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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

 

 

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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

 

Since I'm being lazy ATM, I do talk about them a good amount here:

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1102-any-recommendation-advice-on-the-new-seagate-8-tb-smr-drive-for-drive-pool/

 

They're fast except when they're not... and then the stall out completely (0 bytes/sec).  From what people have speculated, it's the cache/buffer filling up and then stalling as it clears it and grabs more data.  It's not horrible, and only really happens with larger files.

 

That's why I'm planning on grabbing a couple of smaller SSDs for the SSD Optimizer balancer though.  :)

 

 

 

As for labeling the drives, that's why I really, really like that SAS Expander card, If you take a look, it shows you which "port" each drive is on. I connected the card via the 6th connector, so "ports" 19-23 are assigned to the controller card, That way, 0-19 match the specific bays in the case. :) (there is a chance that I *may* be slightly OCD)

http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1279-the-largest-stablebit-drivepool-in-the-world/&do=findComment&comment=8542

(image for the MegaRAID Storage Management UI)

 

And as for the 5TB drives, no, they don't. The price point isn't good for it. It's more expensive per TB than most of the other drives. But the Seagate Archive 8TB drives are the best price per TB, not counting sale/combo/deal prices. :)

Just throwing this out there.... you say you had a 4220 and migrated into a 4224.  What did you do with your 4220?  Feel like selling it? :)

That's assuming that he didn't throw in an expander card and turn it into an external enclosure (which is what I'd do with a spare case .... :P)

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Nahhh, sorry. The 4220 isn't for sale.. It's only a few months old and it's actually in use now with a 6TB pool of a few junk drives (except for the feeder disks.) I actually walked into my radio collection room this morning looking at some of my pieces. Ever since Drashna mentioned those 8TB platters my mind has been spinning.  24x8TB = what?!  B)

 

I honestly did not need the 4224 at the time I ordered it (about 6 months ago) but I saw no other way to upgrade the motherboard/processor/RAM in my 4220 without any downtime. Because I was working with Highpoint cards I knew I'd be running into some weird issues and it would take a few days for me to feel the warm, comforting stability fuzzies that should always accompany a new, important machine.

 

SO.. after a bit of deliberation I ordered the 4224 case and just put all of of the new components I had been collecting in that. It only took two days to be sure it was stable. I expected much worse and it could have been as I did run into the strangest freakin' problem in all my 30+ years of doing this stuff. If I didn't happen to have two identical Highpoint 2740's on hand I'd still be in limbo waiting for an RMA from Highpoint -- again. I swear, the problem was so freaking weird it's still bugging the crap out of me because I fixed the problem by swapping cards in the machines, that's all....and so I still don't know the answer....as I said before I'm by no means a hardware guy but I've built quite a few servers. 

 

I do have one of these I might be willing to part with. It's not dirt cheap though, esp. once you throw in shipping: Sans Digital 8 Bay Tower Raid  - The one I have is black.

 

Honestly you'd be better off just buying the Norco 4224. The difference in price isn't that much and you wouldn't be settling. Never settle!! I got my 4220 for $319.00 shipped from E-Bay. Not too bad. it's the ancillary items that kill ya but they can be bought and scavenged one piece at a time.

 

Off the subject kinda but exactly how I just built my new server with limited resources (granted,over a shorter period of time but same concept as below:)

 

Whenever I've wanted something I couldn't afford outright (I DETEST credit cards) I try and buy it in pieces (whenever possible.) About 10 years ago I had a dream of having a BIG radio tower in my backyard. And if you want a big freestanding radio tower (no guy wires) in a residential area, well,  they are far from inexpensive. Almost impossibly so-for-the-average-joe.

 

Sooo... I bought one 10 ft section of tower at a time over a period of about three years all the while keeping my eyes open for all of the other components I needed for the project. When you're not in a hurry it makes all the difference in the world. An example was the rotor I needed to point/rotate the antenna array on top of the tower. New they cost more than $800 and are built like garbage compared to the old American made stuff. I ended up buying one that was manufactured in 1976, off of E-Bay for 75.00. It was a bit rough but it was all original and it did still sorta work. I then sent it out to a shop to be refurbished, told him to take his time and got it back about a month later, absolutely better than new for about $250.00 total.. Rinse and repeat until the seemingly impossible became possible!!

