Dell PowerEdge T310 - Build List

[dakotta]

I've been curious about FreeNAS for a long time, but I am severely hampered by money. I recently received a Dell PowerEdge T310 server that IT was going to throw away.

I'd like to upgrade the server and install FreeNAS so I can play with it and decide if FreeNAS is something that I want to pursue.

I am not an IT specialist... or even a programmer. I'm just a guy who likes to tinker from time to time.

I have specific questions about my build. Should I include them all in this thread? Or should I start a separate thread for each question?

My first question is about the HBA. The server came with a "Dell SAS 6iR, internal RAID adapter, PCI-express". As I understand it, this adapter card can only recognize drives up to 2 TB in size, can only handle (2) drives at a time, and cannot be flashed to IT mode. It is RAID only.

I purchased a "Dell H310 6Gbps SAS HBA w/ LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode for ZFS FreeNAS unRAID" on eBay, but it did not come with any cables. The SAS 6iR connects to a back-plane which the hot-swappable hard-drives plug in to. I don't know what this back-plane is called. The label on the card says "SAS 6G BP".

I can provide pictures if it would help.

1. Should the H310 be able to work with that back-plane? Or will I need to purchase a new back-plane also?
2. If it should work, then what kind of cable should I buy? (I not asking for a part number... just the right words that I need to use in a search engine. Searching for 'that back-plane thingy' isn't turning up many results.)
3. There are (4) slots for hot-swappable drives. If I add more than (4) drives, can I plug them directly into the motherboard? Or do they need to connect directly to the H310?

Cheers,

Final Build:

Code:

Dell T310
------------
CPU               Xeon X3450 / 2.66 Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT
Socket            LGA1156
Chipset           Type Intel 3420
RAM               4x 8GB DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) Pin ECC Registered DIMM
SAS               Dell H310, 6 Gbps SAS HBA w/ LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode
Power Supply      Dell, non-redundant 375W
Hard Drives       5x WD Red Pro WB4003FFBX 4TB 7200 RPM, RAID-Z2
System Disk       2x Crucial, 120 GB, BX500 SATA III 2.5" Internal SSD
UPS               none

 

[Samuel Tai]

1. Should the H310 be able to work with that back-plane? Or will I need to purchase a new back-plane also?
2. If it should work, then what kind of cable should I buy? (I not asking for a part number... just the right words that I need to use in a search engine. Searching for 'that back-plane thingy' isn't turning up many results.)
3. There are (4) slots for hot-swappable drives. If I add more than (4) drives, can I plug them directly into the motherboard? Or do they need to connect directly to the H310?

1. Yes, the Dell N621K backplane has a standard SAS SFF-8087 connector.
2. A standard SAS SFF-8087 male to SFF-8087 male cable.
3. You can connect additional drives as you like, either directly to the motherboard's SATA connectors, or to the H310 via a SFF-8087 breakout cable.

 

[dakotta]

Thank you very much.

I looked at photos of the N621K online and that's exactly what I have. I'll order a cable today.

Cheers,

 

[dakotta]

Received my cable last week and installed FreeNAS in a small test environment. (Thanks, Samuel)

I'm looking at upgrading the RAM (right now, the NAS is working, but at 8 GB). From what I can tell the Dell PowerEdge T310 can accept a max of 32 GB, but only at 1066 MHz (I think it maxes out at 24 GB @ 1333 MHz).

I'm pretty sure I can use:
32 GB ECC Registered DDR3 RAM in (4) 8-GB sticks

... but I'm having a hard time matching that up with sales specs. Another set of eyes would be helpful.

Would the following RAM meet these specs? (I ask because roughly half the RAM I have ever bought has been wrong. ;( )

8GB DMS Certified Memory DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) 1024x72 CL7 1.5v 240 Pin ECC Registered DIMM (x8 IC) - DMS

Buy 8GB DMS Certified Memory DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) 1024x72 CL7 1.5v 240 Pin ECC Registered DIMM with a Lifetime gaurantee from Data Memory System

www.datamemorysystems.com

Also, I am looking at (2) SATA DOMs: Supermicro SSD-DM032-SMCMVN1 32GB SATA DOM

Supermicro SSD-DM032-SMCMVN1 32GB SATA DOM - Newegg.com

Buy Supermicro SSD-DM032-SMCMVN1 32GB SATA DOM with fast shipping and top-rated customer service. Once you know, you Newegg!

www.newegg.com

... but I also (2) Lexar Flash drives: LJDTT64G that I could use, instead. Would it be better to go with the DOMs? Or use the Lexars and spend the money on buying a UPS, instead?

