Perhaps you missed my comment on the H310 HBA? The H200 or indeed the IBM branded version is equally suitable and all are £25-40. If you want a rack mount then the SC846 is a decent shout and the 2U version will do 8-12 drives, just be careful the backplane fitted suits your needs (6G for 2TB+). Silverstone aren't cheap, but they tend to be high quality consumer grade hardware. I'd suggest considering what you actually want to get out of this before going further.
DL180 Gen6 with a jumble of HDs, possible or not bother?
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Perhaps you missed my comment on the H310 HBA? The H200 or indeed the IBM branded version is equally suitable and all are £25-40. If you want a rack mount then the SC846 is a decent shout and the 2U version will do 8-12 drives, just be careful the backplane fitted suits your needs (6G for 2TB+). Silverstone aren't cheap, but they tend to be high quality consumer grade hardware. I'd suggest considering what you actually want to get out of this before going further.
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Yeah, was best man at a wedding yesterday, so I wasn't exactly on top form for the last two days.... I do apologise.
OK, working backwards...
The SC846 would be great, I think the 2u is the SC826, I'm struggling a bit on prices. I'm not sure if I'd need a SAS controller to use it or if the backplane gives sata access.
Which leads neatly to the H310 HBA, I could only find these on a 2nd hand site 'new' for around £30, seems pretty reasonable, 4 port sata cards seem to be a similar price.
I'm still not familiar with SAS, having never used such devices, should the need arise, can I simply use SFF-8087 to 4xSata adaptor cables with the H310? (I have assumed yes further down the post...)
Up next is the "2630L/x99 board/8GB/Antec 900/H310 HBA, 3 x 4in3 backplanes" build.
The motherboard/CPU/RAM I already have available, so this works out cheap so far. The antec 900 seems to be about the same price as the silverstone case which has a backplane already in it. I did look for the 4 in 3 backplanes, I was considering adding those to the current PCs and spreading the drives around as a cheap option, but the best I could find was about £50 each, 2 of those and I figured the silverstone would be easier, though potentially more cabling as the connections aren't sas, but at least I'd only have to cable it once and forget about it.
So as it stands, I think the silverstone case with a H310 HBA is the way forward since the only extra power consumption is the H310 and any new drives I add. With 8087-4xSata cables the parts cost is about £140 all new parts (excluding the bits I already have, obviously).
OK, working backwards...
The SC846 would be great, I think the 2u is the SC826, I'm struggling a bit on prices. I'm not sure if I'd need a SAS controller to use it or if the backplane gives sata access.
Which leads neatly to the H310 HBA, I could only find these on a 2nd hand site 'new' for around £30, seems pretty reasonable, 4 port sata cards seem to be a similar price.
I'm still not familiar with SAS, having never used such devices, should the need arise, can I simply use SFF-8087 to 4xSata adaptor cables with the H310? (I have assumed yes further down the post...)
Up next is the "2630L/x99 board/8GB/Antec 900/H310 HBA, 3 x 4in3 backplanes" build.
The motherboard/CPU/RAM I already have available, so this works out cheap so far. The antec 900 seems to be about the same price as the silverstone case which has a backplane already in it. I did look for the 4 in 3 backplanes, I was considering adding those to the current PCs and spreading the drives around as a cheap option, but the best I could find was about £50 each, 2 of those and I figured the silverstone would be easier, though potentially more cabling as the connections aren't sas, but at least I'd only have to cable it once and forget about it.
So as it stands, I think the silverstone case with a H310 HBA is the way forward since the only extra power consumption is the H310 and any new drives I add. With 8087-4xSata cables the parts cost is about £140 all new parts (excluding the bits I already have, obviously).
Firstly as we are talking G6 era hardware, all my prices were all based on used items from eBay/forums etc. that I personally purchased, they aren’t as such what you can buy them for today (you may do better/worse).
