MvL

<fanboy mode on> X-case build server systems, but I'm not sure if they build unRAID systems. I suggest just ask them. They have a very good webshop, and support is very fast / good! I ordered different server chassis at there web shop. Highly recommend webshop. </fanboy mode off>

I'll find Inter-tech a bit expensive for what I'll get. If I look on the Xcase site it look if the build quality is better from there selling server chassis, but true it's hard to tell from a picture. I have a storage room where I can put a server rack. I owned a HP sever for awhile and there was something wrong with the firmware that result in screaming fans. Damn it was like a F16 jet engine. So I know rack mounted gear make more noise, but appreciate your concern. Thanks for the feedback!

Hi, I'm considering coming back to unRAID after using a Synology, and also searching for best possible setup. I want to use a 24 bay chassis. Xcase located in the UK has some nice chassis with expander and without expander backplane. No sure yet if I follow the expander backplane option. I'm also looked at a motherboard of Supermicro that are server graded boards. I'm considering the socket 1151 or the socket FCBGA 1167 platform. Also using VM's, Docker, Plex, etc and Apple. I will follow your topic with interest!

From share to share on the unRAID server? Then you copy the file locally so the file stays on the unRAID server and you do not copy over the network.

Do you have another server? Connect it to the same connection your unRAID server was on. Now you can try to copy a file from your desktop to that server, and see if it is a network issue or a unraid issue. Like Johnnie said try to rule things out.

I suppose it's not your switch, cause if it was a 100Mbit switch the you'll get transfer speeds of 12MB/sec

Okay, thanks! The UK is still part of the Euro zone I thought.. So there is not hassle yet with import taxes..

So I assume your experience with this webshop is good?

Found another webshop selling chassis in the UK. https://www.servercase.co.uk

Clear Squid. Thanks!

If the times come when ssd's of 50TB are affordable what speed do we get with these ssd's? Because ssd's are faster as hdd's. I assume that the sata interface is also the limit. So that should be again 4x600MB/s = 2400MB/s (theoretical). 80-100MB/s single link. That's a pity cause the ssd's are a lot faster. I'm not sure if a expander chassis is a good idea...

Is this a driver issue? So it is fixable?

Has someone any idea where I can find a good webshop for a 24 bay server chassis? I'm living in the Netherlands. I have found X-case located in the UK and Inter-tech located in Germany. List of webshops selling server chassis: https://www.xcase.co.uk https://www.inter-tech.de http://www.pcicase.co.uk/ (wholesale?)

Checked you post and is was very valuable! Thanks for the support Johnnie!

Cool! Nice feature.

+100 indeed unRAID OS needs a file manager. Did you ever tried a Synology or Qnap NAS? Both have a excellent file manager.

Hmmm, Normaly it is 8 lanes (500MB/s x 8 = 4000MB/s), but we have overhead so 3000MB/s thus 375MB/s per drive I assume it just uses 4 lanes (500MB/s x 4 = 2000MB/s). No overhead thus 250MB/s per drive. 250MB/s is okay probably the drive never reach this speed...

Ah, damn. True! What if I do a sas9211-8i in a PCI-E 3.0 x4 (in x8) slot?

That's cool Johnnie, and indeed your absolutely right. Is the DiskSpeed test a plugin or is it part of a new UnRaid OS version? Did some thinking when driving home from work. The LSI sas9300-8i uses a PCI-E 3.0 x8 bus. So the bandwidth of this card is 1000MB/s x 8 lanes = 8000MB/s. If I connect the expander backplane dual link then I have 8 channels x 600MB/s = 4800MB/s. So there is no bottleneck. So we have a speed of 4800MB/s / 24 = 200MB/s per drive. Also we do not saturate the PCI-E bus. I assume we do not suffer of any overhead problems. True? I was talking in some posts back of a speed of 183MB/s per drive using the expander backplane, but that is not true because of the speed of the HBA card (4000MB/s / 24 = 166MB/s per drive. I did 8 x 600MB/s = 4800MB/s but yeah the HBA card is slower.

yeah your right. Little calculation error. So with: expander backplane dual link --> 183MB/sec per drive sas9211-16i --> 187MB/sec per drive sas9201-8i --> 375MB/sec per drive So you have the best speeds with a 2 (8 channels) ports HBA card. So parity checks and rebuilds have the best performance in this situation. The only factor now is how fast is the drive. I think most drive are around the 200MB/sec. Correct? Very interesting! Thank you Johnnie for you time. Much appreciated!

If I use a expander backplane then the following is true? so theoretical you'll get 4800MB/sec (4400MB/sec usable )dual link connection. That is 4400MB/sec / 24 drives = 183,33MB/sec usable per drive. If I use separate HBA cards then: I'll use a LSI sas9201-16i: channel 1 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec channel 2 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec channel 3 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec channel 4 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec that is a total 9600MB/sec and the card is PCI-E 2.0 x8 thus 500MB/sec per channel. It has 8 channels x 500MB/sec = 4000MB/sec max. So the bus is bottleneck. So max 4000MB/sec / 16 drives = 250MB/sec per drive. I'll use a LSI sas9201-8i: channel 1 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec channel 2 || 4 drives x 600MB/sec = 2400MB/sec that is total 4800MB/sec and the card is PCI-E 2.0 x8 thus 500MB/sec per channel. It has 8 channels x 500MB/sec = 4000MB/sec max. So the bus is bottleneck. So max 4000MB/sec / 4 drives = 1000MB/sec per drive. Is this correct?

Ah, interesting. You guys helping me a lot! So a expander backplane is not a good idea.., you can better use several HBA cards?

oke, understood. but, if the backplane is 12Gb and the HBA card is 12Gb per channel? Then you have 4 channels of 12Gb thus 48Gb = 6000MB...

How did you calculated that value?

If I have a LSI SAS 9300-4i and I connect it to a expander backplane (12Gb) what speeds do I get on the drives? I'm not sure if I calculate this correctly.. LSI SAS 9300-4i PCI-e 3.0 x8 Backplane 12Gb drives SATA 600=SATA III 6Gbit/s - 600 MB/s (theoretical, you never get this speed with a spinner). PCI-e 3.0 = 985MB/s per lane | 985MB/s x8 = 7880MB/s x8 8 lanes.