That's funny, I'm a IT professional and a battery hobbyist and now I'm seeing IT content on a channel I follow because of my hobby. It was a pleasant surprise and you did well! I've built my iSCSI storage using three of these exact 16-bay Supermicro cases way back in the day, one contained the server and the two others were JBODs exactly like yours. There even is an original Supermicro part to convert a server enclosure into a JBOD, it's a small board that accepts a 24-Pin ATX connector, connects the front panel so you retain functionality of the LEDs and power switch and provides some fan headers, it's pretty neat. But obviously your solution is fine as well, I almost did it just like you because these JBOD boards were pretty hard to find. As you've noticed yourself, staggered spinup is a thing and it would have been fine with the normal molex power cables, even with multiple connectors on the same string. And good job that you didn't use the sata power connectors unlike many other people! They are usually only specced to carry 4.5A while the molex connectors are specced up to 8.5A and using sata connectors for general power applications could become nasty very quickly, especially with dodgy adapters which can carry even less amps. If you want to add a second enclosure I'd use the second port of the LSI controller before starting a daisy chain of expanders, unless you start dual linking the first enclosure, using both controller ports. I assume this Chia business doesn't need a massive bandwidth so dual linking is not important anyway.
Such a small board to use an enclosure only to attach many hard drives sounds very interesting, as I'm in the process of building and selling similar things. I couldn't find such a product, do you have a name for it?
I really don't know... Probably about 2 years with the current price of Chia if you were to farm and sell. I don't intend to sell my coins though. I plan to just leave them sit and see where the market is in 5+ years.
When there are multiple Grounds and multiple 5V and 12V on a connector don't they all lead back to the same place? Is it important for example to use one of the 12V wires and another to kind of split the load? I guess I could test that for continuity with a voltmeter but I never really thought about it.
You would have to look at the power supply. Some use a single rail, some use multiple rails. It's important to make sure you're not overloading the conductors and rail ratings (if applicable).
Hey Mr Lithium/Solar man.. I'd be interested to see a video on cutting out the DC-to-AC-to-DC conversion losses.. what would it take in the realm of boost/buck converters etc to run this kind of compute/storage rig directly off of a 12V/24V/48V lithium battery bank?
On a similar note, I was thinking this yesterday. @LithiumSolar Can you make a DIY DC-DC UPS? I want a solution to power my home router and modem when the power goes out (I need 12VDC, ~3A & 19.5VDC, ~35W). Maybe something that fits in an ammo can? :) Thanks!
You inspire me build one of this, all I need to think about is how I could buy those hardware :). Kidding aside, can you make a video update about your Chia farm? Is it still up?
I moved the Chia content to my server channel located here www.youtube.com/@HomeSysAdmin/videos there are a few videos that came after the one you're commenting on. I'll probably have more soon. I'm working on replotting with Gigahorse currently.
Best drive array setup using point to point in a custom low powered server hardware I’ve seen. Great way to repurpose old tech for say a NAS or Plex Server.
I used to do enterprise dell stuff back in the day so yea this is is a decent build using hackdell equipment. Its usally better to find an expander that is compatible with the backplane you are running so you can turn on the notification lights from the os. Those are raid hardware controled (or in the HBA case, software controlled). If the backplane shows up in linux, you usally have to do some configuring on what drive address goes where. It sounds like a hassle, but if you swap the sas plug in the back, the drives detect in a different order and its annoying having to replace: P Might be seeing alot of supermicro stuff soon. Yahoo converted all their stuff to it to save money and I am sure they will be upgrading in the next year. Oh and technically they are hot swapable. I say technically, as I have done enclosure swaps. As long as all the drives are unmounted and you know how to reset the controler (or rescan) using the os. Its sketchy though and only did it when the customer was "WE CANNOT TAKE IT DOWN!" kind of mad.
@@LithiumSolar Going to build one for these from a BayNetworks Wellfleet 10mbps 48 port switch enclosure to attach to my R730xd. Great video thanks for posting this !!!
@LithiumSolar I just recently got back to chia I have a server rack just like yours and would like to move the plotted drives into it, but do not know how to connect the server rack to the computer and set them up for farming, If you could make a video on that or if you would help me out that would be great. Nice video too!
