http://blog.backblaze.com/2009/09/01/petabytes-on-a-budget-how-to-build-cheap-cloud-storage/

I like the design of the box.  Where can you buy a backplane without the enclosure though?  I tried finding some, but I was unsuccessful.

Simply awesome.

 

Now thats what I call a logical and simple layout. I bet they are as cool as hell with all that nice clean airflow when compared to say the silly Norco design.

This looks alot like Suns Thumper series of storage, but just much cheaper. Very cool. The only iffy thing is how you must access your data:

 

On top of that is the JFS file system, and the only access we then allow to this totally self-contained storage building block is through HTTPS running custom Backblaze application layer logic in Apache Tomcat 5.5.

 

Going to read the whole thing through once I get home, looks pretty interesting.

That's a beautiful machi9ne. w00t.

 

A candidate for unRAID ver 7???  where we have multiple arrays and multiple parity drives!.

 

NICE!

 

I really think you could take a cheap cheap 4U case and with some mild work make a smaller version of this easily.

 

The magic bullet is those port multiplers and the way the drives fit into them.

 

If we could source them then we have a whole new potential for a cheap Norco beating case that can scale to ridiculous levels.

 

Superb find.

http://www.pc-pitstop.com/sata_cables_adapters/3726PM.asp

 

Could something like this be adapted for the port multipliers?  I am not 100% sure what is the difference between and internal SATA connection and an external connection besides the cable?

Here's some interesting hardware.

 

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm-e.asp

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/AD5HPMSXA.asp

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad5sapm.asp

http://www.addonics.com/products/host_controller/ad2sahpmeu.asp

From what I can read those are good bits of kit with good support and reliabilty along with cost.

 

What we really want though is to plug drives directly into the port multiplier. That removes a load of cables which is always good. We might not be able to get the boards they used but maybe we can.

 

Chyang Fun Industry (CFI Group) CFI-B53PM 5 Port Backplane (SiI3726)

 

@ $42 each they could be a complete bargain

From what I can read those are good bits of kit with good support and reliabilty along with cost.

 

What we really want though is to plug drives directly into the port multiplier. That removes a load of cables which is always good. We might not be able to get the boards they used but maybe we can.

 

Chyang Fun Industry (CFI Group) CFI-B53PM 5 Port Backplane (SiI3726)

 

@ $42 each they could be a complete bargain

True, but they are apparently custom made for Backblaze as this statement infers:

From the article text:

"[thanks to] Chyang Fun Industries in Taiwan for customizing SATA  boards to simplify our design"

You will just have to hope that Chyang Fun Industries in Taiwan will market those same boards in the open market in addition to selling them in bulk to Backblaze.  so far, a google search shows they are not.

 

Joe L.

That was so awesome, I had to read it twice, and thrice!

I wish they would have posted more information like performance metrics, drive temperatures, noise levels (I would expect loud), and any maid options.

This could totally be adapted for unRaid! Ah the future looks bright. I will need some solar cells on the roof just to power my storage! grin.

Now did they use the most energy efficient setup? Power supplies, Drives, Maid support on the cards? A little research is needed.

 

I am also very interested in deduplication and encryption on the fly. This would be a great archive solution, if I could hook this up to my TSM server, or heck, install TSM on this server running linux. Hmm Unraid with Tivoli TSM for archiving with this setup? With Gige being a huge bottleneck, unless you throw in a quad nic for TSM (not unraid shares). I wonder.... Thoguhts? Any TSM admins out there? TSM has deduplication built in, and they just bought protectier VTL.

 

TSM check: it only supports RED 5 and Suse 10. I do not suppose Unraid would run on either of those?

I hope they give more information on their vibration reduction techniques. They mentioned a 'rubber band' like product and their big foam piece.

How could we make this rig better?

redundant power supply custom made for Hard Drives (since we do not need the sli power cables)?

Which make and model?

 

I think I would swap the cards he uses for two or three pci-x cards from addonics adg3gx4r5 at 70$ a pop.

40 Drives is enough, and boot off of the sataII drive instead of pata.

Then for work, I would throw in a dual Nic or Fibre Card depending on what I needed.

 

How makes custom cases?

You might post in their forums/blog comments about being interested in more specifics. They seem inclined to be, if not responsive, then attentive to such things.

I just received this email.  I plan to email James Lee to the minimum amount that can be purchased. 

 

Hello Nicholas,

 

Yes you can buy those multiplier backplanes. We order them from Chyang

Fun Industries in Tawain.

You can email James Lee at [email protected]

Let him know that you heard of him through Backblaze and he will know

which backplanes you need.

 

Take care,

-Casey

Backblaze Team

 

I plan to email James Lee to the minimum amount that can be purchased.  I will keep this board informed.

If you are looking for the Backblaze Pod enclosures, you can find them here.

 

http://www.protocase.com/

 

"@backblaze I called protocase: they are getting red hot with pod cases orders and have a std pricing:1–4:$872, 5–9:$812,10–19 $782, 20+:$758"

If you are looking for the Backblaze Pod enclosures, you can find them here.

 

http://www.protocase.com/

 

When you say find them there do you mean they literally are selling them 'off the shelve' or that you would have to submit a design yourself for the same thing?

 

I couldn't see a link to the pod style case - have I missed something?

Right there, home page, middle right, they have a picture of the enclosure and they say they build Backblaze Pod enclosures. They already have the designs. You have to click on it to send them an email about it. They just make enclosures, so the rest of the parts you'd have to get on your own, but it shouldn't be that difficult to get seeing as they posed an entire parts list.

Those backplanes would be great.  looking forward to finding out the pricing.

All the pricing is on the page.

 

The tricky part is finding the backplanes to buy

Right there, home page, middle right, they have a picture of the enclosure and they say they build Backblaze Pod enclosures. They already have the designs. You have to click on it to send them an email about it. They just make enclosures, so the rest of the parts you'd have to get on your own, but it shouldn't be that difficult to get seeing as they posed an entire parts list.

 

Thank you - sorry I'm clearly blind

 

So..who will be the first to buy one for unraid? Or more appropriately how long before unraid can support that number of disks!?

I dont think anyone will buy one at that price. Although I am certain you could make one for a fraction of the cost that supports almost as many drives. The key here is DIY is appropiraite for the level of users utilising unRAID.

 

The problem is unRAID with single arrays cannot and should not scale to that many drives. We need a quantum leap in unRAID features to get to that size.

 

I almost certainy will try and make one if I can find those backplanes to buy. I would even consider buying a 1000 of them to sell on as they are so unique.

Whilst the backplanes are a good design, I feel they will also be of limited benfit to anyone not following the pod design. They are designed for HDDs mounted vertically onto the floor of the pod. To adapt these to a horizontal system each drive spacing would have to match that of the backplane.

 

 

The only unique part of the case is the vertical drives direct into the backplanes so I am not sure why you would do anything differernt as all you would be doing is building a crap Norco.