Jump to content
  • 0

The Largest Stablebit Drivepool In The World!!


RFOneWatt

Question

Someone has to have it, right?

 

How about we start with the largest pool of the members that participate here?

 

I'm taking an uneducated guess that theoretically Drivepool should scale indefinitely (or to some insane limitation imposed by the O/S, hardware or something else) however we all know the real world is where it's at, yes?

 

I'm sure I'm nowhere near the largest but I've maxed out my Norco 4220, and then some.

 

It's NOW time to start building the successor! 

 

dp.6-2015.JPG

 

 

 

Would love to see what everybody else has going on!

 

~RF

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recommended Posts

  • 0

My wife isn't a fan of the money and time I spend on my server. But man, if the server is down... I sure do hear about it! ;)

I have the same problem. Weird how they think that way. "what's wrong with playon" or "why isn't plex working". Less of an issue these days since I went to a dedicated VM for each of them, but in the beginning.

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

My wife isn't a fan of the money and time I spend on my server. But man, if the server is down... I sure do hear about it! ;)

 

 

 

I need to set up a dedicated office space that isn't in my bedroom.... but then again, the wife doesn't mind the white noise (she actually can't stand it if the room is completely quiet and dark). 

 

Same here, if the server is down I hear it from my daughter and wife!

 

My equipment isn't in my office. I have it all in a closet set up with a dedicated wiring/server area. All the equipment is in there - switches, server, HDHR tuners, garage door interface, UPS's, etc. It is a little noisy in there since I built the new server, but it is mainly because I haven't gotten around to changing the server's chassis fans.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Same here, if the server is down I hear it from my daughter and wife!

 

My equipment isn't in my office. I have it all in a closet set up with a dedicated wiring/server area. All the equipment is in there - switches, server, HDHR tuners, garage door interface, UPS's, etc. It is a little noisy in there since I built the new server, but it is mainly because I haven't gotten around to changing the server's chassis fans.

IPMI/vPro/AMT is absolutely fantastic.  It makes managing your "closet" dead simple, and you don't even have to enter the same room. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply only Intel boards had the feature. HP has ILO, etc. I have just had really good luck with Intel boards in the past, so that was the major reason I went with Intel. Oh, and it was on the ESXi HCL.

No, you didn't. I just wanted to make sure others reading were aware that these other manufacturers include the features as well. 

 

Also, a lot of manufacturers include support for Intel vPro/AMT (dependant on the chipset and CPU), and it doesn't require a dedicated NIC). 

 

And intel brand boards are very good, as well. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

:o

 

Wow you guys make me feel so inadequate.  Here I've been bragging about my server to the nerds I work with, and you guys have servers in the +70TB!  Mine is only 15TB.  Lol.  Man, I'd love to get my hands on some of that hardware you guys have.  I'm using a mid-tower case that has 6 internal 3.5 bays and 5 5.25 bays.  I converted the bottom 3 5.25's into a 5-bay hotswap.  Currently my controller is the on-board mobo's SATA and 2 expansion cards (4-port SATA III and 2-port SATA II).  I'm maxed on on the number of drives I can have with this setup (12 drives).  They are all of varying capacities.

 

I'd really like a large case that I can put 20 drives in.  Those 4U cases are sweet, but I'm just an (above) average guy who doesn't know anything about server cases and boards.  I'm considering buying a HighPoint 8-port card (link) that will replace the old 2-port one.  But I'm totally lost when it comes to the SAS connectors.  I want to learn, and I've been researching, but everything is just too damned expensive!  What kind of jobs do you guys have anyway? LOL.  I'm on a medical restriction because I can't cope with stress and anxiety, and can only work 20-30 hour weeks, so I work in a grocery store.  Doesn't pay very well, so I have to live at home with my Dad. 