You sir may have solved a very unrelated but good problem for a dev rig and I love the fact its 128Watts, i do wonder if software raid is possible, keep up the good work I love these tutorials :)
Yes! You can software raid, I use mdadm on mine but pretty much anything works. It's just a pile of individual disk to the OS. PS: I moved most of my server content to a separate channel www.youtube.com/@HomeSysAdmin there's a more recent video there where I built another with a 4U chassis.
This is awesome! Im using some NetApp shelfs for my plots. Its a great system (with the iom6 controller) but they are louder and use up to 275 watts for 24 drives. Great video my dude!
Did you ever find out for sure if SFF-8087 is in fact hot-swappable? Do you know the maximum length of run that can be used for SFF-8087? I'm trying to build a JBOD chassis like this, but I might want to keep it in the basement for noise and heat reasons.
No. I've read conflicting information online and haven't dared try it. I just shut it down the couple of times I made changes. I also keep mine in the basement - great for cooling and noise. I can't comment on the max length, also see conflicting information there as well (sorry, can't be of much help).
are people still doing this? you can buy JBods for not that much, but you will use a lot more power my 15bay uses around 400w I think. but I have 12gbs on a 10gbe lan connect. I think you may be able to do it cheaper with older FBC hardware? also can you not just pull out the cage for the bays and them mount them all themselves into the chassis from both your servers?
@@LithiumSolar here is a little secret for you. All standard computer cases have a standard Gap. Old hp ml 310 back planes fit directly to the drives and have one standard molex connection. There in groups of four, and can be found for a few pound as there the desktop version of there severs.
This is a solution i been looking for in forever but never had any server hardware experience, I wish u mentioned pricing on the server rack gear and expander cards plus cables, the cable joinr the host pc to the server rack cost a fortune doesn't it?? I would be good if u can do a few more vids about this and somewhere to source the hardware.
I linked to most of the parts in the description of the video. The SFF-8088 cable is about $15. They're cheap now. I remember 10-15 years ago they were expensive. The only components I don't have prices for are the chassis (I've had it for years and Chia drove the cost through the roof right now) and a server rack (I don't have one).
I must say I like this a lot, You have helped me with my next steps for my home server. Need to move from a giant computer case holding 16 drives to something rack mounted that will let me have more room to grow.
Great work!! Gave me an idea to build something like this as a NAS server with UnRaid. As that will allow me to spin down the disks for my purposes can i ask how much power does the case use when all the disks are spun down please?
I don't have an exact measurement; however, 3.5" drives are usually around 3W idle, so at 16 drives that's 48W. Add in another 15W between the expander card and fans, you're at 63W with a 90% efficient PSU, you can expect about 70W with drives spun down :)
Would it be possible to run a freeNAS or some sort of NAS in a VM in host machine, and then make the drives available from a SAN, because having them on fiber channel would be kinda nice.
@@LithiumSolar I totally missed the part where you jumped the 24 pin connector to for the "always on" feature. I've watched this video twice all the way through which makes it even more embarrassing. Thanks and this is much appreciated. BTW, just wanted to let you know that you might save a little bit of time/money on your second CSE-836 by swapping the backpane to the BPN-SAS2-EL1 which has a SAS Expansion board built in for all 16 drives. This is what I have after buying a CSE-836 based off watching your video! It has a single SAS SFF-8087? connector that you can run right to your HBA and you don't have to worry about SATA cables everywhere.
Thanks! This makes my hunt to build a JBOD easier just hunt/look for a faulty server that has caddies and backplate, and well all that space I could add more drives!
Every time I see a dell product, its using non-standard things, even though it could use a standard. Like my computer with non-ATX PSU, even though, it could use ATX, or this square molex instead of normal molex.
@@LithiumSolar most of crypto never became a thing. Bitcoin, doge, and Ethereum being a few of the exceptions. You doing crypto is raising prices on parts i need for storage.
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed the build. Would love to see more hypervisor stuff as well. VMware vs XCP-ng or whatever. Or, running local disks vs TruNas.
Chia farming is a proof-of-storage crypto that requires storing large amounts of "plot" files - different from proof-of-work like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
@@RonPaulgirls In the same server he could add some GPU's to do some other crypto's as well. I would find out at what load the PSU becomes the highest efficient, and aim for that mark if doing the GPU mining, though. Get as much in return as possible for the power consumed. Even if using Solar generated power.
