RedditPP Mascot

RedditPP

r/DataHoarder • … • u/fireduck

Considering moving from USB3.2 to SAS - enclosure recommendations?

I have three arrays, two at separate locations and a small third one that is mostly offline and gets occasional updates. I use FreeBSD for ZFS so I can enjoy snapshots and stuff.

I don't really like routing SATA cables and drive power cables so my solution is to use small computers (Minisform is my current favorite) and connect drive arrays to that. Currently using Sabrent USB 3.2 enclosures. They works alright, sometimes until high load the USB controller or something resets, ZFS sees a bunch of drive errors and shuts down the zpool. That is irritating.

So I'm considering switching to SAS. I've picked out a card, LSI Logic SAS 9300-8e. Apparently they run hot an expect real air flow so I also got a fan that can be crammed into the MS-01.

Now what I need is an enclosure. For one array I'll need 10 drives, another 8. I'm starting with the 8. I'm not finding a lot of ones that have the the SFF-8644 port and reasonable reviews or availability. Anyone faced this? Am I stuck buying a PC tower and installing drive bays, power supply and a SAS adapter?

— 0