 

~RF

 

 

...sorry about the babbling.  :rolleyes:

post-1545-0-84694200-1438295668_thumb.jpg

post-1545-0-54510500-1438295684_thumb.jpg

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That's alright. I too plan on building in stages. Right now I'm looking for cases. Next I'll be looking to upgrade the main board. I just upgraded my CPU and RAM though, so I plan to take my time on that. I know this is off topic, but what is the point/advantages of a true server board, with multiple LAN connectors and 2 CPUs and like 16 RAM slots? It just seems like overkill. Even though my router is gigabit, why would I want 2 or more ports? I've seen listings for people selling pre built servers with 32 GB RAM and 2 CPUs. But right now my OS is WHS2011. I think Drashna said that only supports up to 8 GB, so why would I get 32? Is there a different OS you guys use?

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That's alright. I too plan on building in stages. Right now I'm looking for cases. Next I'll be looking to upgrade the main board. I just upgraded my CPU and RAM though, so I plan to take my time on that. I know this is off topic, but what is the point/advantages of a true server board, with multiple LAN connectors and 2 CPUs and like 16 RAM slots? It just seems like overkill. Even though my router is gigabit, why would I want 2 or more ports? I've seen listings for people selling pre built servers with 32 GB RAM and 2 CPUs. But right now my OS is WHS2011. I think Drashna said that only supports up to 8 GB, so why would I get 32? Is there a different OS you guys use?

 

As for the server parts.... warranty, management and quality.

  • Warranty: For server parts tend to be significantly longer. For instance, most enterprise drives have a 5 year warranty as opposed to 1-3 years of most consumer drivers.
  • Management: most server/workstation (eg, not consumer) boards support Out of Band Management. Meaning, they have IPMI or intel vPro/AMT.  These allow you to remotely connect to the system, and access it as if you were sitting infront of it. This means that you can actually get into the BIOS/Firmware remotely, and change settings it in. Additionally, you can SEE BSODs.  Additionally, it usually allows you to mount ISOs over the network, so you can install an OS without having to go to the server.  And it lets you power cycle the system (and even turn it on, as long as it's connected to power and network).

    This alone is a HUGE thing for system admins (and for me) 

  • Quality:  In theory, server boards use higher quality parts, ones that are more stable and better supported.  So you start off at a better point.  

    Additionally, most server grade boards support ECC memory. ECC memory is always better to use when you have the money, as it's more resilient to memory glitches. 

 

And yes, WHS2011 only supports up to 8GBs of RAM. SBS2011E (which is the domain controller version of WHS2011) supports up to 16 (or maybe 32) GBs of memory.  Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials supports up to 64GBs of RAM.

 

HyperV Server 2012R2 supports .... an OBSCENE amount of RAM.  By obscene, I think it supports up to 1TB of RAM. Yes, that's 1TB. 

 

 

 

 

Personally, I use Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials. You can download the eval for it, if you want to try it out, and the trial lasts for 180 days (6 months). However, it's $400 to buy... so it's very expensive.

Also, just because it's a "server board" doesn't have to mean it's high end, and super expensive.

 

For instance, ASRock RACK has a lot of very nice lower end boards. For instance:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157614

 

I bought this recently for my router, actually.  But using a similar CPU elsewhere, you could use it for an HTPC, or an actual Server OS. 

 

 

 

But yeah, multiple NICs is a common thing. Which is nice. Especially for hyperV :)

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I also ran a BBS on a C64 back in the day. I had 2 3.5 inch drives on a 300 baud rate modem. I ran Mustang BBS software.

 

I must be one of the old ones around here as I was in my twenties when I ran it. lol

 

You old?

 

I was 12-13 y/o when I was running my C-64 BBS ... on C-Net!   So don't feel bad. ;)

 

Those 1581's were a finicky bunch until about their last run when the finally got most of the bugs out.. by then it was too late though! 

 

~RF

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Wow Chris, that's a lot of good info about the server boards.  I'm definitely going to take a good long look at some of those other boards than just the super expensive ones.  Is it a good idea to get one that is passively cooled like many of those are?  I can see 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage.  One, you don't have to buy a processor because it's already included.  Two, you don't have the noise from the CPU fan running.  But are they really ideal for a server platform?  My server is mostly used for streaming Music and Videos, and storage for Photos and computer backups.  I don't do a lot, but if I'm streaming HD, it takes more power than just looking at static pictures.  Would something that is passively cooled be capable of sustaining a high usage when streaming an HD movie or other things for an extended time?