Cheers,

 

[Samuel Tai]

Here's the T310 manual: http://downloads.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_ser_stor_net/esuprt_poweredge/poweredge-t310_Owner's Manual_en-us.pdf

The memory table starts at p. 108. According to the table, to max out the RAM at 32 GB, you'll need 4x quad-rank DDR3 registered DIMMs running at 800 MHz. 1066 MHz DIMMs will be down-clocked. According to the RAM finder at that site, you've selected the correct RAM.

You can start with 1x DOM, and add the 2nd DOM later, which should provide you some budget for a UPS. Flash drives aren't a good option for FreeNAS 11.x, as they burn out too quickly. They did work OK for FreeNAS 9 and below, as the OS didn't write to the boot pool as frequently.

 

[dakotta]

Once again, thank you very much for double-checking my RAM! An thanks for a link to the manual!

For now, I'll go with a single DOM and a UPS.

Cheers,

 

[dakotta]

Well, it's decision time.

This is what I currently have:

Code:

Dell T310
------------
CPU               Xeon X3450 / 2.66 Ghz, 8M Cache, Turbo, HT
Socket            LGA1156
Chipset           Type Intel 3420
RAM               8 GB (4 x 2 GB), 1333 MHz Single Ranked UDIMM, DDR3 SDRAM - ECC
SAS               Dell H310, 6 Gbps SAS HBA w/ LSI 9211-8i P20 IT Mode
Power Supply      Dell, non-redundant 375W
Hard Drives       2x WD Red Pro WB4003FFBX 4TB 7200 RPM, mirrored drives
System Disk       Lexar USB Flash drives: LJDTT64G
UPS               none

This is a home system that I will use to store backups and stream some music.

I know this system does not meet the hardware recommendations on this site. I'm trying to figure out what my risks are versus how much money I can afford.

For example, I know that if I lose one of my mirrored hard-drives, and the other one crashes before I can replace the first, then I've lost all my data.

But what about the following failure modes:

1. Loss of CPU?
2. Loss of motherboard?
3. Loss of power supply?
4. Loss of system disk?
5. Loss of 120 vac power?

Does each of these failures place my entire data pool at risk?

Or are some less severe than others? For example:
If I lose a system disk, does the system simply shut down until I burn a new USB and then I'm up and running? Or is my pool at risk?
What about loss of ac power if I'm not actually writing any data or performing a scrub?

Assuming that each of these failures is potentially catastrophic, I am thinking of changing the following:

Code:

Changes
RAM                4 x 8GB DDR3-1066 (PC3-8500) Pin ECC Registered DIMM              4 x $  45 = $ 180
DOM                1 x Supermicro SSD-DM032-SMCMVN1 32GB SATA DOM                    1 x $  70 = $  70
UPS                1 x Cyber Power CP1500PFCLCD                                      1 x $ 250 = $ 250
Hard Drives        WD Red Pro WD4003FFBX (2 x 4TB) 7200 RPM, mirrored drives         2 x $ 170 = $ 340
                                                                                     Total       $ 840

But that seems like a lot of money to spend on system that will still have a used motherboard, processor and power supply that have seen hard usage in a production environment.

I can tolerate any sort of failure that results in my data being temporarily unavailable. But I do not want to risk losing my pool.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

 

[Alecmascot]

I would increase the RAM to 16gb and use an SSD for the boot-pool.
You really need a backup strategy in case you do loose the pool for whatever reason.
I run an extra T110-II server that I replicate to regularly and I backup really critical stuff to the cloud hourly.

 

[Samuel Tai]

But what about the following failure modes:

1. Loss of CPU?
2. Loss of motherboard?
3. Loss of power supply?
4. Loss of system disk?
5. Loss of 120 vac power?

Does each of these failures place my entire data pool at risk?

Or are some less severe than others? For example:
If I lose a system disk, does the system simply shut down until I burn a new USB and then I'm up and running? Or is my pool at risk?
What about loss of ac power if I'm not actually writing any data or performing a scrub?

There are no guarantees, of course, but ZFS is pretty resilient to these sorts of failures.

So How Hard Is It To Crash and Kill a FreeNAS 11 ZFS Raid Z1 Array?