13 bucks for terabyte ;-) ;-) I bought Dell-Oracle HDD rack with disks, each disks costs to me 9$ (4tb HDD 3.5) or 1Tb costs $2.25. Even with this price I think what Chia is biggest scam.
@@LithiumSolar For $2.25 per TB it is most practical HDD on the planet Earth. At least for right now. But I bought it from former Data Center, that is why so cheap. Of course - it is not brand new.
@@strandvaskeren If you think about it. Stablecoins are a type of crypto. I think I’m going to invest in Terra. The most super duper stablecoin in existence :)
really don't get chia farming "oh lets destroy some perfectly good drives for some magic barley known currency that's going down in value" Like at least bitcoin and euterium weren't as destructive.
No, Bitcoin and Ethereum just burn up graphics cards to no end so people whom need them have to pay 10x of practicality to get one. I still can't get a good graphics card for video editing and refuse to pay the insanely-marked up prices.
Mining does not damage graphics cards like chia destroys drives on plot creation. drives have a limited number of TBW before they fail, be an ssd or HDD, as long as there half decently cooled a GPU will survive. Current GPU shortages are not really down to mining, but just industry shortages. Sucks for us all, but I find most crypto mining to be incredibly wasteful.
Pretty much everyone I know whom is mining with GPUs have loaded custom BIOS's for overclocking and that sort of thing. They get burned up after a few years. I'm aware SSDs have a TBW rating but that's just a rating for warranty purposes. They'll last much longer - in fact, the 1TB NVMe I've been plotting with is over 4x it's rating and still runs fine. I wouldn't put anything critical on it though, exactly the same as I wouldn't rely on a GPU that's been mined with for a few years.
@@LithiumSolar I think those "custom bios's" that you mention are undervolting bios which make the card last longer because they will use less power for similar performance (do they get a quicker return because it's more efficient per watt),or to adjust memory timings for the "cold" cypto (that doesent really use the GPU core, but more the memory). Almost every mining platform will recommend some sort of underclock, weather it be a simple "turn down the power limit" from nicehash or some really detailed guides from other company's. the main failure is the fans, which is a cheep and easy fix. eitherway were talking less of 2 evils here. Just ewaste production. The difference between the 2 is this. You do not want an ex Chia drive for pritty much anything other than chia. there ewaste really, even if they don't fail before chia is unprofitable, they cannot be relied on and even using them as game storage is just a ticking time bomb of you having to reinstall hundreds of gb's of games. A used GPU can be sold as a ex mining GPU at a lower cost. Even if the thing did fail, you having lost anything other than that GPU. any artifacting can sometimes be solved by a simple underclock. Once again it's the less of 2 evils. Both accelerate the failure of the hardware. Either way, $12 USD a month is decent amount so you enjoy your chia operation :)
You really have no idea what you're talking about. The drives for farming are written to 1 Time period! That's it! Even 5 months later Drive diagnostics show no more writes were done on the drive. One 16TB drive gets about 16TB's of writes (that's 1 write) when filling the drive with plots and that's it! They sit idle 90% of the time as only 1 out of 512 Plots are checked per a 10 minute block. Reads are even less because only on 9 encrypted keys are checked per validation and 64 sequential keys to validate a winning Block. On 16TB drives I don't even have 1TB of total reads yet. As for burning out NVMe's and that's probably what you meant. All of my NVMe's used to create 4200 Plots still at over 80% life left and I only used MadMax for 10 plots. Also for several months now you can create plots in memory using Madmax and a RAM drive so even NVMe's are getting very minimal wear now making plots. As for value. Chia was only predicted for months to be worth $20 a coin. People pumped it up to $1500 but most people that knew what they were doing in Crypto converted their Chia into more stable crypto like I did when it was overbought. Since you posted Chia is actually up 30% not down. I still think it's oversold some. Chia farming has paid for my entire 420TB rig 3 times over already.
Man, bro is taking chia to the max like any simple person would just say just buy a server with everything included, and just need to put the drives in but no this guy is DIY 😂🫡
Yeah man, less power overhead, cheaper, better storage density. If you're willing to DIY. If you think this one is big, check the new 40-drive version I built ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tmqkUI_ZXSs.html