 

I just went through a big upgrade.  That's what introduced me to StableBit.  I really wanted to offload my Emby (Media Browser) server installation to my home server, but it had WHS v1 installed on it, which is limited to x86.  Emby required installing an SQL database, which required x64.  So I knew I had to upgrade the OS.  I just went though 4 weeks of buying stuff to make WHS v2011 the best it can be.  Originally running on a Celeron 420 processor, I'm now running on a Core2Duo e8400 (which is better than my media center computer!).  I also got a 4TB Seagate NAS drive.  I wasn't aware of the 8TB drives you guys seem to be using now.  I'm planning on getting another 4TB because it's half the cost.  I also got me a 120gb SSD drive (my first ever) to install WHS 2011 on.  I really like it, it just sorta hangs there (taped (I know cheap)) on the side back side of the mobo tray out of the way and never goes above 30c in temps.  I love that!  I'm currently looking at a RAM upgrade, as the last RAM I bought was some cheap, generic stuff to just increase from the 2x500mb I had to 2gb.  My motherboard can support 8gb total.  Should I bother?

 

Anybody got any pointers?  Anybody know where I can get some good prices on better hardware, and what would you recommend?  Right now, I'm just kinda floating with the storage I have, waiting for a drive to fail, then buy something LARGER to replace it with.  Not ideal, but it helps with the pocket.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

:o

 

Wow you guys make me feel so inadequate.  Here I've been bragging about my server to the nerds I work with, and you guys have servers in the +70TB!  Mine is only 15TB.  Lol.  Man, I'd love to get my hands on some of that hardware you guys have.  I'm using a mid-tower case that has 6 internal 3.5 bays and 5 5.25 bays.  I converted the bottom 3 5.25's into a 5-bay hotswap.  Currently my controller is the on-board mobo's SATA and 2 expansion cards (4-port SATA III and 2-port SATA II).  I'm maxed on on the number of drives I can have with this setup (12 drives).  They are all of varying capacities.

 

I'd really like a large case that I can put 20 drives in.  Those 4U cases are sweet, but I'm just an (above) average guy who doesn't know anything about server cases and boards.  I'm considering buying a HighPoint 8-port card (link) that will replace the old 2-port one.  But I'm totally lost when it comes to the SAS connectors.  I want to learn, and I've been researching, but everything is just too damned expensive!  What kind of jobs do you guys have anyway? LOL.  I'm on a medical restriction because I can't cope with stress and anxiety, and can only work 20-30 hour weeks, so I work in a grocery store.  Doesn't pay very well, so I have to live at home with my Dad. 

 

I just went through a big upgrade.  That's what introduced me to StableBit.  I really wanted to offload my Emby (Media Browser) server installation to my home server, but it had WHS v1 installed on it, which is limited to x86.  Emby required installing an SQL database, which required x64.  So I knew I had to upgrade the OS.  I just went though 4 weeks of buying stuff to make WHS v2011 the best it can be.  Originally running on a Celeron 420 processor, I'm now running on a Core2Duo e8400 (which is better than my media center computer!).  I also got a 4TB Seagate NAS drive.  I wasn't aware of the 8TB drives you guys seem to be using now.  I'm planning on getting another 4TB because it's half the cost.  I also got me a 120gb SSD drive (my first ever) to install WHS 2011 on.  I really like it, it just sorta hangs there (taped (I know cheap)) on the side back side of the mobo tray out of the way and never goes above 30c in temps.  I love that!  I'm currently looking at a RAM upgrade, as the last RAM I bought was some cheap, generic stuff to just increase from the 2x500mb I had to 2gb.  My motherboard can support 8gb total.  Should I bother?

 

Anybody got any pointers?  Anybody know where I can get some good prices on better hardware, and what would you recommend?  Right now, I'm just kinda floating with the storage I have, waiting for a drive to fail, then buy something LARGER to replace it with.  Not ideal, but it helps with the pocket.

 

Don't feel inadequate -- we all started somewhere.  I don't think anybody here is using 8TB drives yet.  Out of all of my drives a 5TB is my largest. The rest are mostly all 4TB HGST and Seagate drives.

