Supermicro Build - Using most of the hardware

[silvesj]

Hello all,

I've outgrown my small HP proliant server and am looking to upgrade for more storage. I've read the hardware section which recommends supermicro chassis, as well as motherboard, RAM, etc.

I started speccing hardware for a new build, and am looking at cost and it's a bit up there. I'm not surprised by this, but was thinking while looking on ebay for Supermicro chassis, is it frowned upon to buy a used supermicro and replace the few things necessary to run FreeNAS. Such as the chassis below:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Supermicro-...219530?hash=item43ea17880a:g:Ms4AAOSwrklVJ~UE

What are everyone's thoughts on purchasing this and doing some of the obvious like swapping out the RAM for ECC, removing the hardware RAID, etc. But still using the motherboard, processor, and what not?

I don't need cyberjock to tell me I'm dumb ;) just wondering if anyone has done this and the thoughts. If everyone says don't do it, good enough for me, on to building my own from scratch.


It will be housing my personal data, media, etc. RAIDZ2. Most likely won't be running any jails.

 

[depasseg]

If your HP system has adequate specs (like MB, cpu, RAM, etc) why not just get a JBOD enclosure to add more drives?

 

[silvesj]

I did consider doing that. But I have the HP Proliant Microserver N40L. Not too sure that it can handle additional disks and such .


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16859107052

 

[gpsguy]

While some users used tricks to squeeze 6 HDD in them, with it's 1.5GHz CPU and limit of 16GB RAM it's old by today's standards.

I've got a N40L and a N54L, so I am quite familiar with them.


Sent from my phone

 

[silvesj]

Right, I read all the firmware and stuff you can use, as well as the esata ports. But I'm not looking to duck tape things together. I'd rather do it right, or at least better than that :)

 

[Mirfster]

See if they seller will lower the price if you ask to exclude the LSI 8708EM2, then get a real HBA. I can't tell, but does this have 3 connectors for the backplane? Thinking so since the seller stated:

Includes 8708EM2 Raid Card
SAS826A Backplane is partitioned and only 8 of the 12 bays will be seen by the raid card

If so, then you may need two HBAs...

 

[silvesj]

I did reach out and have yet to hear back. But realistically, any supermicro model will do with some small changes such as removing the RAID card and using something such as the following, right?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B017LQ98JO/?tag=ozlp-20

 

[Mirfster]

I did reach out and have yet to hear back. But realistically, any supermicro model will do with some small changes such as removing the RAID card and using something such as the following, right?

http://www.amazon.com/8-Port-Expres...0&sr=8-3&keywords=pci-e+host+bus+adapter+sata

That card will work for sure. The only thing I wonder about is that it has two Mini-Sas connectors and I believe that the one model you spec'ed has three for the backplane. So in that event, you would only be able to use 8 of the 12 bays. I don't use SuperMicro, so am no expert on their hardware; perhaps those who do could shed some light on the matter.

Also, you can find that card or others that can be cross-flashed (IBM M1015, Perc H200) a lot cheaper elsewhere (like eBay).

 

[depasseg]

Umm, I think that version backplane only supports SAS-1 which would limit you to 2TB drives. I could be wrong though.

https://www.supermicro.com/manuals/other/BPN-SAS-826A.pdf

#7., #8., #9. SAS Ports The SAS ports are used to connect the SAS drive cables. The three connectors are designated SAS IN #1 - SAS IN #3. Each of the three connectors has four ports for a total of twelve ports. These twelve ports are designated #0 - #11 and they are also compatible with SATA drives.

 

[silvesj]

Noted. So I'll look for a different backplane, or another unit on there and make sure the backplane is SAS-2 as I did read some issues with the SAS-1.

 

[silvesj]

So I've now moved on from that as I looked at a few Supermicro servers and end up needing to replace backplanes and such, I looked at Norco cases but as CyberJock has stated they can be cheap.

What I'm really looking for is a 12 bay chassis, does anyone have any suggestions? I found this bad boy but it's of course jbod, and doesn't appear that it can be easily converted and filled with mobo, psu, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...15415&cm_re=DAGE312UTL-_-16-215-415-_-Product

*Edit: I'd prefer to keep it 2u/3u ish. I'm not opposed to still getting a Supermicro case and gutting it, but not sure how much needs to be fabricated or really worked around for that?

