Fully Functional Rackmount 24 Bay Server (Alternative to Norco 4224, 4220, ect.)


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Thanks for the link. I should have been more specific, sorry. I was actually looking for pics on the the 2U 12bay version, but I think I found some by searching Google for the Supermicro 826. This is of course unless you have pics of the actual set up they are selling. I was curious what the inside looks like with all the components installed. Either way, thanks. :)

 

 

Pictures of the 2u unit being sold http://www.avsforum.com/t/1412640/are-you-looking-for-a-less-expensive-norco-4220-4224-alternative/630#post_22307860

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Those aren't really rails per se. Those are more shelves. Those will be universal to any hardware, but the true rails allow you to bring the unit out quite a bit more because they are seated inside the exterior rails. A shelf like that is great for items that are completely removed before working on them. If you need to pull the unit out more than half way though, gravity will take over and the unit will fall over. With true rails, you can bring the unit out a bit without worrying about the unit falling out.

 

All true! They work perfectly in my situation, however, because I don't need to remove the server from the rack to work on it. I have it in a little 19u rack on wheels and just pop the lid whenever I need to get in there...

 

That said, in a regular full size rack, having to remove the server before opening it up would be a huge pain in the ass!

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I ordered one of the new bunch - specifically the SC846TQ chassis with the SuperMicro H8DME-2 motherboard and Opteron 2212 HE CPU.

 

I plan to get a Norco fan wall with 120mm fans and replace PSU and the two 80mm fans at the back.

 

My questions:

1. Let's say I plan to eventually pack this thing with 24 modern drives (I'm currently running 2TB but plan to migrate to 4TB when pricing comes down and unRAID 5.0 goes GA. What is the smallest size high quality PSU I can get? 750 watt? 650 watt?

 

I want to get the smallest I can in order to get idle efficiency. I'm guessing that the server will run 70-100 watts at idle with the drives spun down for about 22 hours a day. This means it will be drawing less than 10-20% of the PSU capacity 90% of the time. This is at or below the lowest level measured in the 80plus program, and I know that if I'm looking for efficiency at that level it will help to "rightsize" the power supply and get the smallest that I need.

 

2. Does anyone know the absolute quietest 80x38mm case fans out there? Or failing that the best 80x25mm?

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I ordered one of the new bunch - specifically the SC846TQ chassis with the SuperMicro H8DME-2 motherboard and Opteron 2212 HE CPU.

 

I plan to get a Norco fan wall with 120mm fans and replace PSU and the two 80mm fans at the back.

 

My questions:

1. Let's say I plan to eventually pack this thing with 24 modern drives (I'm currently running 2TB but plan to migrate to 4TB when pricing comes down and unRAID 5.0 goes GA. What is the smallest size high quality PSU I can get? 750 watt? 650 watt?

 

I want to get the smallest I can in order to get idle efficiency. I'm guessing that the server will run 70-100 watts at idle with the drives spun down for about 22 hours a day. This means it will be drawing less than 10-20% of the PSU capacity 90% of the time. This is at or below the lowest level measured in the 80plus program, and I know that if I'm looking for efficiency at that level it will help to "rightsize" the power supply and get the smallest that I need.

 

2. Does anyone know the absolute quietest 80x38mm case fans out there? Or failing that the best 80x25mm?

 

I guess the big question here is that you are planning for complete unknowns. Although 4TB drive are out, who know what future drives power draws will be. In addition, what type of drives are you going to be using. Green drives? Black Drives? Power draw does vary a good deal between these types of drives. It is my understanding that you will need to have sufficient power to spin up all drives on initial boot. While this is not true of every OS, planning for it is good. That being said, assuming you where to fill the case with all black drives, a 85OW PSU should handle with no problem. A 750 may do, but like I mentioned before, we don't know the power draw of future larger drives. Density per platter has increased, allowing for lower power to storage ratio's, but I would play it safe.

 

The Noctua's seem to be pretty popular as they are low sound level, decent CFM. These should also be able to be controlled via the bios on that system http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608028&Tpk=noctua%2080mm%20pwm

 

I would pop over to the PSU thread for more info on power draw and efficiency though, those guys have it down.

 

If this unit is going in a garage or basement, you may be able to tolerate the sound levels. I will probably keep mine stock for now, as I love the idea of redundant PSU's.

 

If you are willing to part with those PSU's, let me know. ;D

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I've not had success finding quiet 2U PSUs to swap out the PSU in the 2U version. Can someone point me in the right direction? I want to make sure I could find something before I order one of those units.

 

Have you followed the link to the AVS forum post to listen to the PSU's that come stock? Supermicro utilizes lower wattage psu's on this one vs the 4u unit. The ones provided are 800w I believe, supermicro has lower wattage ones that can also be used in the unit, but not sure on sound levels.

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Got my 4U Supermicro last Thursday.  Packed well.  Got it on the bench and plugged in the two power supplies and turned it on. Within 30 seconds my wife is yelling down the stairs, "What the hell is that?  You hear that?"

