rise to around 40C, but not to the point where I worried about it.

I would not recommend a T20 or T30 to anyone planning to use more than four 3.5" drives. I think it's foolish to try to put more drives into any case than it was designed for. If you think you'll need more than four drives at some point in the future, this may not be the box for you. With drive capacities already in double-digit TB, I confident I'll never need more than four drives.

I'm having trouble finding documentation on what memory configuration this ships with

Almost certainly a single 8GB stick. In fact, this should be clear if you view the order details. Look at the Quantity column next to "8GB UDIMM, 2400MT/s, Single Rank, x8 Data Width".

Generally, the smart thing is to buy the largest single sticks the machine will accept, as long as they aren't overpriced, so you don't have to discard them later when upgrading.

 

[CraigD]

Slightly related, I'm having trouble finding documentation on what memory configuration this ships with. It says 8gb but doesn't specific whether that's spread across 4x2gb, 2x4gb, or 1x8gb. Trying to figure out how many and what size RAM to add or just replace it all with the same thing.

It has 4 RAM slots, unless you want to max out the RAM any configuration it comes with will be fine (I doubt it will be 4x2GB sticks)

http://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/...ets/en/Documents/PowerEdge_T30_Spec_Sheet.pdf

Have Fun
PS Nice buy!

 

[WaitingForTesla]

You might run into frustrations with things like proprietary motherboard power connectors.

Aside from solid PCI slot blanking plates, I also covered the side vent on my T20 with foam. When I was running four drives, I would sometimes see lower bay drive temperatures rise to around 40C, but not to the point where I worried about it.

Thanks, this is great hands on info, makes me feel better about the purchase while I wait for it.

I would not recommend a T20 or T30 to anyone planning to use more than four 3.5" drives. I think it's foolish to try to put more drives into any case than it was designed for. If you think you'll need more than four drives at some point in the future, this may not be the box for you. With drive capacities already in double-digit TB, I confident I'll never need more than four drives.

Thank you for diplomatically telling me what a bad idea that is. You make a valid point about the general size of drives these days. I'm still wrestling with what size and quantity to get. leaning towards 4x4tb right now. Seems to be the best TB/dollar price right now, but I'd splurge if I saw the right deal on 6TB drives the whole setup would last longer. I got a good deal, and I've come too terms with the fact that this will be a starter system should I decide I want bigger, faster, more flexible system down the road. In which case I'll build from scratch. The tinkerer in me is always looking for the most flexible options, but sometimes it doesn't make the most sense. Not today, but once this is running nicely I may add dual gigabit ethernet card. Would a system like this benefit from dual gigabit? The workstations I use at work are often dual gigabit for video files, but I'm still learning about the throughput of something like this and what influences it.

Almost certainly a single 8GB stick. In fact, this should be clear if you view the order details. Look at the Quantity column next to "8GB UDIMM, 2400MT/s, Single Rank, x8 Data Width".

Generally, the smart thing is to buy the largest single sticks the machine will accept, as long as they aren't overpriced, so you don't have to discard them later when upgrading.

Thanks, I'll probably add one more 8gb stick should have me covered for the 4x4TB configuration I'll probably end up with. Since I'll probably never bother with 8 or 10 TB drive capacities on this system a max of 32gb will be plenty. I'm not going to bother buying 16gb sticks.

 

[Robert Trevellyan]

Would a system like this benefit from dual gigabit?

If you're referring to link aggregation, that only helps when you have enough clients. I think if you do a forum search for LAGG you'll find reference to this. I don't remember what the minimum is.

 

[WaitingForTesla]

If you're referring to link aggregation, that only helps when you have enough clients. I think if you do a forum search for LAGG you'll find reference to this. I don't remember what the minimum is.

Thanks, it's clearly beyond my knowledge. The systems I work on have dual gigabit connections for high bit rate video. I believe you need enough drives and memory to saturate the throughput. Lofty goals for the future.