Building new vs. buying an old server

[Mirfster]

BBU is good and would protect from power loss (like someone pulling the plug) where a UPS would not be able to do anything.

Yes, it plugs into a SATA port. You have to set a jumper to designate what Raid you want (o, 1, none).
*** None would require a Port Multiplier which is not really recommended.

I have used them for years in other systems of mine and am happy with them. I went that route for the same reason as you and wanted to not take up a PCIe slot. Also, my case allows me to easily mount it inside on the fan shroud (just drilled 4 holes). There are some that I would not trust (mentioned here).

For me it is an acceptable risk, although I would not use it in an Enterprise environment.

 

[taylornate]

BBU is good and would protect from power loss (like someone pulling the plug) where a UPS would not be able to do anything.

Good thing the whole system will be in a locked cabinet :)

I went ahead and ordered a used 9211-4i. I'd use that adapter if I needed to, but this card only takes a 4x PCI slot, of which I have extra.

 

[Mirfster]

No worries, if you wanted you could use SSDs that do have Power Loss Protection; like Intel DC S3500 or S3710 drives to add a little more security.

 

[taylornate]

No worries, if you wanted you could use SSDs that do have Power Loss Protection; like Intel DC S3500 or S3710 drives to add a little more security.

Am I correct in my thinking that in the event of a failure of this datastore, it would be relatively straightforward to reinstall ESXi, reconfigure the VM, and have FreeNAS back up without any data loss? That is, I might have a bit of downtime, but no loss of actual FreeNAS/ZFS data?

 

[Stux]

Am I correct in my thinking that in the event of a failure of this datastore, it would be relatively straightforward to reinstall ESXi, reconfigure the VM, and have FreeNAS back up without any data loss? That is, I might have a bit of downtime, but no loss of actual FreeNAS/ZFS data?

Believe, yes.

 

[Dice]

In your case was the fan noise pretty low in both configurations? I think that would account for the difference. In my case of running a CPU stress test, the fans actually throttled pretty high in response to CPU temp, so it makes sense that letting more air to the CPU would make a noticeable difference in fan throttling.

I can't recall any fan rpm response to CPU-load. At least not significant noise differences.
The major source of sound in relation to load was the power supplies. Those caused noise havoc even though registering temps of ~23c.

 

[taylornate]

I can't recall any fan rpm response to CPU-load.

Right--you didn't put a significant load on your CPU so your fans didn't throttle up. If you do, they will.

Funny, the PSUs don't seem very loud to me.

 

[Stux]

Different psu's. Some of the SuperMicro psu's are screamers. Others are not.

It's not batches but rather models.

 

[Dice]

Right--you didn't put a significant load on your CPU so your fans didn't throttle up. If you do, they will.

enjoy.

 

[philhu]

I have the sc847 36-bay chassis, and changed out the fans. See my signature for new models used. I replaced the 7 fans with 5 much quieter ones. No more screeching fans.
I did have to take each chassis fan holder and move them to the new bought fans, which was easy to do.

Temps for CPU stay low, disks run 28-48c

I do run mine in my basement, so noise was a bit of a problem in the family room right above, now, with new fans, I barely hear it below

 

[Nick2253]

disks run 28-48c

I would say that 48C is way too hot for a drive. Even under heavy load (e.g. scrubs), you should aim to keep your disks no hotter than ~40C

 

[taylornate]

Welp, I did something dumb. I bought a Chelsio T420-CR and an LSI 9211-4i, both will full-height PCI brackets, while what I needed was the low-profile brackets. After some initial searching I'm not having much luck. Any tips? I've emailed both manufacturers--maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[Mirfster]

Maybe ask the Seller?

 

[taylornate]

Good thinking. I'll give that a try.

 

[Spearfoot]

I get 21 hits when I search for "LSI 9211 bracket" on eBay, with prices starting at $7 shipped.

No results for the Chelsio card though...

 

[Stux]

Welp, I did something dumb. I bought a Chelsio T420-CR and an LSI 9211-4i, both will full-height PCI brackets, while what I needed was the low-profile brackets. After some initial searching I'm not having much luck. Any tips? I've emailed both manufacturers--maybe I'll get lucky.

You can just use the LSI without a bracket...

 

[taylornate]

I get 21 hits when I search for "LSI 9211 bracket" on eBay, with prices starting at $7 shipped.

No results for the Chelsio card though...

I found one for a few bucks from China. I bought a spare, in case I don't find something better for the Chelsio and need to modify a blank.

You can just use the LSI without a bracket...

That's what I'm doing now for the initial setup. But for production, doesn't that seem sketchy to you?

 

[Ericloewe]

That's what I'm doing now for the initial setup. But for production, doesn't that seem sketchy to you?

It's not ideal for EMI, but the bigger problem (as in the one not solved with aluminum foil) is mechanical - don't want any avoidable torque on the PCI-e slot, especially if the box is going to be moved around.

 

[Stux]

I found one for a few bucks from China. I bought a spare, in case I don't find something better for the Chelsio and need to modify a blank.



That's what I'm doing now for the initial setup. But for production, doesn't that seem sketchy to you?

Yes and no. In a rack, the box is not going to move.

 

[taylornate]

It's not ideal for EMI, but the bigger problem (as in the one not solved with aluminum foil) is mechanical - don't want any avoidable torque on the PCI-e slot, especially if the box is going to be moved around.

Yes, mechanical instability is my concern. The box won't really be moved much, but with the amount of effort I'm putting into ensuring reliability, it seems silly to not make sure the card is secure.

I already had a scare. The card seemed to be working, but only half of my system memory was recognized, and some modules in one bank were very hot. I reseated the card and all the DIMMs and everything seemed fine after that. Not sure if a mis-seated card could cause that, but it seems suspect. The -4i version has half the PCI lanes than the -8i and feels especially unstable in the slot.