Amazon Affiliate Store➡️ https://www.amazon.com/shop/lawrencesystemspcpickupGear we used on Kit (affiliate Links)➡️ https://kit.co/lawrencesystemsTry ITProTV...

youtu.be

 

[dakotta]

Thanks Alecmascot, I appreciate the input. I am planning on upgrading the RAM to 32 GB and purchasing a DOM for the boot disk. My current backup strategy is to backup to a physical external drive monthly and store off-site, along with hourly backup to rsync.net. Eventually this server will be my onsite backup server... maybe next year.

Thanks, again, Samuel. I know that there are no guarantees, but that video was very comforting. Comforting enough for me to move ahead with my plan to turn the T310 into a FreeNAS machine. I ordered the RAM and DOM today.

Thanks, again, to both of you!

Cheers,

 

[dakotta]

I upgraded the RAM today with no problem. I now have 32 GB!

However, FreeNAS does not detect the DOM that I ordered. (I tried it in two different motherboard SATA slots.)

Supermicro 32 GB DOM - SSD-DM032-SMCMVN1

It came with a cable for a 5v connection, but I don't see anywhere on the motherboard to get 5v from. Is it possible that this particular DOM will not work with my motherboard? Or am I just not looking in the right place?

Cheers,

 

[Samuel Tai]

A DOM is a mini hard drive, and it needs a power connection. You can use the 5V from any Molex, with an adapter.

Power Cable 4-Pin Molex M to 4-Pin F & 3-Pin SATA DOM (1pin not connect)-10 pcs | eBay

Power cable 4-Pin Molex ( M) to 4-Pin (F) & 3 pins (one pin is not connected) SATA DOM connector.

www.ebay.com

 

[dakotta]

Hmm...

Thank you very much for your reply, Samuel.

That gets me closer, but I'm not quite there. My power supply does not have Molex connectors and I need a 2-pin connector to attach to the SATA DOM (or a conversion cable).

My power supply has (3) cables that plug directly into the motherboard, (1) cable that plugs into the SAS, and (1) cable that plugs into the CD ROM drive. That last cable has a spare 15-pin SATA power connector for the second (unused) drive bay.

So it looks like I would need:
1. A 15-pin male SATA to 2-pin SATA DOM cable.

And, of course, I would need splitters if I was going to power up mirrored SATA DOMs for booting. And I can't find anything like that.

Is this why people use SATA hard drives instead of SATA DOM? Because the cabling is more available?

It looks like I could use this a a SATA splitter:
SATA power splitter

And I could use this to convert from SATA to Molex:
SATA to Molex

And then this to split out 5v from the Molex:
Molex to 3-pin SATA DOM

And then just cut the 3-pin ends off the cables and wire nut them to a 2-pin connector:
Supermicro cable with 2-pin connector

That seems like kind of a hack, though.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,

 

[Samuel Tai]

That seems like kind of a hack, though.

If your motherboard doesn't have DOM power ports, then such hardware hackery becomes necessary, unfortunately.

 

[dakotta]

Rather than go for the Frankenstein cables for the SATA DOM boot drives I opted for a couple of SSD drives...

Crucial -- CRCT120BX500 -- 120GB BX500 SATA III 2.5" Internal SSD
Icy Dock -- ICMB322SPB -- MB322SP-B ExpressCage 2.5"/3.5" to 5.25" Bay Adapter
Pearstone -- PESATARA01R -- 18" 7-pin Internal Straight to 90-Degree Serial ATA Cable (Red)

Unfortunately, FreeNAS does not recognize the drives when plugged into the motherboard SATA ports, even after formatting them with an ext2 file system.

If I am using a Dell H310 HBA (flashed to IT mode), does that disable the motherboard SATA ports?

 

[Alecmascot]

If I am using a Dell H310 HBA (flashed to IT mode), does that disable the motherboard SATA ports?

Not on a D110II, but they can be disabled in the Bios

 

[dakotta]

Thanks!

That helped a lot. There is a setting in the BIOS for "SATA controller". I thought this was for the external controller (the H310), but it must have been for an onboard controller. Setting it to ATA mode, allowed me to individually turn each SATA port ON or OFF.

Thanks for your help!

Cheers,

 

[Alecmascot]

Setting it to ATA mode,

Should that not be AHCI

 

[dakotta]

The "SATA Controller" has only 3 modes: (1) ATA Mode, (2) RAID Mode, and (3) OFF.

 

[Ericloewe]

That kinda leaves me wondering. I would hope that it's not ATA as in "emulate an IDE device". The manual for your system is likely to clarify this.

That said, Intel FakeRAID should be effectively the same as AHCI.