I’ve been a ZFS user sometime since 2014 or so and now i think it’s time for me to start looking at a new system.
Current system: Chassis: Supermicro SC826 (2U chassis with x12 drivebays) CPU: x2 Xeon E5-2670 Ram: 64G ECC ram Boot Pool: x2 USB devices in mirror pool Storage Pool: x12 4TB drives in a RAIDZ2 pool NIC: Chelsio T520 CR
LSI HBA in ITmode
I am looking at a usable storage between 180-200TB ish.
I’d also like to build a decent SSD pool for VM storage for Proxmox. I am very open to suggestions here in terms of hardware but as this is going to be run at my home noise factor is something i’d be happy to reduce if possible.
As I see it i have 2 choices,
Either get a Fractal Design R7 XL that according to LTT can fit around 20 drives.
Get a 3U or 4U Supermicro case and try and replace the fans for slightly less noise.
Yeah, I am thinking to buy Satadom or a n2 PCIE card and migrate to scale.
But what about the noise levels on that chassis?, i haven’t really replaced stock fans with Noctua fans before.
Is it feasible to assume that having a mirrored SSS pool with 2-4 SSDs to run VM storage over 10G?, i haven’t looked into record size much. I’ll have to research oroxmox abit on what’s optimal
According to the technical truth[1], the best kind of truth, it can handle 18 3.5’’ drives… in various positions, some of which less ideal. Also, you will have to buy the additional cages since only 6 come with the case.
I would suggest a HDD upgrade though; do note that if you plan for VM storage you likely want to have a SLOG as well.
Finally, why would you mirror your boot drives? Either use one or follow this method.
Why would you say so? With 18x 16TB HDDs in two 9-wide RAIDZ2 VDEVs you get over 200TB of usable space.
If you want to put them only in the prime positions (the huge column in the manual) you can get 13 drives: a single 12-wide RAIDZ2 VDEV with a hotspare gives you around 141TB of usable space.
It is generally not recommended to put quiet fans in rackmount chassis because these really require high pressure (and high noise) fans.
A Define 7 XL will be quite painful to setup and cool properly: Lots of wires, expensive extra trays, fiddly trays.
You are facing hard questions about acceptable noise, required storage and the number of drives (less spinners = less noise). Sub-question: Is it required to host both the HDD storage pool and the SSD VM pool in the same case?
ENTHOO PRO II SERVER EDITION: up to 10 3.5’’ HDD slots (additional cages required), a few 2.5’’ slots, a single 5.25’’ slot and a TON of space for PCIe devices.[1]
JONSBO D500: up to 10 or 11 (not clear) 3.5’’ HDD slots (additional trays required?) with a single 5.25’’ slot.[2]
JONSBO T59: up to 12 3.5’’ HDD slots and two 5.25’’ slots, with a lot of space for PCIe devices.[3]
FRACTAL NODE 804: up to 10 3.5’’ drives and two 2.5’’ drives.[4]
Nice list. (I realise I miss the geographic indication in profiles, to give adequate reagional advice if possible).
The D500 does not really appear able to cool a stack of 10-11 HDDs with just two fans, which is just as good if it does require buying additional trays.
The T59 looks it could do the job, at least with respect to drive cooling, but I cannot find it on Jonsbo’s site.
I just pulled out the original fan wall and put this in place. It probably wouldn’t be good in a case that moved around a lot, but in one that is fixed in place, it’s fine.
These are 2500rpm fans (Iceberg Thermal IceGALE Xtra 140mm PWM) and have decent static pressure and flow. Unless you are trying to use passive CPU cooling, they are more than enough.
LOL. That JonsBo T59 is a spitting image of my Lian Li A76, except it doesn’t have the front door, nor removable side covers. It’s as if someone made a cheap copy. Ironically, I removed the front door (useless) so my Lian Li looks a lot more like the T59 than the A76 did when I got it. Also, I wonder if the copying extends to making the Lian Li backplanes for hot-swapping compatible with this design.
Under extreme simulated load, the noctuas didn’t quite have enough cooling power. Their industrial versions spin at twice the rpm at 100%. Thus have more head room, but at the same RPM they make the same noise as the regular ones.
Basically for a a quiet cooling project you probably want the static pressure noctua industrials, in the largest size that will fit. At least when you’re trying to suck or push air through constrictions, like a block of disks.
The other key is to ensure air can’t bypass the fans, ie if you’re sucking through the disk block, and the fans can instead suck air from behind them… they will
