Using HP Microserver gen8 as external HDD cage - is this sane?

[jademonkee]

Hi all,

I currently have an HPE Microserver gen8 with an upgraded CPU and added 2x port SAS card (see sig). I'm more than happy with the performance for my needs, and love its small size. 

However, I have run up against the limitations of its small size: I have stuffed 4x 3.5", 2x 2.5", and 2x SSD in there. It is now physically full. Unfortunately for me, it is also almost digitally full, too.

So this leaves me with two choices: replace 2 or more of the 4TB 3.5" drives with bigger capacity ones. 8TB seems to offer good value here, so 2x 8TB drives (parity + storage) comes out at around £330 - £390 (desktop vs NAS drives), for an extra 4TB of storage capacity, creating 2x 4TB paperweights until I upgrade to a new full-size build (expected timeframe: 5 years).

OR

I still have 1x spare port on my SAS card, which could support 4x more SATA drives, if I'm able to find a suitable external enclosure. This means I can get away with buying just 1x 4 TB disk @ £105, meaning I have about £225 - £285 headroom if this is to remain a cheaper option than retiring existing drives.

 

Since buying the SAS card years ago, I sort of had this in mind as an upgrade path. However, I've never found a suitable enclosure that would just give me a 4x SATA backplane and PSU that could be plugged in to the extra SAS port on my card - and certainly not one at a suitable price.

I had a bit of an epiphany this morning, and looked on eBay for cheap gen8 Microservers, and have found one for <£200 that even comes with some storage, saving me from having to buy a new disk.

 

So my question is this: is it possible to turn a functioning machine into what is in effect just a powered chassis for drives?

IE could I just plug the backplane power into the PSU of the new unit, and its data into the SAS port of my existing unit (I would modify its PCI bracket and route the cable out there), and just be sure to power on the secondary unit before powering on the primary? 

 

Secondary question: is it ok to route the normal internal SAS > SATA cables externally?

 

Tertiary question: could I remove the CPU+RAM from the new unit to save it from using unnecessary power (sorta just leaving it to forever sit at a failed POST)? I don't need anything other than the HDDs to be powered up, after all.

EDIT: the reason that I would run it as an external drive cage rather than a standalone instance of Unraid is mainly for the power savings (although also ease of admin). Am I right in thinking that this setup would save power? Or are the motherboard+CPU+RAM power requirements negligible compared to the HDDs, or simply not possible to leave powered off?

*lightbulbmoment* I guess I could also just add in my own switch emulating the ATX power command and just disconnect the motherboard entirely...

/EDIT

 

Is this insane? Is there a better option that I've completely overlooked?

I would love someone with a bit more knowledge than I to share their opinion on this.

Big thanks!

Edited August 11, 2020 by jademonkee

[jademonkee]

Stepping away from the problem overnight, and I've decided that rather than gutting another Microserver to use as a drive cage, I should just by my next enclosure (probably a Fractal Node 804), a PSU, and a fan, and jerry rig the power button to turn the PSU on/off.

While it's not stackable like another Microserver, it'll probably end up about the same price, be a simpler setup, and will be reusable for when I do move to my next build (which will almost certainly be a custom build rather than pre-built product).