Re: ssd sata rack w. happy customers?

On 2020-08-27 17:22, VanguardLH wrote:
> bad sector <forgetski@postit_INVALID_.gov> wrote:
> 
>> I'm planning my move to ssd's and want to replace my spinners cage rack
>> with a 4, 6, or 8-bay ssd rack, one of those that stack'em standing on
>> edge, which is what I have now for the 3.5" spinners with 6 bays. What I
>> DON'T want EVER AGAIN are the very confusing lights and switches that
>> are NOT aligned with the bays, as on my present one. A reasonable price
>> would help too.
> 
> I don't remember ever buying a computer case that didn't have drive bays
> (aka cages) hence I never had to go looking around to see who else might
> manufacture drive cages to fit inside whatever computer case I chose.
> 
> You didn't mention which mobo you have, or are considering on buying.
> Mine came with 3 m.2 slots to mount NVMe SSDs on the mobo.  With three 8
> TB m.2 NVMe SSDs, I could have up to 24 TB of very fast storage (at
> around a cost of $4500); however, using an m.2 slot on my mobo means
> sacrificing a pair of SATA ports.  I went with just one 1 TB m.2 NVMe
> SSD (Samsung 970 PRO @ $350) which disable 2 SATA ports, and kept my
> other SATA ports for two HDDs (data, backups), one Bluray burner, one
> 3.5" SSD, and two spares for later expansion.  I had an old 3.5" SSD
> that I moved over to the new case, because both its side panels are
> removable, and the mobo panel's backside has a slot for a 3.5" drive
> (albeit a thin one, like for an SSD).  I like having the 2nd side panel,
> so I can run cables behind the mobo plate to keep them hidden, so the
> inside stays neat (it has a window in the other side panel).
> 
> Without knowing what you already have for a computer case, it could,
> say, have three 5.25" bays and two 3.5" bays.  It might even have a
> backside slot on the mobo plate to add one there.  You could even mount
> a couple cased SSDs at the bottom of the case using self-stick velcro
> strips.  You also don't say if you're installing 2.5" or 3.5" SSDs (in
> cases versus just the PCBs with connectors).  With nude SSD PCBs (no
> cases), you could probably stick up to 4 onto a 5.25" bay adapter (that
> has a solid base instead of just the 2-piece adapter) using self-stick
> velcro strips.
> 
> Getting a drive cage with a backplane would be neater (providing you
> could hide all the cables, or make custom ones at just the distance from
> the PSU to the backplane connectors), but you'll have to buy a case that
> has a backplaned drive cage.  You won't find it separately, though, and
> will have to buy a case with that type of drive cage.
> 
> Do these drives have to be internal to the computer case?  If not, why
> not get an external drive case that houses multiple drives and connects
> via [e]SATA?  Or get an external cage with a SAS controller; see:
> 
> https://storage.microsemi.com/nr/rdonlyres/b2b7fea9-f59b-46eb-b676-dd0892653f7c/0/4393_satavalue_13.pdf
> 
> If you don't want an external SAS/SATA drive cage, you can get internal
> SAS/SATA drive cages that fit inside a 5.25" drive bay and can hold up
> to six to eight 2.5" SATA drives.  See:
> 
> https://www.newegg.com/athena-power-bp-15629sac-other/p/N82E16816119045
> https://www.newegg.com/athena-power-bp-15287sac-other/p/N82E16816119044
> 
> With 8 of these (https://www.newegg.com/samsung-7-6tb/p/0D9-0009-003T3),
> you could have 61 TB of fast storage (but not as fast as NVMe) at a
> whopping cost of $9832, and you might have more than one 5.25" drive bay
> to use multiple of these bay-mounted drive cages.
> 

Wow, thanks very much for the info, some of those PRICES(!) would dent 
my beer budget and that would have to be a no-no :)

The layout I have in mind would resemble this

https://www.supermicro.com/sites/default/files/chassis/hub-page/Mobile-Racks-and-Drive-Kits-B.png

I really don't need 8 bays but that's how many there is room for if 
using 2.5's and what most come with. It's OK, I use the extra ones to 
stow the other drives out of harm's way so to speak. I don't relate to 
the other layouts where you have a pair of double bays one on top of 
another, as I mostly count from left to right or top to bottom, never a 
mix of those or right to left, bottom to top, nor do I count saying zero 
when I raise my thumb.

As far as any hardware I prefer the mechanical control of 
removing/inserting on need, haven't used an 'inside' drive slot for 30 
years and that has saved many of my drives from disaster. Don't need 
much speed either, I'm drifting toward ssd's because that's where the 
road is going, because I do need to feed new drives to the monster, AND 
because I'm up to here with ANY form of noise at all! I use Linux and 
you might know that there we mount and unmount things all the time to 
access them. This is sometimes done automatically but I try to interdict 
that and instead mount on need and immediately unmount after even dozens 
of times a session. Finally in today's strangleware snoop-city I start 
by castrating any onboard wifi and use only usb dongles that "I" control 
and not some (especially closed code) gigavirus called an OS.

What I have now is similar but 3.5" rack which I should have asked 
people about before buying it because it's annunciator lights are 
completely out of step with the bays so every time I want to put a pen 
on one of them tiny switchews I have to count from the left to know 
which one is who. And THAT was the puropose of this post, to see if 
anyone might have some good words for one make or another, to not repeat 
my la$t mi$take.


-- 
If DIY were a religion, hmmm... I just made it one.