 

[Mirfster]

Well, guess I can mention my favorite 2U (this is all I actually run and have more than 6 of them).... :D

The Dell C2100/FS12-TY; just waiting for others to tell me to stop talking about them so much... :p

Anyhow, you can shop around on eBay for them and could get a nice "turn-key" setup for ~$400.00.

Example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/131728700629?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
Has everything you need; except for the hard drives. Processors are a little slower, but it is just an example anyways.

If you go that route:

1. Do not update the BMC Firmware any higher than v1.7 (The fans get loud after that, otherwise it is super quite)
2. Make sure you get the trays with them (like in my example)
   
3. Get the hard vendor to provide screws for the hard drive trays; a little bit of a pain to get otherwise

Westmere here baby!! ;)

 

[silvesj]

Yea, that may do the trick! And are you just keeping the RAID card and setting it to 0? And it appears the largest supported SATA drives are 2TB as well, per Dell's site. Has that been your experience as well?

 

[Mirfster]

Nope, the PERC H200 can be cross-flashed to 9211 and supports above 2TB drives easily. Maybe you are thinking about the SAS 6/iR? Also, don't get a H700 or such.

For reference, one of the systems I support for a client is packed with 12 x 3TB drives (2 vdevs in RaidZ2).

What link at Dell told you it only went up to 2TB?

Edit: I am going to have to get a post in about these, cuz it people need to know... :P

 

[silvesj]

I had looked up the Dell specs of that specific machine you posted from ebay, and under the supported HDD section it had them listed. Granted, maybe that's just old info not related to any updates since then.

So I'm looking around, and I know that you pointed out that the above Supermicro controller maxed out at 2TB. Can you shed some light on what type of controller/backplane I need to be looking for, for 3TB+ support? Such as SATA 3.0gbps support or such.

 

[Mirfster]

I had looked up the Dell specs of that specific machine you posted from ebay, and under the supported HDD section it had them listed. Granted, maybe that's just old info not related to any updates since then.

Sorry, I may be a bit slow this morning; but can't seem to see the part where they stated that.

So I'm looking around, and I know that you pointed out that the above Supermicro controller maxed out at 2TB. Can you shed some light on what type of controller/backplane I need to be looking for, for 3TB+ support?

That was @depasseg , I am not a SuperMicro guy so anything I may say regarding them should be taken with a grain of salt. :)

 

[silvesj]

Fair enough. I guess, here's really where I stand on lacking knowledge. I've built a bunch of smaller 4 to 8 bay units. The smallest being re-purposing a HP Proliant Microserver, and the largest being done with a Silverstone 8 bay chassis and throwing some parts in it.

Now that I'm looking to go up a small jump to rackmout, and server chassis, I'm missing some knowledge. Really when it comes to backplanes, or gutting the server to reuse the chassis and add my own. If I get the supermicro server and gut it, what do I need to "read/learn" to understand oh I can thrown this back plane in, etc, etc, if that makes sense. So while I reference the Supermicro stuff, it could be Dell. Just trying to close the gap.

 

[silvesj]

I somehow finally googled the right things leading me to this FreeNAS post, which seems to have some info. If there's anything else you suggest I know please let me know!

https://forums.freenas.org/index.php?threads/supermicro-4u-chassis-backplane-for-3tb-drives.38358/

 

[Mirfster]

Well, that thread seems to cover quite a bit. Seems like fuganater would be a great contributor for your SuperMicro questions. @Fuganater ; can you chime in with some of your SuperMicro expertise?

As far as the Dell C2100/FS12-TY as long as you get the model with the proper backplane you are good for >2TB. Hint, if the seller is including a Perc H200, Perc H310, Perc H700 or above then that is a good sign it has the correct backplane (SFF-8087 connections). If they are including anything else (like Perc 5i or SAS 6/Ir, then it may be suspect - SFF-8484 connections).

I actually bought a C2100/FS12-TY a while ago that had the backplane with three SFF-8484 connectors. I simply replaced it with the correct one (which had two mini-sas connetors - SFF-8087) and never looked back. System works great with >3tb drives; but since I never used the old backplane I am not 100% sure about that one supporting > 3TB (but guessing it doesn't).

 

[silvesj]

So then based on that info, something like this should do out of the box. Maybe more RAM and obviously HDDs.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PowerE...088919?hash=item3a945ae897:g:BdQAAOSwjyVT0D5l