 

For the best bang for your buck I would recommend doing your research and buying (quality) used hardware.  That's how I was able to afford my first Xeon server.  Right now there are a ton of multi-processor Xeon boards/servers out there that are a dime a dozen with the only caveat being electrical usage due to being a bit older.  

 

I have a hard time recommending Highpoint stuff.

 

It's finicky to say the least. I've been doing this for almost 30 years and I've never had a brand of controller that gave me as many headaches as the Highpoint's. I own, use and rely on two 2740's, a 2720 and a couple of their smaller Rocketraid cards (that I started with) and they all had weird/annoying issues. After some headaches I was able to work through all of the issues but had to jump through quite a few hoops to do so. Once they are up and running I have no complaints (so far) but I would not recommend them to someone who is unfamiliar with them and I'll never purchase another Highpoint product.  If you're willing to play, learn and be frustrated go for it. Once they are "happy" they are pretty darn fast for the $$.

 

If you're on a smaller budget I would suggest checking out some of the LSI stuff for your controllers.  Drashna and some of the other guys here have more experience with them but I recently purchased a 9240-8i and I've had no issues and really like it.

 

If you need a large drive case and are willing to forego a couple of amenities such as hot-swap trays you can get a much better deal on a Rosewell or something similar.  

 

I'm by no means a hardware guy but I'm sure  you'll get some better answers from some of the other folks here.

 

Good luck!!!

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I don't think anybody here is using 8TB drives yet.  

I'm using 3 of the Seagate Archive 8TB drives, and am very happy with them (oh, my pool is up to 65TBs, and 15 drives now, BTW).

 

 

 

:o

 

Wow you guys make me feel so inadequate.  Here I've been bragging about my server to the nerds I work with, and you guys have servers in the +70TB!  Mine is only 15TB.  Lol.  Man, I'd love to get my hands on some of that hardware you guys have.  I'm using a mid-tower case that has 6 internal 3.5 bays and 5 5.25 bays.  I converted the bottom 3 5.25's into a 5-bay hotswap.  Currently my controller is the on-board mobo's SATA and 2 expansion cards (4-port SATA III and 2-port SATA II).  I'm maxed on on the number of drives I can have with this setup (12 drives).  They are all of varying capacities.

 

I'd really like a large case that I can put 20 drives in.  Those 4U cases are sweet, but I'm just an (above) average guy who doesn't know anything about server cases and boards.  I'm considering buying a HighPoint 8-port card (link) that will replace the old 2-port one.  But I'm totally lost when it comes to the SAS connectors.  I want to learn, and I've been researching, but everything is just too damned expensive!  What kind of jobs do you guys have anyway? LOL.  I'm on a medical restriction because I can't cope with stress and anxiety, and can only work 20-30 hour weeks, so I work in a grocery store.  Doesn't pay very well, so I have to live at home with my Dad. 

 

I just went through a big upgrade.  That's what introduced me to StableBit.  I really wanted to offload my Emby (Media Browser) server installation to my home server, but it had WHS v1 installed on it, which is limited to x86.  Emby required installing an SQL database, which required x64.  So I knew I had to upgrade the OS.  I just went though 4 weeks of buying stuff to make WHS v2011 the best it can be.  Originally running on a Celeron 420 processor, I'm now running on a Core2Duo e8400 (which is better than my media center computer!).  I also got a 4TB Seagate NAS drive.  I wasn't aware of the 8TB drives you guys seem to be using now.  I'm planning on getting another 4TB because it's half the cost.  I also got me a 120gb SSD drive (my first ever) to install WHS 2011 on.  I really like it, it just sorta hangs there (taped (I know cheap)) on the side back side of the mobo tray out of the way and never goes above 30c in temps.  I love that!  I'm currently looking at a RAM upgrade, as the last RAM I bought was some cheap, generic stuff to just increase from the 2x500mb I had to 2gb.  My motherboard can support 8gb total.  Should I bother?

 

Anybody got any pointers?  Anybody know where I can get some good prices on better hardware, and what would you recommend?  Right now, I'm just kinda floating with the storage I have, waiting for a drive to fail, then buy something LARGER to replace it with.  Not ideal, but it helps with the pocket.

