Supermicro SC847 Big Build

[KarstenL680]

Hello Everyone,
i have two big builds running using at one an SC847 SAS3 single expander case and the other one a SAS2 dual expander case using active active multi pahting.
At first, everyone konows that the Supermicro cases very noisy with the 80mm high rpm fans.

So i have replaced the original fan walls with reworks using 120mm fans, the reworks where done by Metallbau Keller here in switzerland: https://kellermetallbau.ch/
If someone need one feel free to contact them directly.
Fanwalls:


The new fanwalls using the old rubber seals from the original fanwalls, so cabeling is the same like original.

Hardware, Mainboard CPU Controller NVME Cache SSD are the saem on both builds:
Mainboaord Supermicro X10SRM-TF, odderf Intel X550T2 onboard.
CPU Xeon E5-2608LV4, 8 Cores 50W TDP.
256GB DDR4 ECC
LSI 9300-8i HBA
Samsung 256GB NVME SDD for TureNAS installation.
Corsair MP510 4TB NVME Cache SSD (not the useless B version)
SAS2 Version = 36 6TB HGST HUS726060ALS640 HDDs
SAS3 Version = 36 8TB HGST HUH728080AL5200 HDDs
I have bought all disks as recertified for cheap money, till no no error on the 8TBs and within 2 Years 2 defect ones on the 6TBs.

Overview:

As fan i'm using the one used by Fantec within the SRC-4240X07 case, 120mm x 38mm Fans with max. 3800 rpm, these fans i have bought directly as part from Fantec for about 20.- € peace brand new, looks like one of the Delta 1212 Versions with maximum 3800 rpm and 12V 1.25A.

The fans mounted in rubber holders case spätzle 2 from EKL Alpenfoehn: https://www.alpenfoehn.de/produkte/zubehoer/casespaetzle2
Mounted fans:

This is not having vibrations from the fans on the case and it is working fantastic.
My drive temperatios on Operations are about 41C at the 24 fron disks and 45C at the 12 rear disks read out with smartctl -a.
During operation the fans runs at about 1900 RPM and very low noise comparing to the original 80mm Turbines from Supermicro.

TrueNAS Overview:


As said, i have two builds running, execpt of Bockplanes and disks using exactly the same hardware and till now i'm happy with it, i hope it helps if someone need a big storage for very cheap costs buying a used SC847 Case, the controllers for example i have bought at serverschmiede.com.

The performance for my use case as data grave for media files is very good, a full sync from one storage to another one of 74TiB run in less than 24hrs using 10G Network.

My Rack:


Regards

 

[jgreco]

Hello Everyone,
i have two big builds running using at one an SC847 SAS3 single expander case and the other one a SAS2 dual expander case using active active multi pahting.
At first, everyone konows that the Supermicro cases very noisy with the 80mm high rpm fans.

So i have replaced the original fan walls with reworks using 120mm fans, the reworks where done by Metallbau Keller here in switzerland:

Just a note, it is usually a catastrophically bad idea to replace the high pressure differential fans with 120mm fans. It may seem to work in limited circumstances, such as if you already have a very cool area to house the server, but is generally not recommended, and the failure of a single fan often drives the system into sudden and rapid overheat.

You need the forced air to move past the drives, which are the most heat-sensitive components in a NAS. So your options are to go with the as-designed/as-engineered Supermicro solution, or find some way to increase airflow by the drives to remove heat. These cases are designed to use air to remove that heat, by forcing the air through the little 1mm-sized gaps that surround each drive, which requires a lot of pressure. Your 120mm fans are not going to do the job properly. The reason that they are "notoriously" noisy is because the process of consuming energy to create pressure with fans is just a noisy business.

A big problem with hobbyist grade 120mm fans is that they tend to die after a year or two of abuse. The industrial grade fans that Supermicro uses tend to last a really long time. Noctua, etc., can call their fans "industrial" but it doesn't really make it so. There are a number of good, high quality fan manufacturers out there with actual real-world runtimes that are crazy, but even there, their 120mm fans capable of generating a pressure differential are still pretty loud.

 

[KarstenL680]

Hello jgreco,
thats the reason why i have bought server fans 120mm x 38mm and in my normal room environment it is working fine, i do not recommend these extremely quiet 120mm x 25mm low rpm fans you can buy everywhere, they did not push enough volume with enough preasure thru the case, yes i agree here to your opinion.

As i wrote, my temperatures for HDDs etc. with about 21C environemnt temperature are save and the noise is much less than from that 826 case you see on the picture with 3 of these 80mm turbines.

The HDDs are specified for 60C at working environment and with 41C to 45C i'm save at this point with comparing to the 80mm fans much less noise.

 

[jgreco]

Well, I hope you can appreciate that we get a large number of people who hear things like this, and apply "gaming rig" engineering to servers in ways that tend to lead to bad end results. I don't necessarily have a problem with what you've done, since it seems like you put some significant thought into it, but I am definitely going to want people to know that this is not a simple matter of replacing the fan bulkhead and sticking some Noctuas in there to "quiet it down". We've had a lot of people do that with the Norcos, generally to bad or tragic result. This bothers me greatly because a few dozen HDD's can be ten thousand dollars in expense.

Of course, there are a number of ways that you can keep these things cool, including my classic "just fill every other bay" solution which does allow quite a bit of cooling flexibility (at the loss of ~50% of your drive capacity). I just want to make sure we're getting a full picture out there to the community. ;-)

 

[KarstenL680]

These values looking quiet good to me after several hours of operation, and a disk running in to hot environments would never servive 6900hrs operation.

And yes, not knowing what to do can kill hardware very fast, so in my mint, 120mm x 38mm fans 3800rpms and at least minimum 1.25A at 12V is the absolut minimum that should be used and this you can't buy from Noctua or such companies as i know.
During normal operation at my enviroment as told about 1900 to 2000rpms which is much less noise than running the 80mm turbines at 5000rpm.

 

[ChrisRJ]

I would not feel comfortable at all with 45C drive temperature. Yes, it is within the specification. But those are usually made to survive the warranty period. On the other hand there papers out that show a higher temperature reduces increases failure risk after 3-4 years. I have been running my disks between 30C and 35C for the last 10+ years and still had a number of failures.

 

[Lemming]

So i have replaced the original fan walls with reworks using 120mm fans, the reworks where done by Metallbau Keller here in switzerland: https://kellermetallbau.ch/
If someone need one feel free to contact them directly.
Fanwalls:


The new fanwalls using the old rubber seals from the original fanwalls, so cabeling is the same like original.

Bit of a thread dig I know, but are you replacing both fan walls or just one with these plates?

Also do you have the design files perchance as getting those fabricated in Switzerland and shipped here to me in Australia might be a touch expensive...