From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Feb 9 14:09:45 2010 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0006D1065672 for ; Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:09:44 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from tevans.uk@googlemail.com) Received: from ey-out-2122.google.com (ey-out-2122.google.com [74.125.78.25]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 86F3B8FC1A for ; Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:09:44 +0000 (UTC) Received: by ey-out-2122.google.com with SMTP id 25so865962eya.3 for ; Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:09:43 -0800 (PST) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=googlemail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:received:in-reply-to:references :date:message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type :content-transfer-encoding; bh=PunBIPruX64gqRppkafaCtK85l+iVX4zGB6EtB8reTE=; b=mWUPscLVhZzrZG3/0LdJ2gbepHk/TfP30R94M1oay1GXt5F/cei1qPEt0oqT2nYWs5 GZKjGTfHLhHrPvzg7JdrsXSOjzCo3TN1lKiCF3BFcjqaSCgTk2CroobRePPiySw0Mqbq fElp8eapBUE8zl8dUzdMVcDV84EbF0M9mfGfU= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=googlemail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; b=I+fqK0RRp6x/fo1ISeIUcmoUu93H3a/za8vBVh8I4FDrT9OPqd/xyglljHfgszlrLj yAp1H4nc4PHWmXwnpEIAnjBT1N4WyZduL4kkPyQibHLuqvnPzyUmiOIV1tK8AB+JKpAm QleeSWU8EEhbpHkz8X7L0YgTqcz1N0Ie5hpBY= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.213.44.3 with SMTP id y3mr2418362ebe.62.1265724583361; Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:09:43 -0800 (PST) In-Reply-To: References: <4B6F9A8D.4050907@langille.org> <2e027be01002090451w2b4506a0ofb5ab55c647540a@mail.gmail.com> Date: Tue, 9 Feb 2010 14:09:43 +0000 Message-ID: <2e027be01002090609y28be404dl1bb610d047b15f9b@mail.gmail.com> From: Tom Evans To: Dan Langille Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Cc: Charles Sprickman , FreeBSD Stable Subject: Re: hardware for home use large storage X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:09:45 -0000 On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 1:45 PM, Dan Langille wrote: > > On Tue, February 9, 2010 7:51 am, Tom Evans wrote: >> On Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 6:15 AM, Charles Sprickman wrote= : >>> .... >>> Here's the list: >>> >>> http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWishDetail.aspx?WishListNumber= =3D8441629 >>> >>> Just over $1K, and I've got 4 nice drives, ECC memory, and a server >>> board. >>> Going with the celeron saved a ton of cash with no impact on ZFS that I >>> can >>> discern, and again, going with a cheap tower case slashed the cost as >>> well. >>> =C2=A0That whole combo works great. =C2=A0Now when I use up those 6 SAT= A ports, >>> I >>> don't know how to get more cheaply, but I'll worry about that later... >>> >>> Charles >>> >> >> As long as those SATA ports are AHCI compliant, should work quite >> nicely with a SiI port multiplier. Failing that, a simple 2 port SiI >> PCI-E SATA card (supported by siis(4) driver) + 2 x SiI port >> multiplier would give you 10 extra SATA ports. >> >> My SiI PCI-E card cost =C2=A315, and the PM about =C2=A350, so it is abo= ut >> =C2=A313/port, or ~$20/port. Probably can get the components cheaper in = the >> US actually. I also found some nice simple drive racks for =C2=A320/4 >> drives - not completely hotswappable, but much easier to replace than >> screwed into the case. > > Now there's an idea. Drive racks? =C2=A0Got a URL? > > These aren't the exact racks I bought, they seem to be discontinued (glad I bought 3 at once!), slightly more expensive, but same idea: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Silverstone-SST-CFP51B-Aluminum-Bay-converte= r-3x525-to-4x35-in-Black-with-120mm-Fan-RoHS I got the SiI add-in card and port multiplier from the same place: http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Lycom-PE-103-x2-Port-SATAII-3Gbps-PCI-E-Cont= roller-Card-with-NCQ-PC-MAC-Linux http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Lycom-ST-126RM-SATA-II-3Gbps-1-To-5-Port-Mul= tiplier-bridge-board-(for-Rack-Mount) For fixing the portmultiplier into the case, I recommend No More Nails :) I bought one of those cases that has 5.25" bays all down the front - 10 bays on mine, 1 with a DVD recorder, 9 filled with three of those drive racks, which gives me 12 'easily accessible' drive bays, 2 internal ones. With 6 SATA ports on the motherboard, together with the SiI controller + one portmultiplier, I have 12 bays and 12 SATA ports for not too much. I currently have 6 of them filled with 1.5Tb SATA drives in a raidz pool, and can expand the pool by adding another 6 as I run out of space. Works very nicely for my needs :) One thing to point out about using a PM like this: you won't get fantastic bandwidth out of it. For my needs (home storage server), this really doesn't matter, I just want oodles of online storage, with redundancy and reliability. Cheers Tom