The H310 (and the other similar HBA’s for that matter) use SFF-8087, it’s a fiver for 8087 to 4 SATA cables, so each port gives you 4 SATA connections eg 8 per card and you can then choose to go direct to drive or via backplane. You drop speed slightly, but with mechanical drives that’s not a massive issue. I picked picked up 3 x 4in3’s (the ones that are virtually identical to Supermicro’s own) for £50 total, and an Antec 900 for £10. Any basic non ITX board will have 4 SATA. An 826 is circa £150 on eBay barebones (no CPU/RAM) right now or £200 with suitable hardware in it (again check power usage). The SilverStone is new, with warranty, depends what you want/have as to what works best for you, and what you'll be putting in it, both options can take an ATX board.
The H310 (and the other similar HBA’s for that matter) use SFF-8087, it’s a fiver for 8087 to 4 SATA cables, so each port gives you 4 SATA connections eg 8 per card and you can then choose to go direct to drive or via backplane. You drop speed slightly, but with mechanical drives that’s not a massive issue. I picked picked up 3 x 4in3’s (the ones that are virtually identical to Supermicro’s own) for £50 total, and an Antec 900 for £10. Any basic non ITX board will have 4 SATA. An 826 is circa £150 on eBay barebones (no CPU/RAM) right now or £200 with suitable hardware in it (again check power usage). The SilverStone is new, with warranty, depends what you want/have as to what works best for you, and what you'll be putting in it, both options can take an ATX board.
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OK, I think I'm sold on the H310, that and the cables are at the top of my list.
I had another look for used 4in3's with backplanes but struggled to find much. This could have made the solution even cheaper as I just realised that I have a spare case with 6 5.25" bays.
I'll keep an eye out, but if nothing comes up I think I'll go for the Silverstone case. The advantage with new is all the screws will be there and there shouldn't be any awkward dents/bends in the metalwork... (If I didn't have to do anything I wouldn't be bothered, hence why the DL180 originally).
I had another look for used 4in3's with backplanes but struggled to find much. This could have made the solution even cheaper as I just realised that I have a spare case with 6 5.25" bays.
I'll keep an eye out, but if nothing comes up I think I'll go for the Silverstone case. The advantage with new is all the screws will be there and there shouldn't be any awkward dents/bends in the metalwork... (If I didn't have to do anything I wouldn't be bothered, hence why the DL180 originally).
Soldato
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There are some compatibility problems with the H310 (and other similar cards) and many consumer motherboards. If you do have problems Google 'H310 tape mod'.
I run my H310 in IT mode so that is passes the drives straight through to the OS. If you want to run FreeNAS, UnRAID, etc. that's what you need.
I run my H310 in IT mode so that is passes the drives straight through to the OS. If you want to run FreeNAS, UnRAID, etc. that's what you need.
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Cor! I've not had to do a tape mod since the Slocket days 
I'll be running Win 7 for compatibility with the stuff I will be running on it (re-using parts from an existing rig so no need to install fresh OS), so IT mode sounds sensible. I'll be ordering the H310 and cables tonight and will have a play with it in the current rig before ripping it apart for the new build
I'll be running Win 7 for compatibility with the stuff I will be running on it (re-using parts from an existing rig so no need to install fresh OS), so IT mode sounds sensible. I'll be ordering the H310 and cables tonight and will have a play with it in the current rig before ripping it apart for the new build
Soldato
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IT mode removes all of the RAID functionality. Only do it if you want to end-up with a basic SAS/SATA adapter and your OS is going to handle the drives directly.
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Yeah, this is why I want to get it and have a play first, raid isn't a requirement for this, I don't even need hot-swap, I can and will switch off before swapping any drives (but I have grown to hate dealing with sata cables!)
These are the cables I'm looking at: (to avoid putting links)
Mini SAS 36P SFF-8087 to 4 SATA 7 Pin Molex Pin out 2 Ly
These are the cables I'm looking at: (to avoid putting links)
Mini SAS 36P SFF-8087 to 4 SATA 7 Pin Molex Pin out 2 Ly
For all the examples of people needing to do the tape mod, i’ve used H310’s in several consumer boards and so far, so good. TBH I suspect my days of running large arrays locally are behind me, it’s cheaper and easier to pay £6 odd a month for Google to worry about it and unlimited storage makes it a no brainier.