Like RFOneWatt has already said: Don't.  

Seriously. I started off with an XP machine, and half a dozen mismatched disks (all less than 1TB, IIRC).  

I then migrated to WHSv1, and eventually got a free HP MediaSmart Server (from Microsoft, as part of my MS MVP award). 

 

 

And I have to agree with RF, the HighPoint cards are decent, but for about the same price (or a little more), you can buy a card that uses the LSI chipset, which is much, much better. 

Such as the LSI SAS 9207-8i card. 

 

Also, for SAS, you can get "SAS Expander Cards". These work as ... well, network switches for SAS cards, and hook up a lot more drives. Or get multiple cards (it comes out to about the same price, unfortunately).

 

 

As for hardware, that looks pretty decent. And as for the 8GBs of RAM, I'd definitely recommend it. That's the max that WHS2011 can use, and it will definitely make a difference.

 

As for cheap hardware, eBay and Craigslist are your friends.  A lot of companies sell old parts on ebay and CL when they upgrade systems or components, so it's worth checking out.  Also, check out slickdeals.net, as you can find a lot of good deals on hardware there (like the occasional really cheap Lenovo ThinkServers). 

 

 

As for cheap hardware, I do have a couple of spare IBM ServeRAID M1015 cards that are "cross flashed" already, and ready for use. If you're interested, PM me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Yeah, those SAS cards sound sweet as hell.  I don't know the first thing about them though.  From what I gathered, the controller card has 2 ports.  Plug 1 cable in, and it splits into 4 (4 different drives).  Then you plug in another cable, and it splits into 4 more drives (totaling 8 drives).  The thing that confuses me then is how these 8 can magically turn in to 32 or 64.  Some product descriptions say their 1 card (with 2 ports) can control up to 64 drives.  How is that possible?!  They don't make 1->32 cables right?  And then there are these expander things, not even sure what that's all about.  :)

 

I gotta be honest though.  I really can't afford anything at the moment.  My paycheck comes to about $200 a week, and I pay $60/week to my Dad for rent/utilities, and about $20/week on comic books (don't judge, they're way cool!).  I also have a Seedbox subscription ($15/month) and USENET subscription ($25/month).  All told, that's $440 a month, or $110/week I can spend on frivolous toys.  Not to mention the occasional slow week (where I only work 20 hours, and get like $150 or so pay) or when I need to buy something like medication or gas.  These things I just recently bought were paid with me working 2 very long weeks (32 hours each, a lot for me).

 

As for options available to me.  What should I try saving up my money for?  I'm really thinking I need to upgrade the controller card.  6 drives on board (mobo) and 6 via 2 controller cards.  If these SAS/RAID cards really can drive that amount of drives, it seems fairly obvious what the next thing should be, it's just a matter of deciding what to get.  I looked at the various cards you guys replied to me about (9240-8i, LSI SAS 9207-8i, IBM ServeRAID M1015) and they all seem like great options, but outside my budget.  Plus, I'm not sure what "cross flashed" means lol.  Maybe I'll keep looking around and asking for suggestions till I find something doable. 

 

My current motherboard I'm using is an ASUS P5G43T-M Pro (link).  That will help show where I'm coming from.  Currently the CPU is now the Intel Core2Duo e8400.  The top PCIe slot (x1) is holding the 4-port expansion card, the 2nd PCIe 2.0 slot (x16) is empty.  The top PCI slot has the other 2-port controller card.  The bottom PCI slot is empty.  I've been reading up, and even though the PCIe 2.0 slot is x16, it will control x8 just fine.

 

Thanks for the tips and advice.  I really appreciate the background details about that HighPoint card, and your confirmations that it's not something I should get.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Geez Drashna.. 8TB platters already.. in the Norco, yes? 

 

What is the heat situation like in your box? I have a 4020 with modified cooling that I've run for quite a while and my new server WOPR, in a 4220 case that has all stock fans.