 

Also, you never really explained the benefit of multiple LAN jacks.  I looked at a few other "similar" boards briefly and I do see where some are listed as IPMI dedicated.  But one of the had a dedicated port and 4 others.  Why would I want 4 LAN jacks?  You mentioned you use it in a router.  Would that be what those ports are for?  Using the server as a router that would connect 4 additional computers to it without a standalone router?  Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question.  I consider myself an "advanced" PC builder, but only up to a point because a lot of new technologies have come out since I last built from scratch.  Namely, Server Boards in general, USB3, and SAS.  I know SAS has been around but this is the first time I'm truly exposing myself to it and have started to learn about it.  I never even dove into ACHI for HDD's until when I upgraded my OS to WHS 2011. 

 

Anyway, just to update.  I got the controller card today :D and the 5.25-3x3.5 drive bay cage, but the cables didn't arrive, so I'm still kinda stuck and can't do anything.  I ordered the cables FIRST too.  Strange.  Hopefully it'll get delivered tomorrow though.  I guess UPS dropped it off to the Post Office, and they're going to handle final delivery (UPS tracking for it was updated on the 29th, saying it was given to the PO, with a schedule delivery of 8/1 (tomorrow)).  Sounds like I'm gonna have fun Sunday!  I figure I'll just spend a lot of time doing the research on the parts I want and just work on it as I go, while keeping my current build nice and stable.

 

If you could build your server all over again, what would you get?

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You old?

 

I was 12-13 y/o when I was running my C-64 BBS ... on C-Net!   So don't feel bad. ;)

 

Those 1581's were a finicky bunch until about their last run when the finally got most of the bugs out.. by then it was too late though! 

 

~RF

Just when I was hoping the thread would get back "on topic"..... :P

 

 

 

Wow Chris, that's a lot of good info about the server boards.  I'm definitely going to take a good long look at some of those other boards than just the super expensive ones.  Is it a good idea to get one that is passively cooled like many of those are?  I can see 2 advantages and 1 disadvantage.  One, you don't have to buy a processor because it's already included.  Two, you don't have the noise from the CPU fan running.  But are they really ideal for a server platform?  My server is mostly used for streaming Music and Videos, and storage for Photos and computer backups.  I don't do a lot, but if I'm streaming HD, it takes more power than just looking at static pictures.  Would something that is passively cooled be capable of sustaining a high usage when streaming an HD movie or other things for an extended time?

 

Also, you never really explained the benefit of multiple LAN jacks.  I looked at a few other "similar" boards briefly and I do see where some are listed as IPMI dedicated.  But one of the had a dedicated port and 4 others.  Why would I want 4 LAN jacks?  You mentioned you use it in a router.  Would that be what those ports are for?  Using the server as a router that would connect 4 additional computers to it without a standalone router?  Sorry if it sounds like a dumb question.  I consider myself an "advanced" PC builder, but only up to a point because a lot of new technologies have come out since I last built from scratch.  Namely, Server Boards in general, USB3, and SAS.  I know SAS has been around but this is the first time I'm truly exposing myself to it and have started to learn about it.  I never even dove into ACHI for HDD's until when I upgraded my OS to WHS 2011. 

 

Anyway, just to update.  I got the controller card today :D and the 5.25-3x3.5 drive bay cage, but the cables didn't arrive, so I'm still kinda stuck and can't do anything.  I ordered the cables FIRST too.  Strange.  Hopefully it'll get delivered tomorrow though.  I guess UPS dropped it off to the Post Office, and they're going to handle final delivery (UPS tracking for it was updated on the 29th, saying it was given to the PO, with a schedule delivery of 8/1 (tomorrow)).  Sounds like I'm gonna have fun Sunday!  I figure I'll just spend a lot of time doing the research on the parts I want and just work on it as I go, while keeping my current build nice and stable.

 

If you could build your server all over again, what would you get?

I hate passively cooled. Seriously. I'm .... a bit OCD about a number of things. Airflow is one of them.  If the air just sits there, then the system still overheats.  

 

That ASRock board I linked? I made sure the case has a fan, and that it blows air over the CPU heatsink. :)

But this was for a router, and for the most part, the CPU idles.... it only really scans when there is a LOT of traffic, or I'm downloading stuff that needs to be scanned.

 

 

 

As for multiple LAN jacks.... it depends on the situation.

