Supermicro SBB with SATA drives

[MtK]

Hey,
I got a Supermicro SBB (24 * 2.5") which currently has 2 * 6 MBF2300RC in RaidZ2. This gives ~3.25T (and 66% is already full).
Ideally I would like to have more space and more IOPS, so listening to @jgerco, I'm leaning towards 24 (1-2Tb) which will probably end up in 2 (or 3) way mirror vdevs.

The SBB should also support SATA drives (using an interposer), but according to the (recently updated) Compatibility List, there are no SATA drives :)
From what I understand (and experienced) about the SAS drives, they need to have a DUAL interface port, so I wonder if the same is required from the SATA drives.

Has anyone any experience with this machine and/or can help me find suitable (SATA) drives?

 

[jgreco]

The purpose of the interposer is to translate the single SATA channel to a dual SAS.

 

[MtK]

The purpose of the interposer is to translate the single SATA channel to a dual SAS.

I suspected so... ;-)

so leading candidates are:

• Samsung/Seagate - ST2000LM003
• Toshiba - MQ01ABB200
• WD - WD20NPVX

I could also go for the 1Tb version, as it might be enough space for my needs:

• WD10JFCX
• MQ01ABD100H (edit: now it's correct)
• ST1000LM024

is that correct?

 

[jgreco]

Correct, except that note the WD is a green drive, which has all that baggage. WD does not sell a Red in the 2TB capacity for reasons unknown.

 

[MtK]

I just edited and added the 1Tb versions.
the WD is red... :)

 

[jgreco]

Yup. And the 1TB Red's seem pretty nice, FWIW.

 

[MtK]

Yup. And the 1TB Red's seem pretty nice, FWIW.

The problem is that:

1. Except the 1Tb WD Red, the other drives are nowhere to be found in here :/
2. I will have to buy an Interposer for each drive...

 

[MtK]

maybe cause I made a mistake in one of the model numbers :)

 

[MtK]

@jgerco, is the HGST Travelstar 7K1000 also a valid option?

 

[jgreco]

There's a lot of options at the 1TB level.

As for the interposer, I don't see a lot of value for the average FreeNAS system. At least from my perspective, interposers are mostly useful where you want the cheap-largeness of SATA but have a system with dual head units.

 

[MtK]

There's a lot of options at the 1TB level.

As for the interposer, I don't see a lot of value for the average FreeNAS system. At least from my perspective, interposers are mostly useful where you want the cheap-largeness of SATA but have a system with dual head units.

Well, this is exactly the case here...

 

[jgreco]

Well, this is exactly the case here...

Since FreeNAS doesn't support dual head units, ........

Well, anyways, more parts equals more things that can go spectacularly awry. Just call me "not a fan."

 

[MtK]

Yes but there are no good (and/or cheap) SAS alternatives...

 

[jgreco]

When it seems like the world sucks, I look back to the days of 110 baud modems, teletypes, etc., to keep my perspective.

Yes, it sucks, but not too much. ;-)

 

[marbus90]

Buy SAS disks or a standard server. You cannot utilize the dual server failover capabilities with FreeNAS anyway. TrueNAS isn't going to be ported to such systems.

An Interposer needs to be a piece of hardware between SATA disk and SAS backplane port. Doesn't fit into these trays, so that's a moot point. SATA disks would only connect to 1 server, the other one would be blind and diskless.

 

[jgreco]

An Interposer needs to be a piece of hardware between SATA disk and SAS backplane port. Doesn't fit into these trays,

Bullshit it doesn't.

 

[MtK]

An Interposer needs to be a piece of hardware between SATA disk and SAS backplane port. Doesn't fit into these trays, so that's a moot point. SATA disks would only connect to 1 server, the other one would be blind and diskless.

It works, I already check that with one random disk I had (long time ago), and it's in the spec list (datasheet) of the server, so I see no reason for it not to work...

 

[jgreco]

It works, I already check that with one random disk I had (long time ago), and it's in the spec list (datasheet) of the server, so I see no reason for it not to work...

It should work. The only problem might come is if the interposer is being picky, but since there are fewer manufacturers of hard drives now than half a decade ago, maybe that won't be such a problem. Still, you've chosen the road less traveled, and while it is expected to work, it is hard to say how it'll turn out.

 

[MtK]

Coming back to this after a long pause.
Skipping the interposers route, any recommendation for 2.5" SAS drives? 300GB & 10K are also fine...