 

I just took most of the drives out of the 4020 last night and crammed them into WOPR and brought WOPR "officially" online.  :D 

 

So far it's doing OK but the A/C has been on in the house since I made the switch. The drives are running a bit warmer than I'd like to see with the A/C on (nowhere close to bad) but enough to make me wonder if I'm going to have to swap the fans sooner rather than later. The newer 4220 came with the three 120MM fan wall, something I added to my 4220 along with a couple of Tornado 80MM's for the rear exhaust.  

 

@Hansolo77 - These are probably the two cables you are going to end up using in most cases. (and the best place to buy them!)

 

SFF-8087 to Four SATA - http://goo.gl/xTXnnv

 

or SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 - http://http://goo.gl/1XJ79a

 

If I were you I'd pick up an LSI card of your choice when you can.  I believe the IBM card is the same as the 9240.

 

One of the main reasons I bought the Highpoint 2740 is because it takes advantage of the X16 slot. And it is FAST. Finicky to set up at times but I can't deny that it IS FAST.  

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

What is the purpose of the SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cable?

 

I use the SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 to go from the card directly to the backplane (one row of drives per cable) on my Norco 4220.

 

The older Norco cases such as the 4020 use the other cable, the breakout cable (SFF-8087 to Four SATA). Each drive has it's own SATA connection in the 4020.  

 

Or you could just plug each SATA cable directly into any drive in the case of your choice.

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Yeah, those SAS cards sound sweet as hell.  I don't know the first thing about them though.  From what I gathered, the controller card has 2 ports.  Plug 1 cable in, and it splits into 4 (4 different drives).  Then you plug in another cable, and it splits into 4 more drives (totaling 8 drives).  The thing that confuses me then is how these 8 can magically turn in to 32 or 64.  Some product descriptions say their 1 card (with 2 ports) can control up to 64 drives.  How is that possible?!  They don't make 1->32 cables right?  And then there are these expander things, not even sure what that's all about.  :)

 

I gotta be honest though.  I really can't afford anything at the moment.  My paycheck comes to about $200 a week, and I pay $60/week to my Dad for rent/utilities, and about $20/week on comic books (don't judge, they're way cool!).  I also have a Seedbox subscription ($15/month) and USENET subscription ($25/month).  All told, that's $440 a month, or $110/week I can spend on frivolous toys.  Not to mention the occasional slow week (where I only work 20 hours, and get like $150 or so pay) or when I need to buy something like medication or gas.  These things I just recently bought were paid with me working 2 very long weeks (32 hours each, a lot for me).

 

As for options available to me.  What should I try saving up my money for?  I'm really thinking I need to upgrade the controller card.  6 drives on board (mobo) and 6 via 2 controller cards.  If these SAS/RAID cards really can drive that amount of drives, it seems fairly obvious what the next thing should be, it's just a matter of deciding what to get.  I looked at the various cards you guys replied to me about (9240-8i, LSI SAS 9207-8i, IBM ServeRAID M1015) and they all seem like great options, but outside my budget.  Plus, I'm not sure what "cross flashed" means lol.  Maybe I'll keep looking around and asking for suggestions till I find something doable. 

 

My current motherboard I'm using is an ASUS P5G43T-M Pro (link).  That will help show where I'm coming from.  Currently the CPU is now the Intel Core2Duo e8400.  The top PCIe slot (x1) is holding the 4-port expansion card, the 2nd PCIe 2.0 slot (x16) is empty.  The top PCI slot has the other 2-port controller card.  The bottom PCI slot is empty.  I've been reading up, and even though the PCIe 2.0 slot is x16, it will control x8 just fine.

 

Thanks for the tips and advice.  I really appreciate the background details about that HighPoint card, and your confirmations that it's not something I should get.

Each of the SFF-808x connectors are "4 lane connectors". Meaning that they are effectively 4 sata cables "bonded" together. A breakout cable (the SFF 8087 to SATA) splits the cables so you can connect the SATA drives.