  • Any board that has IPMI, ... this has a dedicated NIC JUST for management. That means that the OS can't see it. So, there is that.
  • Then there is HyperV/VMWare ESXi.  Ideally, you want to have a NIC dedicated to the Host OS, so you can manage it without any interference from the virtual switch (i've seen it happen), and then one or more dedicated to VMs.  That way, you can segment the host off, and make it accessible only to certain machines (in theory).
  • And the final reason: teaming/bridging/link aggregation.  Regardless of what the feature is called, and how it's implemented specifically.... this can get you faster speed than just a single NIC.  If you're doing a lot of data transfer, then this is VERY useful, as you're less likely to bottleneck the server. The more NICs you have joined, the more data you can push through.
  • As a router.  So, yes, you can absolutely bridge them in the OS and use it as a network switch. For OS's like pfSense or Sophos UTM, this isn't a bad idea, as it can eliminate the need of a dedicated switch to connect to the rest of the network.  Or you can use it to manually isolate different segments of the network. 

And I'm glad to hear you received the controller card (I saw that, actually). :)

And yeah, I hate that, when everything doesn't arrive at once, and your stuck sitting with a bunch of awesome parts.  it's even worse when you order everything from newegg, and everything but the motherboard shows up right away... and you have to wait a week for it to show up..... I hate waiting. 

 

 

 

And yeah, depending on the shipping, the really cheap method hands it off to USPS to deliver it to your door. 

 

 

And it definitely sounds like your Sunday is going to be fine! Good luck!

 

 

 

If I could build my server again? It depends on the budget.  If the sky was the limit, right now, I'd go for the dual Intel Xeon E5-2699 v3 system, and a couple of NVMe PCI-e cards.  Mostly, so I could stream 10+ videos on Emby without stuttering.... :P  But that's a ... $15k build, IIRC.

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And yes, WHS2011 only supports up to 8GBs of RAM. SBS2011E (which is the domain controller version of WHS2011) supports up to 16 (or maybe 32) GBs of memory.  Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials supports up to 64GBs of RAM.

 

But yeah, multiple NICs is a common thing. Which is nice. Especially for hyperV :)

 

Funny, all this time I had mine on 4GB because I thought that was the limit. I guess it was for WHS v1. :)

 

I have 6 NICs in my server, and currently 5 of them are in use. The 6th one will be soon, and another one (at least) within the next few months. Pretty easy with a 4 port NIC.

 

To go over these:

pfSense Firewall - one port for internet side and one for home side

Windows Server Essentials - One port for the home network, one for video surveillance cameras

Windows 7 - One port for home network

 

All "machines" in VMWare.

 

Soon I'll be spinning off a DMZ with a dedicated web server and some other junk, I need to hook up the management port for the motherboard, and I want to separate out the management port for VMWare. So that's 3 more NICs.

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What would I use them for though? :)  We have a 4-port wireless gigabit router.  Connected to it is my Dad's Computer, MY computer, the Server, and an Xbox (plus various wireless devices such as Kindles, iPods, BluRay).  The server is only used for file storage of media, and backups of mine and my dad's computers.  Would I have use for additional ports on a new motherboard?  What could I possibly do with it?  I'm not at all familiar with VMWare, or virtual machines in general.  Let alone HyperV.  I just want to have a simple setup.  Our internet connection is the WORST, so I'm not even planning on having a webserver setup (even though it comes with the OS).  I have a spare monitor and mouse (only 1 keyboard) to directly interface with the server, so I don't need a dedicated port for that.  In my particular situation, I just don't have a need that I can see for additional ports.

 

Now, if I was a developer, or managing a business, yeah I could probably use it.  But in a home environment for simple file sharing, I just think that's a minimal thing to look for.

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Funny, all this time I had mine on 4GB because I thought that was the limit. I guess it was for WHS v1. :)

 

It is the limitation for any 32-bit OS, (baring PAE, Physical Address Extensions).  And most 32-bit Windows OS's are limited to 4GBs anyways. 

 

And it really sounds like you need to invest in a managed networks switch, as well. If you haven't already. :) VLANs and QoS and such. 

 

 

What would I use them for though? :)  We have a 4-port wireless gigabit router.  Connected to it is my Dad's Computer, MY computer, the Server, and an Xbox (plus various wireless devices such as Kindles, iPods, BluRay).  The server is only used for file storage of media, and backups of mine and my dad's computers.  Would I have use for additional ports on a new motherboard?  What could I possibly do with it?  I'm not at all familiar with VMWare, or virtual machines in general.  Let alone HyperV.  I just want to have a simple setup.  Our internet connection is the WORST, so I'm not even planning on having a webserver setup (even though it comes with the OS).  I have a spare monitor and mouse (only 1 keyboard) to directly interface with the server, so I don't need a dedicated port for that.  In my particular situation, I just don't have a need that I can see for additional ports.

