I have an existing FreeNAS system that I'm happy with, but I'll want to expand it and I can't hold more memory in my current motherboard. I found Chris Moore's thread (https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/my-new-48-bay-build.61223/) on his 48 bay build and would be interested in doing something similar. This has a SAS-2 backplane and holds an Extended ATX motherboard. It would be my first attempt at using a backplane and I'd like a confirmation that I'm on the right track. My current system is:
- Supermicro X10SLL-F (https://www.supermicro.com/products/motherboard/xeon/c220/x10sll-f.cfm)
- Intel Xeon E3-1231 v3 (https://www.amazon.com/Intel-Xeon-Processor-E3-1231V3B-BX80646E31231V3/dp/B00KB4A2XA)
- 8 x 4 TB WD Reds
- 9240-8i LSI RAID card, flashed to IT
- 32 GB EEC DDR3 memory, can't remember what type.
- 32GB SSD for OS
- Fractal Designs Node 804 (https://www.amazon.com/Fractal-Design-Supply-MicroATX-FD-CA-NODE-804-BL/dp/B00K6OVG0I)
- If I get a motherboard with SAS2 ports, like X9DRD-7LN4F, can I skip the HBA? I think I'd just need a few SFF-8087 cables?
- I've read that moving the OS drive and the hard drives to a new system is simple and will just work, but I'd like someone to hold my hand and say, "yes it is that magical."
- Am I correct that the memory should work in X9 systems?
- A lot of these motherboards need to be flashed to bios 3.0 to use E5-2600 v2 CPUs, not all ebay sellers specify. Is there any sneaky way to update the bios if I only have v2 CPUs?
- Am I doing anything dumb?