 

It's that loud...  It's mostly the two power supplies.  I quickly popped the top and started gutting.  Removed the power supplies and all of the fans.  I have a new PS and new 80mm fans on their way.  I suspect the CPU fan makes a considerable amount of noise and that might have to replaced as well.  I have a kill-a-watt and should have thrown it on there just to see what 1800W pulls at idle. 

 

While waiting I have five drives clearing and another 2TB on it's way with the PS.  Can't wait to get it all assembled.

 

 

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Got my 4U Supermicro last Thursday.  Packed well.  Got it on the bench and plugged in the two power supplies and turned it on. Within 30 seconds my wife is yelling down the stairs, "What the hell is that?  You hear that?"

 

It's that loud...  It's mostly the two power supplies.  I quickly popped the top and started gutting.  Removed the power supplies and all of the fans.  I have a new PS and new 80mm fans on their way.  I suspect the CPU fan makes a considerable amount of noise and that might have to replaced as well.  I have a kill-a-watt and should have thrown it on there just to see what 1800W pulls at idle. 

 

While waiting I have five drives clearing and another 2TB on it's way with the PS.  Can't wait to get it all assembled.

That "sounds" like it is quite loud. What PSU did you find as the replacement?
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The stock fans are very loud. They will however keep the device at around the ambient temp of the room. The PSU's are loud as well. If the device is going in a garage or basement, it *MIGHT* be passable in its stock config.

 

I have done zero mods to this machine and have it running in my garage.

 

The supermicro units where all sold out at one point, but they may be receiving more. They do still have a different 24bay server as well. The machine would require more modifications, as it uses 3 1u PSU's and you have to unmount the mobo tray and maybe do some standoff creation. If noise levels aren't an issue, they are a steal at 199. Call TAMS for more info.

 

 

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New power supply and new fans installed.  MUCH quieter although I may still swap out the CPU fan as it's the loudest thing in the case now.  Installed a fresh version of 4.7 on a USB stick and the machine had no problems booting it.  Before the case got here I pre-cleared 5 drives but just for the hell of it I figured I'd see how this new machine pre-clears.  Mounted the five drives and one by one started the pre-clear.  Shockingly they are pre-clearing faster than they did on my current rig which uses AOC-SAS cards.  I figured this new server would actually have lower throughput but I'm pleasantly surprised that that 's not the case.

 

So far so good.  I'm going to torture test the thing for a few days before migrating my existing array over but I am very pleased so far. 

 

BTW.  There are five case fans and one of them is wired to the backplane.  If you do NOT have this fan connected, the server will make this high pitched alarm noise.  At first I was afraid it was connected to the stock power supplies but it's the right/front fan that does it.

 

 

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Interesting.  I see the note of the IMPI at first boot but didn't know what it was.

 

So about an hour after I posted last night I had the server restart itself.  On reboot, it hung at the SYSLINUX screen.  For two hours I messed with it thinking maybe it was a heat issue since I had swapped the fans greatly reducing the airflow through the case.  There is a fanless heatsink next to the CPU that does get quite hot.  Turns out it was one of the memory sticks.  I pulled two of them and restarted and the server booted right back up into unRAID.  I rebooted about a dozen times, pulling and adding drives to different slots and it seems ok now.  Everything is still clearing this AM so seems all is well.

 

Hopefully the remaining RAM will test clean.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here is the case that is used http://www.supermicro.com/products/chassis/4U/846/SC846TQ-R900.cfm . The dimensions of the case are listed.

 

I guess it doesn't matter though, because they are all sold out. I have heard they may be receiving more, but can not guarantee if they will be the same model/specs.

 

This unit racks into any standard sized server rack.

 

I am actually pretty excited to here more about the Lime-Tech developed solution. It racks in a 19inch standard telcomm rack if I have read correctly. Those types of racks are fairly cheap, and if done correctly can be wall mounted and sound dampened. For the average user, it looks to be perfect. I think I read 6 full size 3.5inch drives and an option for 4 2.5's.

 

At current drive capacities, thats 28TB's, 24 of which is useable storage, pretty sweet if you ask me.

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This unit racks into any standard sized server rack.

 

 

 

There are no "standard size server racks".  Yes, 19" width is typical, but racks can range from 20-40" deep.  The server itself is 26", so by the time your cables stick out the back, you better make sure the rack you use is at least 28" deep.  The rails for the server are adjustable for 26-36" racks.

 

You cannot use a two-post telecom rack for a server like this.

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This unit racks into any standard sized server rack.

 

 

 

There are no "standard size server racks".  Yes, 19" width is typical, but racks can range from 20-40" deep.  The server itself is 26", so by the time your cables stick out the back, you better make sure the rack you use is at least 28" deep.  The rails for the server are adjustable for 26-36" racks.

 

You cannot use a two-post telecom rack for a server like this.

 

Correct, I should have been more specific. I think most people who have common sense would realize a server with 24 drives is too heavy for a two post rack, but hey, maybe not.  ;D

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