 

For the bunch of drives.... they're using SAS Expander Cards.  I mentioned them before. But most good SAS cards can handle 100+ drives. :)

For instance, plug in one of the connectors from the SAS Controller into one of these:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/servers/raid/raid-controller-res2sv240.html

That gets you 20 drives. Get two, and that's 40.   Chain them, and that's however many the card will support.

 

And the M1015 cards support running ~34 drives at 120MBs before bottlenecking the PCIe controller. :)

And I definitely understand being short on money, I usually am (or at least, I'm a tight wad when it comes to money ... and there is always a new computer part I need ... :P). I've sent you a PM about the controller card.

 

 

The "cross flashed" means that the M1015 has been flashed with the firmware of a different card (the 9240-8i for the IR/RAID mode, and the 9211-8i for the IT/HBA mode) (HBA is just a controller card, no RAID options at all, "Host Bus Adapter")

 

And you're board would only be able to support one card, so you'd want the card and a SAS expander, as well, to get more than the 8 drives on the card.

What is the purpose of the SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 cable?

From the controller to the case. :)

My Norco RPC 4220 has 5x SFF-8087 connectors for the hot swappable hard drive bays.  It makes cable management a breeze (as opposed to hooking up 20x SATA cables....... *shudder*

 

 

Geez Drashna.. 8TB platters already.. in the Norco, yes? 

 

What is the heat situation like in your box? I have a 4020 with modified cooling that I've run for quite a while and my new server WOPR, in a 4220 case that has all stock fans.

 

I just took most of the drives out of the 4020 last night and crammed them into WOPR and brought WOPR "officially" online.  :D

 

So far it's doing OK but the A/C has been on in the house since I made the switch. The drives are running a bit warmer than I'd like to see with the A/C on (nowhere close to bad) but enough to make me wonder if I'm going to have to swap the fans sooner rather than later. The newer 4220 came with the three 120MM fan wall, something I added to my 4220 along with a couple of Tornado 80MM's for the rear exhaust.  

 

@Hansolo77 - These are probably the two cables you are going to end up using in most cases. (and the best place to buy them!)

 

SFF-8087 to Four SATA - http://goo.gl/xTXnnv

 

or SFF-8087 to SFF-8087 - http://http://goo.gl/1XJ79a

 

If I were you I'd pick up an LSI card of your choice when you can.  I believe the IBM card is the same as the 9240.

 

One of the main reasons I bought the Highpoint 2740 is because it takes advantage of the X16 slot. And it is FAST. Finicky to set up at times but I can't deny that it IS FAST.  

 

~RF

Yup, three of them. :)

 

I'm actually running modified fans (they have resisters and ICs in line to throttle their speed), but they're running at full power. 

The drives run from anywhere between 85-100F (30-38C).  They're pretty stable, and peak when either I'm doing a lot on the server, or it's scanning time (it scans 4+ drives at a time). 

 

I'm also running the AC in the same run, at 72F (22C).  So it's nice and cool. :)

 

I also have the air being sucked in at the front and pulled past the drives.  And I have a giant noctua heatsink on the board.  So it gets good airflow. 

 

 

 

 

 

And again, as for the M1015, it uses the LSI SAS2008 chipset. So does the 9240 and the 9211. The difference being the firmware. All three cards are the same, otherwise. So, it's cheaper to grab the M1015 and flash them. Which is why a lot of people have, and why they're steading climbing in price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Yeah, those SAS cards sound sweet as hell.  I don't know the first thing about them though.  From what I gathered, the controller card has 2 ports.  Plug 1 cable in, and it splits into 4 (4 different drives).  Then you plug in another cable, and it splits into 4 more drives (totaling 8 drives).  The thing that confuses me then is how these 8 can magically turn in to 32 or 64.  Some product descriptions say their 1 card (with 2 ports) can control up to 64 drives.  How is that possible?!  They don't make 1->32 cables right?  And then there are these expander things, not even sure what that's all about.  :)

 

I gotta be honest though.  I really can't afford anything at the moment.  My paycheck comes to about $200 a week, and I pay $60/week to my Dad for rent/utilities, and about $20/week on comic books (don't judge, they're way cool!).  I also have a Seedbox subscription ($15/month) and USENET subscription ($25/month).  All told, that's $440 a month, or $110/week I can spend on frivolous toys.  Not to mention the occasional slow week (where I only work 20 hours, and get like $150 or so pay) or when I need to buy something like medication or gas.  These things I just recently bought were paid with me working 2 very long weeks (32 hours each, a lot for me).

