Dell r720xd

[Kastalian]

Good Morning Folks,

I'm drinking my coffee and have been brainstorming a FreeNAS solution with some hardware I got from work when they transitioned to some new compute and a nimble array.
3-4 Dell PowerEdge 2950 and 2950 Gen II's (they have some good 10G NICs but otherwise pretty old)
2x Dell r720's one of them is a r720xd LFF
A mixed bag of Dell PowerVaults MD1200's to MD3600's.

How do I turn the Dell r720 with two MD3600's attached as DAS into a FreeNAS box.

Specs for the Dell r720xd

CPU: Dual E5-2650 v2
Memory: 128GB (8 x 8GB)
PowerEdge RAID Controller: PERC H710
HDDs: 12x 300GB (Going to replace these)

What HBA's, cable adapters and luck do I need for this project?

Thanks!

 

[Chris Moore]

3-4 Dell PowerEdge 2950 and 2950 Gen II's (they have some good 10G NICs but otherwise pretty old)

Those are so old and power hungry, I would just send them to be recycled. Even if I could get those for free, I wouldn't.

 

[Kastalian]

Those are so old and power hungry, I would just send them to be recycled. Even if I could get those for free, I wouldn't.

Yeah, definitely just salvaging the 2950's for parts and recycling them.

 

[Chris Moore]

How do I turn the Dell r720 with two MD3600's attached as DAS into a FreeNAS box.

This could be done, but it depends on exactly what is already configured with the hardware. Can you post a clear photo of the back of both the server and the disk enclosure?

 

[Kastalian]

This could be done, but it depends on exactly what is already configured with the hardware. Can you post a clear photo of the back of both the server and the disk enclosure?

Hey Chris, thanks for the response. Facilities currently is zeroing them out but the back of the MD 3200 looks like:

I send a ping to one if the IT guys, the r720xd does not have an external controller for external storage, PERC H810, etc

 

[Chris Moore]

Hey Chris, thanks for the response. Facilities currently is zeroing them out but the back of the MD 3200 looks like:

It is too small to read the labels but, it looks like you just need a external SAS cable and a SAS HBA. These two should work for you:
SAS controller: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LSI-9207-8e...A-External-ZFS-JBOD-IT-Mode-HBA-/162563989119
On the controller, be sure you order one that is in IT mode or you will need to flash it to IT mode once you get it.
The controller is a 2 port controller and you can run one port to each of the disk shelves using these cables:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2M-External...088-to-SFF-8088-drive-disk-Cable/251425214490

 

[Johnnie Black]

9207 is IT mode only, so no worries there, 9200-8e is also an option, and usually cheaper.