 

Now, if I was a developer, or managing a business, yeah I could probably use it.  But in a home environment for simple file sharing, I just think that's a minimal thing to look for.

 

Multiple NICs? Link aggregation (teaming) for the server. That way, multiple devices can pull data at gigabit speeds. :)

 

But that's not really even necessary, depending on the file types and the number of "clients".

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Couple of thoughts -

Multiple NICs are great if you know how to use them and don't buy crap. Intel PRO NICs never failed me, in hundreds of servers where I worked. Other brands may work OK, but the off-load from the CPU as implemented by Intel is very impressive. I never regret paying a little more for Intel. I have had some good luck at work with HP & Dell rebranded NICs, but easier to source drivers etc and know what I am getting with Intel at home.

 

The HP workstation [dual XEON] I use for my archives has a LSI controller on board, 8 ports. Beside 8 standard SATA ports. Great stuff.

 

 I left WHS due to single CPU support, and I was finding it restraining rather than liberating. The main reason I used it was for backups and drive pooling, once drivepool came out and I found it usable, I ditched WHS.

For me, the perfect OS is Windows 7, I don't have to fiddle with it, it just works, streaming without issues. No features I don't need. I'm using W7 Ultimate N on my archive server and W7 U on my current server, all x64.

When the archive server dies of old age I will evaluate the market, but right now I see some impressive small form factor motherboard / cpu combos that can do what very expensive hardware was needed to do five years ago. The electricity savings, lower CPU wattage [heat] mean modernizing could save a lot of money. Fans and air conditioning cost a lot of money to run 24 - 7.

 

  Just moving a large part of my "rarely accessed" storage to the archive server saved me a ton of money, if I'm not using it I turn it off. I have further sub-divided the archive into two pools on that server, archives and offliine, I have offline on a individual surge protector, it holds long term storage that I am not likely to need more than once or twice a month. The creation of an archive server was well worth having two drivepool and scanner licenses, they paid for themselves long ago. In a sense, it is a poor man's tiered storage, I got the idea when we were being ptiched new SAN units EMC, Dell etc. The big point was tiering your storage and using fast drives for current workload and data migrating to slow cheap drives when it wasn't be accessed anymore on a regular basis. The difference is I migrate manually.

 

Here are my current stats, not the impressive over 246 TB that other guy has, but right now 107TB [formatted] with 14.3 TB of free space across all three pools, if I got my math right.

 

Archives%20Pool.jpg

 

Offline%20Pool.jpg

 

Current%20Pool.jpg


As for "management" I just use RDP, built in and just works. If I had to manage hundreds of servers like I did at work, that's another story. The less cables the better for me. I don't live in a McMansion, pretty easy to walk over and see what's up if there is a problem. I don't run my server headless, I have a monitor and keyboard/trackball hooked up [monitor powered off] for local access.

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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! :)

 

Lol.. does that mean I only get the silver medal? (plus.. in the true internet style.. photos or didn't happen)

 

also sadly very full.....

DP.png

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Lol.. does that mean I only get the silver medal? (plus.. in the true internet style.. photos or didn't happen)

 

also sadly very full.....

 

Very nice!

 

And there will always be somebody with more storage than you, somewhere. ;)

 

 

And I'm up to 73TBs now.  Had my first DOA drive ever. From Newegg. They paid for the return shipping, and replaced it promptly. New drive works great (my 4th 8TB Seagate Archive, BTW).

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You guys are quick [and rich], I'm currently doing 5 TB drives due to price per TB. I remember 3 TB drives, only got 4 before 4 TB became a "better deal". Still using the 3 TBs, no failures, knock on Bill Gates head [wood]. All my 4 TBs are going strong, had two fail [long story] but still at edge of warranty, so got free replacements.Picked up a couple of Toshiba 5 TB desktop drives at a great price with good warranty, no issues with performance, however they are very noisy at times as other buyers have reported. For the last couple of years I have been mostly buying externals and clamshelling them due to price. Anybody want to buy a bunch of USB 3 external cases, new in box? Ha ha.

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lol, yeah screenshots!

 

Ive also got four of the 8tb drives (maybe 5.. I lose count! ) hahaha

I have screenshots, but I need to update.  I'm up to 73TBs now. 

Though, there is one difference, Everything is duplicated for me. :)

 

Ironically, all of my drives are in multiples of 4's right now, and each row/rail in my rackmount case holds only one type. 

