2nd Chassis

[splstore]

Hello,

At home, I recently upgraded my older 11.x setup to the latest 11.2 release and decided to use bigger drives and less of them. Originally I had 8x 3tb drives but swapped them for 4x 8tb drives in a raidz2. I backed up my data to another freenas machine and restored it without problem.

But now I have a bunch of older disks that I'd like to use for less important data/ temp files but have no room in the chassis. I want to keep 2 separate pools (and since the drives are different sizes, I don't think I could stripe the vdevs anyway)

My idea is to get another empty chassis to sit directly next to my existing server, get an ebay LSI 9207-8e card, power supply, and add my existing old used drives in that 2nd machine. I'd go from the back of the LSI to the drives in the 2nd chassis and be no further than 1m away. But how would the power supply I add to the 2nd chassis turn on the drives if my main machine PS is powering the LSI?

I know that this is not an ideal setup, but there are things to consider for me. It's only for home use, my more important data is on the new drives in a separate pool that is backed up, and speed is not a concern (as long as I get in the area of around 50MB/s at least).

I just want to make sure that if they are in a separate pool and something happens to some or all of these 8 old drives, that may main pool will still be ok (hence why I don't want to strip).

Main server: OS, pool1 of 4 drives, power supply, ethernet, LSI card

<Connected via SFF-8087 to SATA (3.3 Feet) to 2nd chassis>

2nd chassis:
8 drives, pool2, power supply only

Thanks

 

[danb35]

and since the drives are different sizes, I don't think I could stripe the vdevs anyway

You can stripe vdevs of varying sizes. You may have good reasons for not wanting to do so (and it sounds like you do), but the system will absolutely let you do it.

<Connected via SFF-8087 to SATA (3.3 Feet) to 2nd chassis>

I'd suggest instead using a SAS cable to the second chassis, and then a second SAS device in that chassis (either an expander card or an expander backplane) to turn that into SATA for your disks.

 

[splstore]

I was hoping to keep costs to a minimum. Of course, if I can't do that I know I just won't be able to do this project.

With that said, if I got the 2nd SAS device in this 2nd chassis, I would need a motherboard to power it no? (I'll already have the PS connected to the bare drives) Maybe that was the part I was missing. Getting power to hard drives and any sas devices without a motherboard/ram/cpu/etc.

Would you be able to suggest any SAS expander Cards or backplanes that will work with Freenas? I quickly searched ebay and found some very inexpensive parts but have doubts they are recommended.

 

[danb35]

if I got the 2nd SAS device in this 2nd chassis, I would need a motherboard to power it no?

Not necessarily. A backplane doesn't take a motherboard at all. An expander card may or may not, depending on the design. The bigger need for the motherboard would be to simply load the PSU properly so that it will turn on, but that can be worked around.

Would you be able to suggest any SAS expander Cards or backplanes that will work with Freenas?

Any of the Supermicro SAS expander backplans seem to work quite well. As far as expander cards, I haven't worked with them, but I believe I've seen reference here to an inexpensive HP expander card (that, though it has a PCIe connector, only uses it for power, and can also be powered via a standard 4-pin Molex connector) that's said to work well.

 

[splstore]

Great, I'm going to do a little more digging about the power to the expander without a motherboard and see if I can find information about a good HP card. I maybe back but appreciate the info here!

 

[JaimieV]

I recently picked up a Dell Xyratex HB-1235, 12x3.5" disk shelf, SFF-8088 connected. £150. Redundant PSUs, redundant SAS expander controllers so one cable for all 12 drives, work with SATA drives to at least 4TB which is what I have in there, reasonably quiet fans (I'm told they're hardwired 80mm and replaceable by soldering iron with aftermarket "silent" ones). Might be a lot easier than bodging a server case to suit.

 

[CraigD]

My idea is to get another empty chassis to sit directly next to my existing server

Adding another chassis It is surprisingly easy to do

Have Fun

 

[billgreenwood]

I asked a similar question some time ago and this is the thread (link below) with some suggestions.

@splstore I've not yet acted on this, but would really be keen to know what you finally did.

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/raid-case-for-additional-10-12-disks.71499/#post-494906

 

[CraigD]

Great, I'm going to do a little more digging about the power to the expander without a motherboard and see if I can find information about a good HP card. I maybe back but appreciate the info here!

I used:

1x 8087 cable plugged into a 8087-8088 pass thru in my sever
1x 8088 cable
1x Case (I have hot swap bays in a full tower)
1x PSU
1x PSU Jumper
1x Cheap Expander
1x Molex powered riser (Yes a PCIe mining riser card)
many 8087-4 SATA cables

Just make sure the riser doesn't short (I put a thin bit of wood under it)

If your think the riser is unreliable, buy a spare

In my country Rack mount cases are too expensive

Have Fun