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For stuff that needs backing up properly, I could almost get away with the free 15GB from google. A redundancy combo of phone/USB sticks/work PC/work tape backup keeps me fairly good on that front though
I couldn't live on in though, only a 200Mbit connection, it's also not cheap:
https://one.google.com/storage
click on more options, ouch!
Card ordered, could take a few weeks to arrive.... Which gives me time to find cages for a case or a shiny new case with backplanes built in
Edit:
OK, I found the unlimited storage:
https://gsuite.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/pricing.html
I couldn't live on in though, only a 200Mbit connection, it's also not cheap:
https://one.google.com/storage
click on more options, ouch!
Card ordered, could take a few weeks to arrive.... Which gives me time to find cages for a case or a shiny new case with backplanes built in
Edit:
OK, I found the unlimited storage:
https://gsuite.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/pricing.html
For stuff that needs backing up properly, I could almost get away with the free 15GB from google. A redundancy combo of phone/USB sticks/work PC/work tape backup keeps me fairly good on that front though
I couldn't live on in though, only a 200Mbit connection, it's also not cheap:
https://one.google.com/storage
click on more options, ouch!
Card ordered, could take a few weeks to arrive.... Which gives me time to find cages for a case or a shiny new case with backplanes built in
Edit:
OK, I found the unlimited storage:
https://gsuite.google.co.uk/intl/en_uk/pricing.html
£6.60 buys you unlimited storage via Google Business, rent a cheap VPS for €3 and you’ve got 10Gbit if connectivity, you need a domain, but hardly expensive.
QFT!
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I've been offered a free R710, or a bunch of R310's, or a really old 2900. For free! With the caddies!
Free is one of the few occasions i’d consider running a DinoServ, but not even free would see me putting 160GB drives in it
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Well, the R710 only has 6 bays, so there isn't room
Well, the R710 only has 6 bays, so there isn't room
That *almost* sounds like you’ve seen sense
Joking aside the Rx10 hardware isn’t bad, bios updates are available etc. without a service contract, ideally the Rx20 is where i’d personally like to be on something i’m running 24/7, but you pay a premium. Depending on the spec the ‘10’s aren’t horrific and don’t go into warp speed if you put a non HP card in them.
I've got a bunch of r710s at home in the lab; running 48GB DDR3 ram and a single Xeon L5630 cpu, 1 ssd, 2 1.8TB HDDs, 1 10gbe NIC and 1 LSI 8 port sas HBA and they consume around 100w running esxi with vms running, sometimes they get to 120 each but no lower than 95w.
The R310 I have was idling with linux running TVheadend and two DVB-S2 cards at 79w.
The R310 I have was idling with linux running TVheadend and two DVB-S2 cards at 79w.
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That's actually lower than I was expecting for the R710. I'll get the specs tomorrow, possibly the box as well. I might be able to ditch the box I'm using to run game servers if the specs are good enough (FX8300 @3.8)
They're surprisingly ok to be honest. Power in NZ is quite cheap, currently I'm paying 7 pence per KW/h so they don't cost much to run but still not as cheap as a Synology box or even a custom built xpenology unit.
So lets get this straight, power is half price, it's warm, stunning landscapes, not run by a tin pot dictator and isn't months away from self destruction? You'll be telling me you have a decent broadband infrastructure, reasonable employment rates and your laws reflect common sense rather than the whim's of butt hurt millennial ********** next!
I have a friend who swears by the R210 ii he has, from memory it's loaded with SSD storage and spins up VM's. LGA2011 v1 and v2 CPU's give a lot of performance for not a massive amount of money, the only reason I went v3 was it has better upgrade options to v4 and I could get the same number of cores in a smaller power envelope and quieter set-up for less money. If you can get a Rx10 for free, say yes, then throw the money you would have spent on decent drives for it, combining under utilised inefficient hardware into VM's and running them on one box can be a big saving in a home lab.