That's 4x Seagate NAS, 2x 4x WD Reds, and 4x Seagate Archive.  I only have 4 bays in my enclosure until I need to start looking at an external solution!

 

And I do have 2x 128GB SSDs for the SSD Optimizer Balancer. (as well as an internal 2TB for download temp and metadata, and a 256GB SSD for the system). 

You guys are quick [and rich], I'm currently doing 5 TB drives due to price per TB. I remember 3 TB drives, only got 4 before 4 TB became a "better deal". Still using the 3 TBs, no failures, knock on Bill Gates head [wood]. All my 4 TBs are going strong, had two fail [long story] but still at edge of warranty, so got free replacements.Picked up a couple of Toshiba 5 TB desktop drives at a great price with good warranty, no issues with performance, however they are very noisy at times as other buyers have reported. For the last couple of years I have been mostly buying externals and clamshelling them due to price. Anybody want to buy a bunch of USB 3 external cases, new in box? Ha ha.

Not rich, most of my drives are purchased one at a time.  That, and the wife is okay with the allocation, as she watches stuff from the server a LOT.  :)

 

I used to shell external drives too... But the issue with that is warranty. They're not covered. I'd rather pay more for the warranty than deal with losing ~10 drives again. :( 

Yes, they were all Seagate Backup Plus drives, and yes, they all failed. :(

 

have you looked at the 8tb drives?

 

since they are shingled, they work out to be cheaper per TB than the 5TB ones (here at least)

Exactly. I keep a spreadsheet of drive prices, and update it periodically.

 

Most drives come out to about $38/TB, while the 8TB Seagate Archives are about $34/TB. So definitely the best value. (not counting greens....)

 

And yeah, they work out as the best deal in the US, at least (baring promo's and sales, sometimes)

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I meant I wanted screenshots of someone with a 246TB pool :P

 

I'm curious to know how many disks he's got and what they are all attached to and housed in

 

ive also got a spreadsheet with all my drives (and their warranties)

 

I was lucky to get a bunch of 4TB WD datacentre drives cheap off ebay that still all had the full 5 year warranty :) (and they are screaming fast)

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I have screenshots, but I need to update.  I'm up to 73TBs now. 

Though, there is one difference, Everything is duplicated for me. :)

 

Ironically, all of my drives are in multiples of 4's right now, and each row/rail in my rackmount case holds only one type. 

That's 4x Seagate NAS, 2x 4x WD Reds, and 4x Seagate Archive.  I only have 4 bays in my enclosure until I need to start looking at an external solution!

 

And I do have 2x 128GB SSDs for the SSD Optimizer Balancer. (as well as an internal 2TB for download temp and metadata, and a 256GB SSD for the system). 

Not rich, most of my drives are purchased one at a time.  That, and the wife is okay with the allocation, as she watches stuff from the server a LOT.   :)

 

I used to shell external drives too... But the issue with that is warranty. They're not covered. I'd rather pay more for the warranty than deal with losing ~10 drives again. :(

Yes, they were all Seagate Backup Plus drives, and yes, they all failed. :(

 

Exactly. I keep a spreadsheet of drive prices, and update it periodically.

 

Most drives come out to about $38/TB, while the 8TB Seagate Archives are about $34/TB. So definitely the best value. (not counting greens....)

 

And yeah, they work out as the best deal in the US, at least (baring promo's and sales, sometimes)

 

I've been paying around $23.80 per TB with 5TB drives, not factoring in some I got cheaper and the two Toshibas with longer warranties I paid $30 per TB [Desktop retail, not clamshell or OEM]. The Samsung externals I have been buying have a 3 year warranty. Zero failures of clamshell drives.

What temperature do your drives report in that NORCO case? Just curious.

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I've been paying around $23.80 per TB with 5TB drives, not factoring in some I got cheaper and the two Toshibas with longer warranties I paid $30 per TB [Desktop retail, not clamshell or OEM]. The Samsung externals I have been buying have a 3 year warranty. Zero failures of clamshell drives.

What temperature do your drives report in that NORCO case? Just curious.

I'm assuming those prices are for the external drives? :)

 

And as for the desktop retail drive, I avoid them for my pool. I will only by NAS or enterprise drives, anymore (eg, stuff that's rated for 24/7 runtime, and that has an actual warranty, in case the drive does fail)

 

As for the drives, 34-38C, for the most part.

StableBit Scanner.jpg

 

The airflow isn't optimal though (the PSU is sucking hot air back into the system and spewing it at the CPU....)

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