norco Norco 4224 24 bay File Server (Need HBA/Raid Card)

[Mbarton]

Hello looking for some recommendations for my setup here is a video explaining:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vGtwn3T_Za07q3nETG6AcAe31PZsCj8g/view?usp=sharing

In short, I'm looking for a good SAS HBA card(s). 

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

What are the drives?

 

Id probably go dell h200 or simmilar and a sas expander.

[Mbarton]

21 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

-snip-

 

There all sata and the new ones will likely be as well. I do have 2 sas drives im throwing in there just to pull the data. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Just now, Mbarton said:

There all sata and the new ones will likely be as well. I do have 2 sas dives im throwing in there just to pull the data. 

what drives? ssds? Hdds?

 

Do you care about high iops?

 

Id get this https://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-PERC-H200-6Gb-PCI-e-SAS-SATA-8-Port-Raid-Controller-9210-9211-8i-047MCV/152982358704?hash=item239e758ab0:g:f98AAOSwH8ta0PvG

 

and this expander like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/487738-001-HP-24-Port-PCI-E-3Gb-SAS-Standard-Profile-Expander-Raid-Card-4XCord/161696131154?hash=item25a5d72852:g:Vo8AAOSw7FRWVeAo

That pcie slot is just for power, it needs a sas cable to split.

[Mbarton]

3 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

-snip-

 

I explained in the vid. But im ultimately going to be running https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-8Tb-Ironwolf-Nas-Sata-6Gb-S-Ncq-256Mb-Cache-3-5-Inch-Internal-Hard-Drive/263679584783?epid=232107506&hash=item3d64872a0f or similar depends what i can get a good deal on for 24+ drives 

[Electronics Wizardy]

34 minutes ago, Mbarton said:

I explained in the vid. But im ultimately going to be running https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-8Tb-Ironwolf-Nas-Sata-6Gb-S-Ncq-256Mb-Cache-3-5-Inch-Internal-Hard-Drive/263679584783?epid=232107506&hash=item3d64872a0f or similar depends what i can get a good deal on for 24+ drives 

How about these? 8tb wd reds or white label versions.

[Mbarton]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

-SNIP-

Price is much higher than the others without much benefit. i talked to some data recovery guys and they highly recommend the HGST 8tb as there the same as the reds only at a lower price   

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Mbarton said:

Price is much higher than the others without much benefit. i talked to some data recovery guys and they highly recommend the HGST 8tb as there the same as the reds only at a lower price   

how much are you getting those drives for? That ebay listing was for 300 a pop and thatpretty high for 8tb drives.

 

 

[Mbarton]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

how much are you getting those drives for? That ebay listing was for 300 a pop and thatpretty high for 8tb drives.

 

 

Not sure, 300 is what the wd reds are going for I saw some hgsts for $230 which is a bit higher then I would like so the Seagate one is a decent price when comapred with others. my plan is either get some of these:https://www.ebay.com/itm/HUH721008AL5204-HGST-ULTRASTAR-HE10-8TB-7-2K-12GBPS-SAS-3-5-HDD-NETAPP/232748463847?hash=item3630e3b6e7:g:JhQAAOSwV4Ba4z6x:sc:USPSPriority!33511!US!-1 see if they are really new or get a bunch of these: and rip them out of the enclosure https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-Expansion-8TB-USB-3-0-SUPER-SPEED-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/173326500944

[Electronics Wizardy]

3 minutes ago, Mbarton said:

Not sure, 300 is what the wd reds are going for I saw some hgsts for $230 which is a bit higher then I would like so the Seagate one is a decent price when comapred with others. my plan is either get some of these:https://www.ebay.com/itm/HUH721008AL5204-HGST-ULTRASTAR-HE10-8TB-7-2K-12GBPS-SAS-3-5-HDD-NETAPP/232748463847?hash=item3630e3b6e7:g:JhQAAOSwV4Ba4z6x:sc:USPSPriority!33511!US!-1 see if they are really new or get a bunch of these: and rip them out of the enclosure https://www.ebay.com/itm/Seagate-Expansion-8TB-USB-3-0-SUPER-SPEED-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive/173326500944

the seagate is a smr drive, so know that.

 

Thos server drives are probably used is my bet, and if there aren't that one listed is a bit older. 

 

Id personally get this though https://www.ebay.com/itm/WD-easystore-8TB-External-USB-3-0-Hard-Drive-Black/202144917599?epid=811297209&hash=item2f10c6a85f:g:pyoAAOSwVJhZQy30.

[Mbarton]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

the seagate is a smr drive, so know that.

 

Thos server drives are probably used is my bet, and if there aren't that one listed is a bit older. 

 

Id personally get this though https://www.ebay.com/itm/WD-easystore-8TB-External-USB-3-0-Hard-Drive-Black/202144917599?epid=811297209&hash=item2f10c6a85f:g:pyoAAOSwVJhZQy30.

I'll probably get one of each and do some testing before I fill the whole thing with them, but yea buying them in an enclosure seems to be the way to go. and im with you i have a bit more trust in WD/HSGST the Seagate although my 8tb Seagate has held up well 

[Mbarton]

Drives aside my main i9ssue is finding a good HBA card, Anyone on here with a similar setup?

 

[dalekphalm]

On 5/22/2018 at 8:42 AM, Mbarton said:

Drives aside my main i9ssue is finding a good HBA card, Anyone on here with a similar setup?

 

Any of the SAS2008 chipset LSI cards are fantastic. For example: The LSI 9207-8i - it's preflashed as an HBA, so no need to flash the card.

 

Otherwise you could go with an IBM M1015, or Dell H200, or any other of the SAS2008 cards. Keep in mind, most of these will need to be flashed with HBA firmware, or flashed with RAID IT firmware (instead of typical IR firmware).

 

Check this guide, under Storage Controllers - it's for FreeNAS specifically, but it does a great breakdown of good HBA's:

http://www.freenas.org/blog/a-complete-guide-to-freenas-hardware-design-part-ii-hardware-specifics/

[Jarsky]

Personally I would go for a RocketRAID 2760A: https://www.amazon.com/HighPoint-RocketRAID-2760A-PCI-Express-Controller/dp/B004HIN8NW That way you get 24 ports at 6Gbps with only a single card to worry about. I'm running a raid controller with a Intel RES2SV240 which is a 6Gbps SAS Expander, but theyre quite expensive and they only give you 20 ports out since you need to use 1 port as the uplink to your HBA. 

 

The Backblaze's use the Rocket 750 but thats probably a bit overkill for this build given it supports 40 lanes

[Jarsky]

On 5/22/2018 at 6:41 AM, Electronics Wizardy said:

the seagate is a smr drive, so know that.

 

Thos server drives are probably used is my bet, and if there aren't that one listed is a bit older. 

 

Id personally get this though https://www.ebay.com/itm/WD-easystore-8TB-External-USB-3-0-Hard-Drive-Black/202144917599?epid=811297209&hash=item2f10c6a85f:g:pyoAAOSwVJhZQy30.

 

As @Electronics Wizardy pointed out, i'd be very careful with getting 8TB Seagates out of external enclosures. From experience with SMR (Shingled) drives, you do NOT want these in a RAID. While reading off them is consistant, theyre designed as long term storage devices, and writing to them is extremely inconsistant. I have some Seagate Archives at home, and they drop as low as a few KB/s in sequential write. Make sure you're using PMR drives. WD Easystores used to have whitelabel WD Red's in them, but I believe now have been swapped for HGST He8's, which while they do have TLER disabled by default and it is recommended for ZFS still, ZFS deals with a lack of TLER better than a hardware raid.