How to put up to 23 Sata Hdds in a file server???

[Torch [P4]]

yep, 3ware cards do staggered spin up set by default, the timing is miliseconds appart but u can hear the clicking as they all spin up one after the other
all 24 drives are spinning within 1 - 2 seconds but its enough to lower the current drain on the psu

 

[God]

Case arrived this morning, and it doesn't have IDE caddies so it looks like I will be able to stick to my original SATA plan.

So I can definatly stick this PCI-X/PCI card in my mobo and it will work as long as there is space?

I am planning on using an Epox EP-9NDA3+ Motherboard, and it appears to have lots of space behind the PCI slots. Any comments on this?

Ian...

 

[God]

I forgot to mention. you will have to buy a RAID controler and drives that support staggered spin up, as 23 drives powering up at once will overload even a high end 500W psu

once their spinning they only use a few milliamps, but at spin up it can be upto 2 amps each. you would need around 46amps on the 12v rail for the drives alone.

If you stagger the spin up you will get away with a normal psu

Hmmm... Looking at that SATA card i mentioned earlier I don't think that does staggered spin ups.

Is there anyother way of getting round this i.e. without spending loads on a RAID card which I can't afford to do? Can I use a software setup to split between 3 cards (Between 8, and 7 drives on each card) and stagger the cards instead of the drives?

Ian...

 

[Dimension]

not that i know of. i imagine it would corrupt the array if you dont have all drives power up at the sime time.

I think the only way you will get round the power problem is to connect 2 psu's to the power switch, one to power the normal computer parts and a few hard drives and a second purly to power the rest of the hard drives.

It should work ok

 

[God]

Whats the best way to connect 2 PSU's together?

A few years ago I did it by soldering some link wires between the atx plugs to make both turn on at the same time. Is this this the only way, or is there a Y lead or something you can buy?

Ian...

 

[Dimension]

You could just connect another power button from an old case to these pins on the connecter and it will turn on. (you will have a couple of seconds to press the seconds power button)

I think the other Y adaptors will also link all the supply rails together, which would work but is not really needed for what your doing

 

[a1ex2001]

Not meaning to be rude or insulting but this does seem to be a bit of a crazy way of going about things, your clearly building this giant file store for something and given the effort/expense I'm assuming it's slightly more important than storing your giant MP3 collection. You don't seem to have planned it very well and taken into account things like performance and reliability you just seem to have decided to wack as many hard disks as possible in one box. If I were you I'd stop spending money now and go back to the drawing board and do a porper researched desing and build based around the case you have purchased. Start by working out exactly what the server will be used for and try and get some load estimates and acceptable down time allowances. Talk to suppliers and manufacturers buy things you know will work not hope will work and be prepared for it to cost more than you think.

 

[Mercutio]

Case arrived this morning, and it doesn't have IDE caddies so it looks like I will be able to stick to my original SATA plan.

So I can definatly stick this PCI-X/PCI card in my mobo and it will work as long as there is space?

I am planning on using an Epox EP-9NDA3+ Motherboard, and it appears to have lots of space behind the PCI slots. Any comments on this?

Ian...

Affirmative
You loose the bandwidth is all - make sure there are nothing other than small (read 1-2mm) surface mounted bits on the board where the PCI-X part will overhang. Even something the size of the flat cmos holder would foul the card. You might want to put some sort of insulator on the PCI-X part too just to ensure theres a definite break between parts on mainboard and card

 

[God]

Not meaning to be rude or insulting but this does seem to be a bit of a crazy way of going about things, your clearly building this giant file store for something and given the effort/expense I'm assuming it's slightly more important than storing your giant MP3 collection. You don't seem to have planned it very well and taken into account things like performance and reliability you just seem to have decided to wack as many hard disks as possible in one box. If I were you I'd stop spending money now and go back to the drawing board and do a porper researched desing and build based around the case you have purchased. Start by working out exactly what the server will be used for and try and get some load estimates and acceptable down time allowances. Talk to suppliers and manufacturers buy things you know will work not hope will work and be prepared for it to cost more than you think.

I haven't spent anything other than the case, and I bought that as it was exactly what i wanted. My research comes from the internet, these forums and others.

I agree with what you are saying if I was building a commercial unit, but as I am not what you are saying is pointless (Not meaning to be rude or insulting). This is for my home therefore it needs to be cheap (i.e. down time is not a huge issue) but at the same time as close to my wanted specification.

Now how about less of the negative and just some help please?

Ian...

 

[God]

Whats everyones opinions on caddies?

I have been looking around and the cheapest I have found is £17 for a SATA caddie which for 20+ drives adds up!!!

I have also seen brackets which convert 5 1/4 bays into holding hdd's for about £4, but obviously I loose any benifit of Removeability. I do however gain increased airflow.

The case I have already has fans blowing over the hdd's, and the caddies would also have fans. So excluding the cost which is the best, or is it purely down to cost?

Ian...

 

[sja360]

out of interest what case holds 24 harddrives?

 

[Goatboy]

Whats everyones opinions on caddies?

I have been looking around and the cheapest I have found is £17 for a SATA caddie which for 20+ drives adds up!!!

£5.78 each:

http://www.agestar.com/english/products/sr3p.asp

I have five of them and they work perfectly, slightly noisy but the fans can be removed.

 

[stuartam]

what make is that case?

thanks

 

[sja360]

what make is that case?

thanks

its a 6u rackmount by the looks of it?
so not a case as such

 

[God]

out of interest what case holds 24 harddrives?

This beast:

http://www.guanghsing.com.tw/proddetail.asp?linenumber=66

23 drives + 1 controller bay. Currently taking up a rather large space in my room!!!

Ian...

 

[God]

Those caddies look interesting what make are they?

Ian...

 

[Torch [P4]]

sorry guys been busy
its a 5u case made by chenbro not cheap tho, this site has them up @ £1,499 all in!!!!

site removed as per request

 

[sja360]

sorry guys been busy
its a 5u case made by chenbro not cheap tho, this site has them up @ £1,499 all in!!!!

WARNING COMPETITOR LINK

thats a competitor to overclockers.co.uk best remove the link.