 

As for options available to me.  What should I try saving up my money for?  I'm really thinking I need to upgrade the controller card.  6 drives on board (mobo) and 6 via 2 controller cards.  If these SAS/RAID cards really can drive that amount of drives, it seems fairly obvious what the next thing should be, it's just a matter of deciding what to get.  I looked at the various cards you guys replied to me about (9240-8i, LSI SAS 9207-8i, IBM ServeRAID M1015) and they all seem like great options, but outside my budget.  Plus, I'm not sure what "cross flashed" means lol.  Maybe I'll keep looking around and asking for suggestions till I find something doable. 

 

My current motherboard I'm using is an ASUS P5G43T-M Pro (link).  That will help show where I'm coming from.  Currently the CPU is now the Intel Core2Duo e8400.  The top PCIe slot (x1) is holding the 4-port expansion card, the 2nd PCIe 2.0 slot (x16) is empty.  The top PCI slot has the other 2-port controller card.  The bottom PCI slot is empty.  I've been reading up, and even though the PCIe 2.0 slot is x16, it will control x8 just fine.

 

Thanks for the tips and advice.  I really appreciate the background details about that HighPoint card, and your confirmations that it's not something I should get.

 

On my 4220 I use three 120MM Delta "screamers" and two 80MM Tornado's in the rear, all in parallel running through this guy:  http://goo.gl/yDXnXS

 

I drilled a small hole in the front plate where the slim DVD drive would go and mounted the variable control. 

 

I found that with two 80MM Tornado's for exhaust you could lose all the fans on the fan plate with a fully populated enclosure and still be OK..

 

....of course you'd be deaf if the server was anywhere near you but for applications where sound isn't an issue these Tornado's can't be beat for airflow. (And longevity from what I've read -- apparently they last forever.) I've got two extras sitting here waiting to go in WOPR if need be.

 

My servers are in the basement and my drives in the 4224 are running between 80-102 with the A/C in the house set at 73.That's OK but much higher than the 85-90 I like to sit at.

 

I think if I leave the house for more than a day or two, with the A/C set at 77-79 I'm going to have issues with the stock 4224.

 

The 4220 with the Delta's and Tornados, with no A/C on in the house, the drives run between 71-90.  Absolutely perfect temp IMO..

 

~RF

 

4224 W/ Stock Cooling.  Room Temp 73F

 

Scanner.4224.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Mine's nothing that fancy.  Though, I want to replace them for something more .... aggressive.  

 

I have a single tornado fan ... and yeah, those things are very loud. But boy, do they move a lot of air!

 

Unfortunately, I have a "1st gen" model of the RPC 4220, so it doesn't officially support the 120mm fan mount.  That's fine by me. 5x 80mm fans are just fine, and I'm not worried about noise. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I can't see any reason to replace the 80MM's with 120's if you're not worried about noise.  I actually kind of find it silly to cram that many drives into an enclosure and struggle to keep it quiet.  That many drives so close together needs serious cooling.  

 

The stock fans though are definitely inadequate for anything other than a very cool data center and I am being forced to either leave the A/C in my house at 73-ish while I'm not there or replace the two 80's in the rear of the 4224 with the Tornados.  About 1/2 throttle is getting the job done nicely on my 4220.

 

Yeah, those 80's sure do move some air...  about 85CFM IIRC. That's just nuts from such a small fan.

 

Do your 8TB platters run any hotter than your 4's??

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Exactly. I'm more concerned about airflow and cooling. :)

And I do need to replace my fans, I think one of the 5 have failed. And I'd like better fans (some tornado fans, maybe and not throttled).

