Dell T3500 drive capacity limit

[OptimalDuck]

Thanks for the help everyone. I’ll report back once I pick up some drives.

 

[OptimalDuck]

I ended up purchasing 3x4 tb drives. I have them installed along with a 2 tb drive that I probably won't keep and a small drive for the OS and everything is recognized. I didn't end up getting drives bigger than others had reported working, but I thought I'd come back and say it also worked for me.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[speedtriple]

Fine it worked as expected.
3x4 tb will be fine for a RaidZ1-pool with about 8 tb storage and one drive redundancy.
And the 2tb in a separat pool for its own.

 

[OptimalDuck]

Fine it worked as expected.
3x4 tb will be fine for a RaidZ1-pool with about 8 tb storage and one drive redundancy.
And the 2tb in a separat pool for its own.

You mentioned that you're using a T3500 as well. May I ask how you have your drives installed? I have two in the drive tray over the ram and CPU of course, but putting the other ones in the 3.5 and 5.5 external bays seems odd. The screw holes don't see to hold them very tight and also interfere with the latch thing that holds the front panels on. I'm also a little concerned about cooling all those drives stacked on top of each other because there isn't much for airflow in that section of the case.

 

[speedtriple]

You mentioned that you're using a T3500 as well. May I ask how you have your drives installed? I have two in the drive tray over the ram and CPU of course, but putting the other ones in the 3.5 and 5.5 external bays seems odd. The screw holes don't see to hold them very tight and also interfere with the latch thing that holds the front panels on. I'm also a little concerned about cooling all those drives stacked on top of each other because there isn't much for airflow in that section of the case.

I did link to a Youtube in this thread which explained a little about extra drives in the T3500.
I belive that without any extra cages/expenses you may put a 3.5" drive hanging on it's screws inside abeam the power button or not far away.

Anyhow I did buy the Dell WH216 drive cage which have a fan for cooling, which fits 2 HDD, just below the DVD.
Then I replaced the DVD with a Startech 5.25" bay which fits a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD with a included small fan at the rear.
The 6th 3.5" is so far loose inside at the "floor", I will try to fit it more secure soon.
(It would have been better to just get a cage which occupies 2x5.25" and yields 3xHDD).
My last 2 SSD's fits anywhere.

The 6 HDD's are connected to the LSI-card, the 3 SSD's are connected to the internal SATA-ports.
Did need some power splitters. And put another 80mm fan at the lower rear.

Dual Bay 5.25' Trayless Mobile Rack - Hard Drive Racks - HDD Mobile Racks & Backplanes | StarTech.com

StarTech.com Dual Bay 5.25' Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack Backplane for 2.5' and 3.5' SATA/SAS HDD or SSD with Fan

www.startech.com

 

[OptimalDuck]

I did link to a Youtube in this thread which explained a little about extra drives in the T3500.
I belive that without any extra cages/expenses you may put a 3.5" drive hanging on it's screws inside abeam the power button or not far away.

Anyhow I did buy the Dell WH216 drive cage which have a fan for cooling, which fits 2 HDD, just below the DVD.
Then I replaced the DVD with a Startech 5.25" bay which fits a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD with a included small fan at the rear.
The 6th 3.5" is so far loose inside at the "floor", I will try to fit it more secure soon.
(It would have been better to just get a cage which occupies 2x5.25" and yields 3xHDD).
My last 2 SSD's fits anywhere.

The 6 HDD's are connected to the LSI-card, the 3 SSD's are connected to the internal SATA-ports.
Did need some power splitters. And put another 80mm fan at the lower rear.

Dual Bay 5.25' Trayless Mobile Rack - Hard Drive Racks - HDD Mobile Racks & Backplanes | StarTech.com

StarTech.com Dual Bay 5.25' Trayless Hot Swap Mobile Rack Backplane for 2.5' and 3.5' SATA/SAS HDD or SSD with Fan

www.startech.com

Makes sense. I've come across some of those options as well. The Dell drive cage seems perfect, but it doesn't seem to be very easy to get my hands on in Canada anymore. At least not at a price I would think is reasonable. I think i'll probably end up doing a bit of modification to the case and adding in a basic fan in the front blowing over the drives up there. It won't be that pretty, but it will also be tucked away in my basement, so pretty isn't overly important.

 

[speedtriple]

Makes sense. I've come across some of those options as well. The Dell drive cage seems perfect, but it doesn't seem to be very easy to get my hands on in Canada anymore. At least not at a price I would think is reasonable. I think i'll probably end up doing a bit of modification to the case and adding in a basic fan in the front blowing over the drives up there. It won't be that pretty, but it will also be tucked away in my basement, so pretty isn't overly important.

Improvising will be just as good.
I did find most of my add-ons on eBay, just took long time before they arrived.