So, here is a question for everyone. Has ANYONE seen the supposed LCD screen that goes in the rack ear on the right side of the server? The documentation on this says that little black piece is suppose to be an LCD screen. Also, if not then what do you peeps think about popping a dual usb port in that spot (since the thing only has 2 ports on the back)
So, I recently got one of these mysteriously lovely FS12-TY machines for a pretty good price, $100 off of craigslist here in Portland. I think it will make a decent FreeNAS box, with 64GB of DDR3 ECC, two Intel Xeon X5570 CPUs running at 2.93GHz, dual Gigabit NICs, etc.
The issue is the drive controller and the backplane. It came with an "SAS 6/iR" card (which I am assuming is the same thing that people are calling the PERC 6iR?), connected via dual SFF8484 connectors to a 12 bay, 3.5" hot swap backplane. I'm using 4TB WD Red drives, so I know this card won't work for me, so I'm looking at getting H200/H310 or M1015 controller, and flashing it with the correct IT firmware.
My question is about the connectors and the backplane. If I've done my research right, the H200/H310/M1015 cards don't have 8484 connectors, but instead SFF8087 connectors. Is it a simple matter of buying 8087 to 8484 adapter cables (Amazon is currently selling some for about $35) or am I going to need a new backplane that has SFF8087 connectors on it? I want to be able to hot swap drives larger than 2TB, at 6gB/s, and I know practically nothing about these SFF connection types.
I think it will work, but I wanted to ask the experts just in case I've missed something. Thanks!
Ok, from my experience that backplane is a piece of crap. The only GOOD one is the expander backplane regardless of what everyone says about it. Its capable of 6gb/s transfers and works with just about any raid/hba card that can support 12 drives. the only thing that is VERY important to know is that you MUST use the right cables. The correct cables are Dell part number 05X8NH no other cables will work. The part number of the backplane I am talking about is part number 9NXC7.
As a side note there is one other backplane that is good, it is a straight passthrough backplane that has a sata connection for every drive that is connected. This backplane however is rare and I have only ever seen one for sale on ebay EVER.
So, I recently got one of these mysteriously lovely FS12-TY machines for a pretty good price, $100 off of craigslist here in Portland. I think it will make a decent FreeNAS box, with 64GB of DDR3 ECC, two Intel Xeon X5570 CPUs running at 2.93GHz, dual Gigabit NICs, etc.
The issue is the drive controller and the backplane. It came with an "SAS 6/iR" card (which I am assuming is the same thing that people are calling the PERC 6iR?), connected via dual SFF8484 connectors to a 12 bay, 3.5" hot swap backplane. I'm using 4TB WD Red drives, so I know this card won't work for me, so I'm looking at getting H200/H310 or M1015 controller, and flashing it with the correct IT firmware.
My question is about the connectors and the backplane. If I've done my research right, the H200/H310/M1015 cards don't have 8484 connectors, but instead SFF8087 connectors. Is it a simple matter of buying 8087 to 8484 adapter cables (Amazon is currently selling some for about $35) or am I going to need a new backplane that has SFF8087 connectors on it? I want to be able to hot swap drives larger than 2TB, at 6gB/s, and I know practically nothing about these SFF connection types.
I think it will work, but I wanted to ask the experts just in case I've missed something. Thanks!
I understand that feeding my NAS with consumer-grade 1Gb NICs won't saturate a 3Gbs SATA pipe, however won't running in SATA2 significantly increase maintenance tasks like scrubbing? (Essentially making the scrub take twice as long?) I'm going to be starting off with six 4TB drives in raidz2, but I have no experience with how long it would take to scrub an array of that size.I have the SFF-8484 backplane and it works fine. The only limitation is that each drive will be forced to run at SAS1/SATA2 speeds of 3Gbps, which isn't much of a limitation for HDDs. Also despite the speed drop, there doesn't seem to be the 2TB capacity limit on most SAS1 backplanes.
Only if the drive itself were consistently able to transfer data at SATA3 rates--which spinning rust won't be. If you were going to be dealing with an SSD pool, that'd be a different story.won't running in SATA2 significantly increase maintenance tasks like scrubbing? (Essentially making the scrub take twice as long?)
however won't running in SATA2 significantly increase maintenance tasks like scrubbing?
That is what I have and yes, the drives connect directly into SATA ports on the backplane. I have the 3.5 inch drive version, so that means I have 12 horizontally aligned drive bays that attach directly into the backplane. There is also a version with 24 vertically aligned 2.5 inch drive bays, but I don't have that one, so I know nothing about it.Alup,
With respect to the backplane with 3 SFF-8484 connectors, is that a direct attach backplane? What are the limitations everyone seems to have with them?
Can I just use that with a new SAS controller and have direct access to each drive?
Alup,
With respect to the backplane with 3 SFF-8484 connectors, is that a direct attach backplane?
What are the limitations everyone seems to have with them?
Can I just use that with a new SAS controller and have direct access to each drive?
I can confirm success with 5TB and 8TB drives on the H200, M5015, and H310 cross-flashed to 9211-8I.Just wanted to make a note on this. Per Dell's Spec Sheet; it states "up to 38TB of disk capacity". Now, I have not had the chance to test this yet since the most I have put in a single system is 36 TB (12 x 3TB). I am however actively searching for some 4TB drives on eBay (cuz I am cheap) and may eventually be able to see if I can go beyond that. Thinking so since I am using a HBA (H200 cross-flashed to LSI 9211-8I).
If anyone else has already tested this their feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Has anyone figured out how to power on a C2100 without a motherboard? I'd like to use one as an expansion chassis next to my existing one. I'd rather not have a motherboard and riser in the new case, but the power button connects to the motherboard.
I'm thinking I can put an LSI SAS9201-16e in my existing C2100, a dual port SFF-8088 to SFF-8087 card in the new one, run a pair of SFF-8088 cables between them, and a pair of 05X8NH cables from there to a 9NXC7 (expander) backplane.