 

As for the 8TB drives.... 

I have 4x Seagate NAS 4TB on the top row, 2x rows of WD Red 4TB (2nd and 3rd rows), and 3x 8TBs on the 4th row. 

 

Right now, the Seagate NAS drives are running at ~88F/31C, and the rest are running at 93-95F/34-35C (that's the WD Reds and Seagate Archive drives).  Even moving stuff around, I've found that the Seagate NAS drives run a lot cooler than the WD Red drives, and get better performance. 

Drashna Remote Support_ARRAKIS_2015-07-26_2.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

I see you have your drives separated by rail -- power supply rail, I'm guessing?  Did you have issues?

 

Your case temperatures mimic my temp range just about exactly.... I'm guessing it's because of locations of the drives in the Norco chassis.. IMO about 85-90F appears to be the ideal temperature for HD longevity so we're in good shape.  I have a few drives that hang around 75-77F and I sometimes wonder if that's too cool.

 

WOW! I just noticed that those 8TB drives are about $260.00. Not too shabby at all!  They have really come down since the last time I looked at drives. (As i stare at my now mostly empty 4220)

 

What's next in the 3.5 form form factor? They went from 1,2,3,4TB almost straight to 8...and no helium!!

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Well, we have a contender for "largest":

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1354-deletion-does-not-free-space-on-large-pool/&do=findComment&comment=9263

246TB in their pool, and very full! :)

 

 

yes, the horizontal row in the case.  And I'm sure you're aware, each row has a PCB board that connects the drives to power and data.  Each of my drives are grouped by these "rails".  This makes identifying and organizing the drives very, very simple (though took me a while to identify and label the drives initially). 

 

As for the cool drives, that depends on what drives they are and how active they are.  And StableBit Scanner will actively switch the drives it's scanning to prevent creating hot spots in the system as well (the equalization stuff, in the "heat" tab). :)

 

 

And yeah, the 8TB "SMR" (Shingled Magnetic Recording) drives are pretty new and significantly cheaper than the Helium drives!  Just about the same price as 2x 4TB drives. So that's why I have been opting to get them instead.  I only have 5 bays left in my case!

Though, I think Seagate has a 5TB and 6TB model of the Seagate Archive drives, but the price per TB is much better for the 8TB drive.

 

I actually keep a spreadsheet with the price per TB listed, and that I can update on the fly. makes purchasing less painful. 

 

 

And as for form factor, I think that once the SMR drives become mainstream (much like the PMR tech released years ago did), that we'll see a significant spike in capacities.  That, and SSDs have been dropping in price, so maybe we'll start to see more affordable, large capacity SSDs in the near future!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Contender?  I think he's more like THE KING.  ;)

 

Then again I've been contemplating a Drivepool install at work and I could see it getting pretty darn close with our CAD guys workload and/or our backups system.  But for home use, I think Drashna is the winner ATM. 

 

I was just reading some reviews on those 8TB drives --- are they really that much slower in your experience?

 

I use all of the heat equalization features in Drivepool but it also appears to me that some slots simply have better cooling than others(?)... now If I could get a handle on which drive is in which slot in the enclosure I could test that theory out and put the handful of 7200's I popped in the pool in those slots. When I swapped out four 5900RPM drives to otherwise identical 7200 RPM drives (in the 4220 enclosure) the temps went up a few degrees across the board. I have a bank of drives that simply stay between 77-85 and will not get any hotter.

 

I need to spend the time that you did, Drashna, identifying and labeling the drives... which I should have done when I moved most of the drives from the 4220 into the 4224. The only reason I didn't was because I was in a hurry to get th e machine back online......and for the record, THANKFULLY, the 4220 drive caddies slide right into the 4224 chassis.  I was dreading all of those little tiny screws.

 

I do have one five TB Seagate that I yanked out of an external enclosure and popped in my pool.  I don't think they sold too many 5TB drives... 

 

~RF

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Answer this question...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...